Yorkville High School All Alumni Reunion celebrates decades of memories

A group of volunteers has organized the Yorkville High School All Alumni Reunion, a special event designed to bring together alumni from all graduating classes.

Since its creation in 2017, the reunion has taken place annually on the last Saturday in September at Kendall County Fairgrounds, 10826 Illinois Route 71, following Yorkville’s homecoming festivities. The 2024 reunion will take place from 2 to 10 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28.

“It’s all positive,” said Patti Schobert, a 1976 Yorkville High School graduate and current reunion committee leader. “It’s just a fun thing to go to since everybody shares a common history. We all graduated from Yorkville High School.”

Bert Erickson, a 1963 Yorkville High School Graduate, has attended the reunion three times and saw classmates he would not have normally seen if he had not attended.

“When I graduated from high school, there were 60 [graduates], now there’s 600,” Erickson said. “I got to see people that were ahead of me and behind me in class. It’s basically the only time you ever see them since [many] don’t live around this area.”

On average, the reunion gets between 350 to 500 guests each year. It’s completely funded by donations accepted at the door and is run by volunteers, said April Morganegg, a 1972 Yorkville High School graduate and inaugural leader of the committee.

“We ask for donations just to sustain it, and every year, we receive enough donations to just keep covering our costs for another year,” Morganegg said.

The 2024 reunion will feature a cash bar, food trucks and a photo area and yearbook exhibit. Spouses and guests can attend alongside alumni, Morganegg said.

“We have old sports uniforms with these gorgeous displays that when people come, they’re walking down memory lane,” Schobert said. “April has also acquired yearbooks from just about every year, [from] 1937 all the way up to currently.”

In past years, the reunion has featured fashion from various decades and paid tribute to alumni who have passed away with a “Gone But Not Forgotten” display.

For the upcoming reunion, the committee plans to showcase past championship trophies, letterman jackets and other memorabilia, all celebrating the tradition of Yorkville High School’s homecoming festivities, Morganegg said.

“We’re going to be maybe rotating and doing some really neat displays of some old championship trophies, and then putting up letterman sweaters and articles and stuff that all have to do with these achievements,” Morganegg said. “We’re kind of excited about doing some of these fun things that will tie the current [graduates] with the traditions.”

The committee promotes the reunion through Facebook, reaches out to past alumni and participates in local events, including having a float in the Yorkville homecoming parade in September and appearing in this year’s Yorkville Independence Day Parade.

“I am getting the word out, you know, advertising the reunion,” Morganegg said. “We put some type of float in the actual homecoming parade too. We try to reach out to at least some of the members in each graduating class. The classes have Facebook pages of their own.”

With the number of the high school’s graduates increasing over the years and alumni having varying high school experiences, the reunion strives to bring back memories that can be shared among attendees, Schobert said.

“We’ve witnessed the changes in Yorkville High School and how it’s grown, so this is just kind of a fun way to bring back all of those memories,” Schobert said.

For more information, visit yorkvillealumnireunion.com/, facebook.com/groups/774424952683200 or facebook.com/people/YHS-Alumni-Keep-Homecoming-Traditions-Alive/100064580414210/.