The Yelm High School class of 1974 will celebrate its 50th reunion with a trio of events this weekend, capped off with an alumni and community car show from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 11, at Yelm Middle School.
The reunion will officially begin with a no-host social from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, Aug. 9, at 507 Taproom West, 106 Prairie Park St. in Yelm, before a catered dinner from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 10, at the Yelm Community Center, 302 Second St. SE.
The golden celebration was originally scheduled for a two-day event, but Jeff Pielak, organizer of the car show, pushed to add a car show that would benefit the community. A $10 donation to support Yelm Dollars For Scholars is requested for entries. Anyone from the community can visit the YMS parking lot and show off their cars. Ice cream bars will be available for people walking in the sunshine.
“We’re doing something on Friday night for anybody who graduated from Yelm from 1970 to 1980, and then on Saturday, we’re doing something just for our class. On Sunday, I thought it would be a better thing for the community and benefit Dollars For Scholars,” Pielak said.
Pielak said he expects 30 to 40 alumni to attend the weekend’s events. He added that he is unsure of how many car owners will participate because “car show guys” always want to inspect the weather the morning of events before bringing their classic vehicles out.
“I’ve already got a few guys who said they’re going to bring some classic cars from the 1950s. I know there will be a Viper there because that’s mine,” Pielak said. “There’s a 2016 Mustang and a Dodge Charger. Until they show up, I don’t count anybody in. Whoever shows up and pays their fee, I’ll park them and get them all set up.”
Pielak wanted to give old classmates the opportunity to reconnect with each other and to allow the community to enjoy classic cars and good summer weather, while benefiting a good cause.
“For a lot of the classes, once they graduate, there’s not a whole lot of participation. We did our 20-year reunion, and we do one about every five years,” he said. “But we were even meeting almost yearly and sometimes a couple times a year, just a group of us getting together and spending time together. There are a lot of long-lasting friendships.”
Pielak hopes that while the 50th reunion only comes once for the class of 1974, the fundraising car show can become a tradition for the following classes to celebrate and give back to the community.
“I hope to get a hold of someone from the class of 1975 to see if they would like to kind of take the torch. I think it’s a nice thing to get a tradition going. I think it brings the whole community together.”
Pielak recommends that visitors who are not participating in the car show to park in surrounding lots so as not to clog the car show area. To enter, email j.pielak@comcast.net. For more details on the weekend’s events, contact Dee Snow on the Class of 74 Facebook page. Contact Snow at d.snow.001@hotmail.com, or leave a message on the Facebook page, to RSVP.
