Barry Sammartino was one of the most popular students back in high school, well known for his long blond locks, aqua marine eyes and a born-to-smile perma-grin.
You can add Sexiest Man Alive from the Class of 1975 to his repertoire, a prestigious award he was given during the recent Vernon Senior Secondary School鈥檚 (VSSS) 50-year reunion dinner/dance at the Elks Hall.
Brian Hunt, who recently retired after working a zillion years for Tolko, and Neil Herzog, who sold a Boston Pizza up north a few years ago, were runner-ups in the Sexiest Man voting. Herzog and his wife Shirley made the long trek from Grande Prairie. Both Hunt and Herzog have been close to Sammartino since high school.
A total of 101 grads attended the bash which was mainly organized by Renee de Tourdonnet, Dawn Bennetto and Martin Van Essen. Volunteers from the Elks cooked up a delicious turkey and ham dinner.
Emcee Kevin Mitchell, who was editor of the VSSS yearbook and newspaper 50 years ago, handed out numerous Dollar Store gifts for various categories and trivia questions to jumpstart the evening. Mitchell said Sammartino, who recently moved back to Vernon from the Coast, won the Sexiest Man award in a close vote.
鈥淪ammy is highly deserving of this award,鈥� said Mitchell. 鈥淗e hasn鈥檛 stopped smiling since grad. The ladies loved his soft-spoken and kind demeanor.鈥�
Bev Dede, who turned heads in high school and was raised in Coldstream, took the Sexiest Female ahead of Marilyn Sawatsky and Kathryn Brown. Dede and Sawatsky still live in Vernon, while Brown calls Victoria home.
Top Academic Male went to Mike Farynuk, who narrowly defeated Pat Quain and Norm Sanderson. The top Academic Female honour was presented to Bennetto ahead of De Tourdonnet and Cindy Lalonde.
Mitchell poked fun at himself, noting he had just paid off his school loan. He added that he went to an antique shop and they wouldn鈥檛 let him leave. Some attendees laughed. Some didn鈥檛.
Trivia questions ranged from what subjects did Lunky Fulton and Anna Cail teach (biology and English literature) and who won the Stanley Cup in 1975 (Philadelphia Flyers).
Grads were also asked who Catherine Irons鈥� husband Pat Steward played drums for: Bryan Adams, The Odds or Sweeney Todd. Steward drums for both Adams and The Odds. Irons and Steward are currently following Adams鈥� Euro Tour.
The No. 1 pop song in 1975 was Love Will Keep Us Together by Captain and Tennille. The same year, the Edmonton Eskimos won the Grey Cup and the Cincinnati Reds took the World Series.
In 鈥�75, VSSS students often met on Friday nights, pulling mainers (cruising up and down Barnard Avenue), gathering at bush parties and going to rec centre dances featuring bands like Heart, Rage, the Karroll Brothers of Kamloops and Synergy.
A cheeseburger cost 30 cents at McDonalds and a can of Coke went for 20 cents.
