NORCO— Ernest Parquet had a great time getting together with his high school friends for their 40 year class reunion. Parquet is one of the classmates from the 1976 Leon Godchaux High School senior class.

The class was one of the last ones to graduate from the school since the building burned down two years later leading to the construction of East St. John High School.

Parquet, reunion treasurer, said they had over 100 people attend on June 4.

“We had 61 classmates attend and we allowed them to bring a guest,” he said. “We also had three teachers that we voted on to attend and our principal. We were definitely happy with the turnout, initially we were planning for 75 total.”

As part of the celebration there was, of course, a time for people to socialize and catch up on old times, speakers, food and music.

“We actually played and sang our class song,” Parquet said. “We had a memorial tribute to all of the members of the class that had passed away. Then our principal said a few words and we acknowledged the teachers in attendance.”

Classmates in the military or those in political positions were also recognized.

Door prizes were also given out from companies that had donated to the event.

“Over the years our class has stayed close,” Parquet said. “We had a 10 year reunion but we didn’t have a 20 or a 30. We did have a core couple of folks who over the last couple of years have been doing things like Christmas parties and we even took a cruise in 2015.”

The class also holds meetings once a month where they recognize classmates’ birthdays.

“A Facebook page was made for the class,” Parquet said. “We’ve been posting pictures from the reunion and we’ve had so many members that have made so many positive comments. They talked about what a great time they had and how it was good seeing classmates they haven’t seen in a long time. It appears that everybody really enjoyed the reunion.”