It’s official! Susan and Mike split up at reunion

Susan (Bandy) Murdoch gets a big chuckle out of handing a surprised Mike Pulfer his high school ring at the reunion.

Mark Clairmont | MuskokaTODAY.com

GRAVENHURST — Reunions are always a lot of fun.

You see old friends you haven’t seen in years.

You catch up on old classmates and hear about their families.

You compare ailments.

You even run into old sweethearts.

That’s always a surprise, because you never know who’s going to be there.

Susan Murdoch, nee Bandy, and Mike Pulfer were a bit of thing in high school.

Actually, they were a hot thing at GHS. He even gave her his high school ring.

Alas, they’re not anymore, they’re both happily married.

She in the GTA and he in Deep River.

But there they were Wednesday at Gull Lake Rotary Park, for the fourth, annual, summer reunion picnic organized by Betty-Ann Allen.

And Murdoch, just to make the break-up official some 50 years later, shocked Pulfer by surprising him and giving him back his ring.

It was a great, memorable moment filled with hilarity and a lot of guffawing and back-slapping by all their friends who crowed in around them to see what the heck was going on.

Murdoch’s smiling sister, Sherry Smith (who brought her mother-in-law Elaine), leaned in for the big moment, and Brian Sopher looked on as Pulfer tried to slip the tiny silver ring on baby finger.

That’s the money picture for photogs like me.

A great story to be written about and told at future reunions.

And just one of many encounters that brought even more smiles to the more than 75 people who come out the third Wednesday of July each year.

It was another nice turnout with some new and old faces and a couple of hours you can count on seeing someone you know or who knows someone you want to know about.

Like the Tim Montgomery, who was in hospital the Saturday before, said his good friend Gerry Wardman who was up visiting his mom, Phyllis.

And “The Beaker,” who organized a huge town reunion a few years ago vowed to be here. He wasn’t going to let a little blood clot keep him away.

Besides, it gave him something to compare wounds with with Raylene Moore.

Oh, the stories they could and did tell.

That’s the kind of day it was all around, as everyone left with the same big smile they had on for the team photo.

And with a few more fond memories.

See more photos by Paul Sprunt at the ‘If Your Grew Up in Gravenhurst’ website.

More than 75 old friends and GHS classmates enjoyed an annual July afternoon at the Gull Lake Rotary Park Wednesday.
Raylene Moore, left, gets a chuckle out of Tim Montgomery as Roberta (Turney) Huggett chats with others at reunion.
Betty Ann Allen, centre, chats with Ron Adams, left, and Mike and Elaine Barnes.
It’s a good thing the Rotary Club doubled the size of the picnic shelter this year, as it was full.