By Matt Gleckman

When asked how he spelled his last name, Jack Doerges, with his best poker face, said “Just like my wife.” He was a little more expansive when asked how the times have changed since he was in school.

“Take a seat,” he said, preparing to tell a long, long story.

Doerges, who proposed the idea for a 40s reunion, was just one of approximately 290 former Cortez students to attend the reunion. Festivities began Thursday, Aug. 26, with participants spending less time going through the registration process and more time catching up with old friends out on the Calkins School lawn. Now it’s the Re-1 administration building; in the early 1940s, it was the high school, which later moved to the building that now houses Cortez Middle School.

No, there were not any tales of waking at 5 a.m., milking the cows, feeding the chickens, shoveling the driveway, then walking to school— barefoot— through 15 miles of driving sleet and snow, only to return home to milk the cows again until dark; though some stories did strike a similar chord.

“Kids in those days were left to their own initiative,” said Doerges, a retired professor and director of safety. “Today, kids have everything scheduled for them: swimming lessons, dance lessons, soccer practice, etc. When I was a kid I had one, maybe two, toys. Today kids have boxes filled with them.”

“When I was a boy, the only toys I had were some livestock that I got to feed,” chimed in Don Holmes another 40s graduate.

When the subject of dating was broached by Vivienne Kenyon, co-chair of the 40s Bunch, light laughter erupted throughout the small group of friends. “Dating for us was a group of friends just hanging out,” says Kenyon, whose husband Philip was the other event coordinator. “We would get a group of friends together and go ice skating during the winter, maybe gather some wood or old tires and sit around a fire.”

After registration and reminiscing the guests, who flew or drove in from as far away as Alaska, Florida and Hawaii, separated into their individual classes and attended dinners, cookouts, and informal gatherings throughout Montezuma and Dolores counties. Each gathering was coordinated by representatives of the respective classes. The class of 1949 held a special dance, to which everyone was invited, in order to commemorate their 50-year reunion.

The multi-class celebration continued Friday night with a barbecue at the Line Camp above Dolores, and then concluded Saturday, where guests were greeted by school representative Jim Riffey at a catered picnic out on the Calkins yard.

The memories flowed throughout the weekend. However, not all discussions highlighted the pros of the past over the cons of the present.

“When I was here as a kid, Cortez was a dusty, dirty little town. Today the area is much cleaner and has many more conveniences. The city has also done a great job developing the park,” said Durango resident Philip Kenyon. Doerges, waving his cane in the air, expounded on the point. “Back then we didn’t have TVs, computers, digital cameras (pointing to the one dangling around his neck), and we certainly didn’t have reconstructive surgery,” he said, patting his knee which was recently operated on.

When the last tent spikes were being pulled from the ground, marking the end of the weekend, Vivienne Kenyon said, “Everything was just wonderful. People who hadn’t seen each other in 30 or 40 years were brought together again.”