A 2016 Mini-Reunion of the
BY High Class of 1960

Walt Layton, Bob Clark & Lance Rich



OK, there are three of us sitting in the East Fork Grill about to have breakfast. It’s late May or early June of 2016 -- at our age, we don’t have to be totally correct about the date.

The breakfast is a spur of the moment thing. I was in town for some high school graduations and had some time on my hands, so I made a couple of calls and it turned out that the three of us could all be there at 9 a.m. on the appointed day.

We were part of the gang that graduated from BY High in 1960. We are now all about 73 years old, give or take a few months.

We have a ton of things in common. The BY High experience gives us a unique view of life.

As we sit and eat our forbidden breakfasts of eggs, bacon, and ham and for Walt and me, béarnaise sauce, we visit some of the many common experiences we had.

For us, Walt Layton, Bob Clark and me -- Lance Rich -- we could talk about all of these things: Marching Band, Concert Band, Chorus, Seminary, 250-A, Zesto, Anna B. Hart, our first serious girlfriends, nights in Rock Canyon, and heading off to the Army at Fort Ord, California, shortly after graduation.

There is more, and the list goes on and on. Amazing.

We sat there and talked and joked for over 2 hours. Those hours covered only a small part of what we could have shared.

We talked about other friends from the class. How they were now, or even wondering where they were -- and then, sadly, about some who are now gone.

And we all had stories about how health issues had become a big part of our lives. We noticed that all three of us had hearing aids. We all had less hair where we wanted it, hair in places we never expected, peepers to help us see, belts that were a size larger than we wanted, a thing called “turkey neck” that we hated -- at least I can admit that, bad knees or hips, the need to hit the men’s room a little more often than we wanted -- I could go on.

What a great time! I need to mention a little about Bob and Walt that is important.

Bob Clark landed at UVU -- Utah Valley University as it’s called today. He was directly involved in management for many years. One of his roles there was to help guide the process of the huge and rapid expansion of the campus. I know that he is proud of that and deserves to be. It’s a great legacy.

Walt Layton went on to teach and became a great educator. He began as an elementary school teacher for a time, and went on to become a school Principal. He served in the role for many years and I know that he was an influence for good in the lives of thousands of young people.

For me, Lance Rich, I was a guy who worked for many companies in various executive roles. As I look back, almost all of those companies have been acquired or have merged with others. There is little evidence of any contribution from me for those years.

I envy the legacy of people like Bob and Walt. No matter what we did, I know that each of us gives credit to BY High for creating in us values that helped us be successful in our chosen careers.

We were all aware of the special experience that BY High was for us. The senior class of 1960 numbered about 60 people. I had just come from a graduation for a local Utah Valley high school where there were approximately 750 graduates.

What a difference for us at BYH. With 60 classmates, we knew everyone. We shared a common experience and it was special.

We three agreed to meet again. As three members of the Class of 1960, we represented approximately 5% of the class. Based on that, we decided that we had enough of us there to call the gathering “a mini reunion of the Senior Class of 1960”.

For any classmates reading this -- please come join us next time! We love you all.


BYH Class of 1960
BYH Class of 1960