They weren’t a particularly close class.

The college prep students hung around with other college prep students. Business students stayed with business students. The New Auburn kids socialized with other New Auburn kids.

But nearly seven decades later, the Edward Little High School class of 1940 is all about togetherness.

“Some of us look a little older than others but, you know, you just accept a cane now and then,” said reunion committee chairwoman .

In May, the class of 1940 will hold its 68th reunion.

It isn’t the oldest Edward Little class to reunite (the class of 1937 met for its 70th reunion last July). But the class of 1940, which started with 220 students and has slowly dwindled to about 90, is one of the few to reach such a milestone.

And the classmates, now in their mid-80s, say they have no plans to stop the reunions any time soon.

‘One group’

High school in the late 1930s wasn’t a lot different from high school today.

There were jocks and brainiacs, farm kids and city kids, immigrants and students with a Maine lineage generations long. War was heating up, and though it didn’t pull the teenagers from the classroom, it would draw them soon after. Life was generally busy, often fun for the EL class of 1940. Time stretched before them; anything was possible.

“I really had a good time. Didn’t have any money. Nobody had any money. But I really had a good time in high school,” said Class President Claire Chesley, who was a champion speedskater and a college prep student in high school. “I didn’t strain myself studying. I was a pretty good athlete and I had a good time.”

When graduation rolled around, the teenagers were thinking of work, college, the military, marriage. Stay in touch for 68 years? Not even a consideration.

“I’m sure that was not in our thoughts at that time,” said Marion Emery-Chesley, Claire Chesley’s wife. “(It was more like) ‘Just get out of here!’ “

The bond started with their first reunion. It was held at the old Elm Hotel in Auburn to mark their 10th anniversary.

“There was a great big crowd,” Emergy-Chesley said.

They danced. They ate. They sang the school song. The mood was light, jovial.

And those old cliques? Long forgotten.

“There wasn’t this group and that group. There was just one group,” Chesley said.

Staying in touch

After that, the class of 1940 held reunions every five years. At some point, a ladies group/reunion committee formed and began meeting once a month for lunch.

“Seeing people that have moved away that you don’t see quite so often, it’s just a lot of fun to get back together again,” said Arlene Hawkins, a member of the reunion committee.

Chesley couldn’t remember doing much as class president when he was in school. (“It was a title more than anything,” he said.) But his role as class leader meant something during the five-year reunions he attended.

It meant he was emcee.

“I’ve done more since I got out of high school that I did when I was in,” he said with a laugh.

Sometimes the reunions were held at local resorts, sometimes at hotels. There were prizes (handmade pillows and quilts, some years) for the people who traveled the farthest, or had the most children. There was always singing, dancing, reminiscing. A bit of self-analyzing.

“What you do is you go and you say ‘Well, jeez, I held up pretty good beside that one,’ and, ‘Oh, he looks better than I do,’ or, ‘I look better than he does.’ You know, you can check things out, see how things are going,” Chesley said. “So far we’re doing pretty good.”

As the years went by, hairlines receded, bellies grew and faces changed. It became harder to recognize former classmates, to pick out the popular kid or the shy kid.

For some, that was a good thing.

“There used to be a girl who was very mousy. She was a very quiet, introverted-type person. She didn’t talk much. She didn’t go with anybody or anything,” Hawkins said. “Well at one reunion, in comes this vivacious blonde. Very forward, very demonstrative. Nobody could guess who it was. We were all flabbergasted.”

For the 25th reunion, Hawkins gathered information about her classmates – who married, who had kids, who had careers – and typed up an alumni booklet. She’s updated it for every reunion since. For their 50th, it was bound and printed in hardcover, complete with artwork from an artist in the class.

But it was the 60th reunion that turned out to be the big one. Nearly 100 people showed for the event, some crossing the country to get there, others crossing the ocean.

Other, younger EL classes had trouble tracking down members. For the Class of 1940, it wasn’t a problem.

“I think it’s amazing how many people we could get in touch with,” Hawkins said.

The reunion was particularly special for Chesley and Emergy-Chesley. He was class president and event emcee. She was head of the reunion committee. Each had been married to other people. Each had lost a spouse.

They’d known each other for more than 50 years, ever since they clapped erasers together in the fourth grade. That 60th high school reunion rekindled more than friendship.

The reunion was held in June. Their wedding, August.

“To keep things honest we got married,” Chesley said. “When you get to be 80, you don’t have time to fiddle around.”

68 years

As teenagers at graduation, time seemed endless. By the 60th reunion, it wasn’t endless anymore.

Members of the Class of 1940 were getting sick and dying. At their 65th reunion, the classmates decided they shouldn’t wait five years to see each other again. They bumped the reunions up to every three years.

“It’s great just to hear from these people that we don’t normally day-by-day hear from,” Emergy-Chesley said. “And who knows what tomorrow will bring?”

By the 65th reunion, the events were more low key. The raffles and prizes stopped when no one had the time to create the gifts. Dancing stopped around the time walkers and canes became prevalent.

“We don’t even try to sing the school song anymore,” Emergy-Chesley said. “It doesn’t come out too well.”

The 68th reunion will be held at the United Methodist Church in May. They’ll have lunch. They’ll talk.

“This year we’re just going to enjoy catching up with each other and what’s happening,” Emergy-Chesley said.

Organizers believe about 90 members of the class are still alive. They hope 25 will show this May.

“Nowadays people are not driving and don’t have transportation to get around too much. So the reunions do get smaller,” Emergy-Chesley said

Marjorie Arnold, reunion committee member, now lives at Schooner Estates in Auburn. She expects to go. And she expects the reunions will continue past the 68th.

Long past.

“We’ll probably keep planning it until nobody comes,” she said.