Killarney area resident, Neil Bell, is looking for fellow graduates, students and alumni of the University of Manitoba's 1971 Diploma of Agriculture Class.  

The idea of a reunion came quite by accident, as Bell connected with fellow graduate, Paul Gervais.  "I called a friend of mine who I went to university with, and he called me back about an hour later and asked me what I thought about the idea of calling a few guys and see if we can get face to face with some of our classmates," he explains.

"So, it kind of developed into trying to reach as many as we could so that we could get together and see each other again, it's been a long time," he adds.

The last reunion for this class was in 1996, but since then many of the classmates have moved or changed their phone numbers or passed away.  Neil Bell and Paul Gervais are struggling to find contact information for fellow classmates, and alumni who might want to join the reunion.

"This is an invitation to all classmates and faculty who were part of the 1971 University of Manitoba Diploma of Agriculture Class to come to a class reunion this November 15th. It has been 26 years since we had our last reunion and some people have moved or changed phone numbers and some numbers are no longer in a phone directory, so it is a challenge to get in touch with everyone. We are asking that people would phone us and let us know if you are able to come," invites Bell.

"I have talked to a few people so far and we are all looking forward to re-connecting with friends we have not seen in a long time," he says.  "Most of us haven't seen each other for 26 years and some of the gentlemen I haven't seen since we graduated, and that's 51 years ago."

"We haven’t picked a location or venue yet. We would like to get an idea how many are coming and then pick a central location. It has been suggested to keep this simple to allow us to visit with each other and catch up on the past, so we are planning to meet mid-afternoon and visit into the evening. We will call or text everyone who has indicated an interest in coming with final details," notes Bell.

Please call Neil Bell at 204-534-5423 or Paul Gervais at 204-955-6324 for more information.

Listen to the rest of this interview with Neil Bell and CJRB's Betty Sawatzky: