Staff photo by Fritz Busch New Ulm Middle School Special Education teacher Christine Kral leads the New Ulm High School Class of 1974 50th reunion tour of the middle school Saturday. Class of 1974 members include Tom Woratschka, just left of Kral.

NEW ULM — The New Ulm High School Class of 1974 fondly remembered their high school days during a Saturday tour of the New Ulm Middle School that served as their high school a half century ago.

Deb Marti McCormick of Highlands Ranch, Co. said she joined The Menagerie, a youth folk group that began in New Ulm in 1970 under the direction of Bob Wirtz. The group grew to more than 700 members and continued until Wirtz’ retirement in 2000.

“I wasn’t a charter member, but a friend, Jill Schlong, got me into the group.

“She said Deb, you’re in The Menagerie. It was the best thing that ever happened to me,” said McCormick.

“We traveled the State of Minnesota in 1973 and sang at churches. A minister at St. Olaf heard us sing and invited us to sing in Washington, D.C. We went to the U.S. Naval Academy, then went to Washington, D.C. and sang in the office of (U.S. Senator) Hubert H. Humphrey,” she said.

“The Menagerie was a good influence on me. And I needed one. They were welcoming. It was really nice,” said Marti.

Schlong Warner said she and two schoolmates came late to The Menagerie’s east coast trip.

“We (Schlong, the late Tim Thompson and Kim Knutson) were in the one-act play state competition, so we missed the Washington, D.C. trip but flew out late and joined them at the Naval Academy. We placed high in the state contest,” Warner said.

“The play was ‘The Lesson,’ a very dark play. It did well,” said Warner, who worked for The Journal advertising department after college.

Warner talked about The Mengarie.

“It was a lot of fun. Bob Wirtz was amazing. It brought a lot of kids together,” she said.

A farmer and horse owner with her husband in Palmer, Ak., Warner raises hay for horse owners about an hour north of Anchorage, Ak.

“There were woods around our place when we bought it. We brought in a bulldozer, leveled our land and built our house. We’ve tried it out for 40 years. I think we’ll stay. But, it’s a lot of fun to come back here for the reunion,” she said.

Warner said she enjoyed playing in the New Ulm High School band because she became such close friends to band members that sat near her.

“We were all very different, but very good friends,” she said.

Warner said she also sang in choir and performed in school plays.

“No athletics. I had to go home and ride by horse after school,” she said.

Warner said she’s had a number of encounters with moose near her Alaskan home.

“Moose are very strong and can be very stubborn. One time, a moose was near my pickup truck. It must have been upset about something. Maybe wolves were giving it a hard time. It charged me. I ran into my house and shut the door. The moose bashed up the hood of my truck with its hooves,” Warner said.

She said she, her husband and children enjoy hunting moose and salmon fishing.

“We prefer harvesting a younger moose. You only need one. They’re big,” said Warner.

She said Alaskan moose can often be found locking salt off motor vehicles during the winter time.

Warner wasn’t the only Class of 1974 member who traveled a long way to New Ulm.

Mike Konakowitz said he traveled from Gutherie, Ok for the reunion.

“I live down there now to be around family,” Konakowitz said.

New Ulm Middle School Special Education Teacher Christine Kral led the Class of 1974 school tour. She said school these days doesn’t have the science labs it did decades ago. Kral said most science labs are done virtually now.

Class of 1974 members toured the New Ulm High School after the middle school.

“It’s a wonderful school,” said Ron Hendley, a retired machinist living in Watertown.

“I’m really impressed how New Ulm school district taxpayers stepped up to the plate with the school bond referendum vote.

Pam Baier Hoffrogge, who helped organize the reunion with Mary Anderl Swanson, said she really enjoyed going to New Ulm High School.

“I never missed a day of school there my sophomore, junior and senior years. I loved the school. I really enjoyed the social aspect of it. I made so many friends,” said Hoffrogge.