St. John's High School hits 100

A Winnipeg high school is celebrating its 100th anniversary with a reunion that will bring back some internationally famous alumni.

A gala at the Winnipeg Convention Centre Saturday night will feature former St. John's High School students Burton Cummings, Monty Hall, Ken Kostick, Colleen Savage and Ron Romanowski.

Cummings, 62, is a musician and former Guess Who front man.

Hall, 88,is best known as host of the television game show Let's Make a Deal.

Kostick, 57,is a host of several cooking shows on TV and has written several best-selling cookbooks.

Savage isaVancouver-based jazz vocalist who has appeared in venues all across North America.

Romanowski has published three books of poetry, including his latest, Insurrection,about the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike.

Classrooms at the North End school will also be set up with memorabilia from the last 100 years, said former student and co-chair of the reunion Brian Burdy.

"It's a hundred years. That in itself is a unique thing for a high school in Winnipeg.It's the first high school in Winnipeg to have a hundred years," he said.

About 1,600 former students have registered for the event, coming across Canada and as far away as the Cayman Islands and New Zealand.

The oldest former student to attend is 101 and graduated in 1926, said Burdy.

As well, 50 former students who live in Jerusalem and couldn't make it to Winnipeg will hold their own reunion this weekend.