Three classes that graduated three decades ago from Bloomington High School are planning a first-ever combined reunion during the July 4th weekend.

Festivities for the multi-class extravaganza, which includes members of the Classes of 1978, 1979 and 1980, will include an open house and an evening dinner reception on July 3rd.

Reunion organizers have been using the popular social networking site, Facebook, to bring the three classes closer.

Bloomington High School operated from 1886 through 1995, educating thousands of young men and women over the years, first from a location north of downtown on Congress Street (today’s Village Square Park) and finally from the Mill Street facility, built in 1960. BHS students wore blue and white, were cheered on by a “Fighting Bluejay” mascot (and were they themselves referred to as “Bluejays” in sports circles), and used the Notre Dame Victory March as their song.

When the Bloomington and West Grant school districts consolidated in 1995 and formed the River Ridge School District, the Bloomington High School facility became River Ridge Middle School.

A tribute to the graduates of Bloomington High School can be found at the Bloomington Village Square Park gazebo, which was dedicated at Bloomington’s sesquicentennial celebration in August 2005. A six-sided plaque at the center of the gazebo includes the engraved names of every BHS graduate, by year, over the school’s 100-year-run.

Thanks for Margaret Patterson for the information and photos.