Victoria Composite High School’s Class of 1976 held its fifth reunion this year, marking 50 years since graduation. About 50 people attended the gathering in Edmonton, where former classmates renewed a tradition of meeting every decade to catch up and remember their teenage years.

The school is now known as Victoria School of the Arts, at 101 Street and 108 Avenue. Dave Monilaws, the class president in 1976, told CTV News Edmonton on Sunday outside the building that seeing former classmates brings back “all of the memories that we shared up to that point.” He said, “Everybody’s changed in their own little ways. But you still recognize them and recognize who they are.”

Organizers estimate about 700 students were in Grade 12 at Victoria in 1976, including 350 graduates. This year’s event was one of many 50-year graduation milestones celebrated by school classes in Edmonton and around the world. The Class of ’76 is already planning another gathering: a joint 70th birthday celebration in two years.

Debbie Pietrzykowski, the class’s media coordinator, said a Facebook group has made it easier to keep classmates informed and connected. “We keep telling people to join,” she said. “We’re always posting on social media and keeping people up to date, so that’s been the easiest way. In the beginning, reunions were basically organized through word of mouth or email. People changed their email addresses or phone numbers, but on Facebook, everybody pretty much stays the same, so that’s our biggest way of communicating with classmates.”

Before social media, organizers spread news of the reunions by word of mouth. The class’s 1976 graduation came in the era of bell-bottom jeans, leaded gasoline and the beginning of disco. CTV News Edmonton’s Miriam Valdes-Carletti contributed to the report.

Based on reporting by CTV News Edmonton.