Howard Fogel had an idea a few years back to have a class reunion.

“We picked the fifth grade at Wolf School (now the site of Bath Borough’s municipal building) because that was the last year everybody was from Bath,” he explained. “After that, kids came in from all over.”

Moore Township was considered a foreign land back then. Fogel’s class was the 1947-48 school year.

“We started a reunion in 2010 and thought it would be good to ask some of the teachers to join us,” Fogel said. “We found Mrs. (Elizabeth) Gehring, our music teacher.”

Gehring joked about her invitation.

“They took me in because I was the only one that wasn’t dead,” joked Gehring, who is celebrating her 98th year. “They had a party for me when I was 97, but we’re going to have a big bash for my 100th.”

Gehring keeps active with her friends while she lives in the independent-living wing at Fellowship Community, Whitehall.

She stayed in Bath for a while but had part-time jobs in Nazareth and Coplay.

Her husband, Charlie, took a job as superintendent at Northwestern Lehigh School District.

“We moved out there (Schnecksville) while he had that job, but it became too much once we got older. We lived in Emmaus, and then after Charlie passed away, I moved here (Fellowship Community),” she said.

Kelly Gould, vice president of development and marketing at Fellowship, alerted The Press to this unusual reunion.

“Elizabeth is one of our residents, and we thought the whole idea was grand,” she said.

Gould hosted a dinner for the group March 9.

“It’s the kind of thing we like to do for our residents,” she said.

The reunion group loved the event, filled with stories galore.

“Most of us stayed in the area, so we see each other,” Fogel said.

The class still refers to their former teacher as Mrs. Gehring.

“I think there was a lot more mutual respect back then,” Gehring said.

A 1935 graduate of Nazareth High School, she received her teaching certificate from West Chester in 1939.

“It was tough then ’cause none of the schools had any money during the Depression,” Gehring said. “I had a couple of part-time jobs.”

Part of getting together at a reunion is telling stories. The classic storyteller is Allen Haidle.

“It’s rather a boring group without Allen,” Elsie Dettmer Carraghan said.

Gehring confirmed the suspicion: “I never made him stand in the corner but I sent him home with a note to his mother.”

A few of the class remembered a funny story or two.

“We always had to sing at the end of class,” Marjorie Rice Sloyer said. “I still have the yellow song book we used.”

Gehring has two yellow books and a couple of pitch pipes.

“I played the piano because it was the only way I could keep them in tune,” she said.

Gehring is an enthusiastic supporter of the Bach Choir.

“I used to sing with them, but I can’t hear the depth like I used to,” she said.

Gehring can trace her lineage back to the John Fries Rebellion against property taxes imposed by President John Adams.

“When we started this reunion, we only had one meeting. Now we get together about four times a year. In August, we have our annual picnic,” Fogel said.

His wife, Shelba, helps him coordinate the reunion.

“Most of the time, we can’t remember what we had for breakfast, but we can remember what we did in grade school,” Carraghan quipped.

“We have been pretty consistent in getting together. It’s a way for us to laugh at the things we did back then,” Carl “Cash” Hartzell said.

The group’s annual picnic is still on for August and planning is underway for Gehring’s 100th birthday celebration.