After 50 years away, more than 30 Beavers converged on Zesto's across from Ballard High School Aug. 7 for a pre-reunion shindig bearing yearbooks, classic cars and a lifetime of stories.

Norm Gustafson, a member of the Ballard High School class of 1960, said it's funny how everyone has changed so drastically, but no one thinks they've changed.

Carol Strickland said the weekend's reunion events are going better than she expected. She said she remembers her classmates as young people without stories, but now they have done things that give them greater character and depth.

While standing in the Zesto's dining room, which was a popular hangout when his class was at Ballard, Ingvar Carlson said he is looking forward to the evening's official reunion for the camaraderie and the good, old-time craziness.

"Some of us are a little on the gray side," Carlson said. "But, one thing I've clued in on this the voices. They start talking, and, boom, it blasts you back."

Carlson said he is happy to see the updates, such as engineering classes and a plethora of computers, that have been made at his alma matter.

"Instead of being a dying school, they're taking the aggressive front," he said.

Jon Ness, a member of the class of 1960 and an organizer of the reunion events, said many of these former classmates haven't seen each other in years.

"I woke up this morning and had an emotional hangover," Ness said after a cocktail event the night before.

When you graduate high school and hear your 50-year reunion is in 2010, it sounds like its a thousand years away, Gustafson said. But, looking back, it's hard to see where the time went, he said.

Ballard Big Picture is a column of scenes from around the neighborhood. If you would like to submit a photo for use on this site and in the Ballard News-Tribune, please send it to Michael Harthorne at michaelh@robinsonnews.com. Be sure to include your name and information about your photo.