The year was 1980.
The U.S. men's hockey team upset the Soviet Union at the Lake Placid Olympics in the Miracle on Ice.
Kramer vs Kramer won the Oscar for Best Picture. Call Me, by Blondie, was the Song of the Year.
Joe Clark started the year as Prime Minister but lost a federal election in March to former PM Pierre Trudeau.
琉璃神社's Bill Bennett was Premier of B.C. Neil Davidson was the Mayor of Vernon.
The average house price was $67,024. You could buy a two-door Honda Civic Hatchback or Datsun 210 new for between $4,500 and $6,000, or get one of the year's top-selling vehicle, the Oldsmobile Cutlass (469,573 units sold) for between $6,800 and $8,000.
The mullet was becoming a hairstyle of choice for men, and for women it would be large hair-dos, puffed-up styles, permanent waves, and softer cuts. The styles would dominate the decade.
Fashion sense included jean jackets, leg warmers, oversized blazers, neon (maybe not at the start of the decade?), acid-wash jeans, high-waist jeans, shoulder pads, and the miniskirt.
And there was but one high school in Vernon, a 500-plus Grade 12 class at Vernon Senior Secondary (home to Grades 11 and 12) whose students could drive up AND down the road then known as Suicide Hill, the same piece of land they would gleefully paint as part of their grad ceremonies in June 1980 (Fulton, Seaton, and Kalamalka were Grade 8-10 Junior High Schools).
The VSSS Class of '80 will reunite Sunday, Sept. 28, from 4-11 p.m. at the Coldstream Community Hall for a 45th reunion with an evening of memories and laughs.
"Join us for a memorable evening where Grads of '80 can reconnect and reminisce about their time at VSSS," wrote the organizers on its dedicated . "This reunion is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with old friends and share memories from your school days."
Among the memories from VSSS 1980: Fay Zwarych of the Vernon Royals girls basketball team (now Panthers) established a B.C. high school girl's tournament record in 1980 with 55 points in one game. The record still stands today.
Cost for the reunion is $50 per person (paid by June 30), $55 (July and August), and $60 in September. Space is limited so sign up early. Drink tickets are $5 each in advance.
To register, email the names of people you are signing up, the number of drink tickets you want, and an invoice will be sent to you via email. You can then e-transfer funds to dageku@gmail.com or click the following link to pay by card (small service fee to use this feature): .
Those eligible to attend, say the organizing committee, include:
鈥� "You (and a guest) can join us if you promise to behave, you're 19 or older, and one or more of the following five points apply:"
1) You graduated from VSSS in 1980, or;
2) You should've graduated from VSSS in 1980, or;
3) You spent a lot of your school years in the same class as people that graduated from VSSS in 1980, or;
4) You taught at VSSS in 1979 or 1980, or;
5) You're filthy rich and willing to pay for the whole shebang.
On the website, there is a black and white photo of the VSSS Class of 1981 painting Suicide Hill. The Class of '81 would have made up the Grade 11 class in 1980.
As part of the 1980 reunion, organizers are asking grads, whether they come to the event or not, to meet on the Vernon Courthouse steps at 3:30 p.m. Sept. 28 for a picture before heading to the reunion (Can you remember where you stood?).
Then on Monday, Sept. 29, there will be an informal, no-host, bring-your-own picnic lunch at Juniper Bay in Kalamalka Provincial Park. Bring family, friends, (no dogs) bathing suit, hiking shoes, lawn chairs, pictures of your grandkids...
More information on the reunion can be found .