The record player, yearbook, megaphone and football pictured on this weekend’s reunion invitation are small symbols of another time — school songs, Friday-night games, favorite records and names signed inside a yearbook. On Saturday, some of the people who remember those years firsthand will have a chance to sit down together again.

New Glarus High School’s Class of 1961 will mark its 65th reunion this Saturday, Oct. 10, at Edelweiss Chalet Golf Country Club, W4764 Edelweiss Road. But organizers are opening the gathering much wider than a traditional single-class reunion: all New Glarus High School graduates from 1949 through 1972, along with their spouses, are invited to attend.

Heidi Vetterli, who is assisting the organizers, emphasized that the expanded invitation is intentional. “It’s just amazing what Rosemary (Kaeser) Wieland is trying to do and the effort she is making to bring people back together," she said.

The gathering also has a more personal purpose. It is being held in memory of Paul “Jake” Wieland, Rosemary Wieland’s husband, while also welcoming his brother, Rudy Wieland, back to New Glarus. Vetterli described the day as both a Class of 1961 reunion and a celebration of life for Paul Wieland.