'It's the last hurrah' - Lincoln Southeast's Class of 1965 Reunites One More Time
Alyssa Johnson  Lincoln Journal May 10, 2025

Jim Moses (from left), Nan Webster, Bill Nefsky, Debbie Nefsky, Tedda Watts and Dean-Ross Schessler smile for a photograph taken by Joel Green at the end of a tour of Robber's Cave on Friday. Members of Lincoln Southeast High School's class of 1965 toured the old hangout spot as part of a number of activities planned this weekend for the class' last reunion. 

This weekend is all about memories for Lincoln Southeast High School’s Class of 1965.
For some, it’s memories of carving their initials into Robber’s Cave or hanging out with friends on a Friday night at King’s.

For most of them, it’s one final chance to reunite with classmates while reliving some of their teenage years.

Sixty years after crossing the stage and getting their diplomas, more than 75 classmates gathered together in Lincoln to celebrate with one another and remember the "good ol’ days." This is the seventh reunion for the Southeast Knights of ’65 — and their last.

“It’s the last hurrah, and so that’s why you want to make the most of whatever moment that you have,” alumna Nan Webster said.

Webster said they’ve lost many classmates over the years. Others can’t travel for various reasons.

“That’s just part of life and you don’t ever think you’re going to get here and we’re here,” Webster said. “You can still celebrate people’s lives even when they’re gone and remember them and remember the good things.”

While the alumni group has dwindled in size, Webster said those who are still able to gather can reflect on their memories on a more heartfelt level now.

“I think as you get older, the memories become more important than anything, because that’s something they can’t take away,” Webster said. “It just brings back some beautiful memories of connections with people, things that you’ve done, things that you’ve shared with people.”

The reunion weekend kicked off Friday with a tour of Robber’s Cave. The tour was originally booked in 2020 for the class' 55th anniversary, but it was canceled along with the rest of the reunion weekend due to the pandemic.

Jim Moses crouches as he makes his way through a tunnel connecting different rooms Robber's Cave on Friday.

Five years later, five alumni gathered together Friday morning as they revisited the underground hangout spot where many Lincoln teenagers spent their time.

The tour reminded Tedda Watts of her first kiss with her husband in Robber’s Cave as a junior in high school.

“We’re all 78 now, which is stifling,” Watts said. “We remember being young and running around.”

Watts, who lives in Lincoln, said it was overwhelming to see the cave for the first time in more than 60 years. As a small child, she often visited to play tag.

“I just remember going in and then that circle kind of thing, that’s all the further we went,” Watts said. “It wasn’t lit up like this … it looked spooky.”

Back then, there was a little hideaway spot that had different names, including the “kissing nook.” Watts said they would sneak into the cave with their flashlights and hang out.

Bill Nefsky and his wife traveled from Georgia for the reunion weekend. Nefsky said he thought it was a great idea to start the weekend festivities with a blast from the past.

“As a grown-up, you just see stuff so totally different than as a kid,” Nefksy said.

Jim Moses traveled in from Arizona and said he remembered hiding in Robber’s Cave as a child. As a ninth grader, he remembered one boy brought cigarettes with them and they would all hide away from their parents in the cave to smoke.

“We had to get a ride out here and then we got in the cave and then tried to lose our parents,” he said.

The reunions have changed over the years. When they first started in 1975, Webster said everyone was excited about their new careers and marriages. As they kept going, the talking points became their children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren.

“It’s hard to believe you’re here and it’s hard to believe where did the time go,” Webster said. “It makes you grateful to look at where you’ve been and the friends you’ve had and very grateful for the life that you have now and that you’re still here.”

When Webster was growing up, she said Lincoln was much smaller and people didn’t leave as much. Many of her classmates went all the way from kindergarten to their senior year of high school.

Dean-Ross Schessler admires the carving inside Robber's Cave on Friday.

By the time they graduated in 1965, the men were growing their hair out while women wore shorter skirts. The average cost of gas was 31 cents a gallon and a new house was a mere $13,600.

Each reunion weekend, the alumni make time to visit Southeast High School to see how much the building has changed.

“Sometimes just wandering the hall just brings back certain memories again,” Webster said. “Sometimes it seems so big, but now it looks a little bit smaller. It’s all your perspective of where you are in life.”

When she was a student, there weren’t women in sports, but there were intramural options. Without many electronics, most of their time was spent outside at places like at King’s Food Host, an old restaurant at 40th and South streets.

Other reunion activities over the weekend will include a tour of the Museum of American Speed, visiting the Pershing Mural at Wyuka, and a double date night with the Lincoln High School Class of 1965. There was also a buffet of favorite foods from local hot spots such as Runza, Lee’s Chicken Restaurant and Valentino’s. 

John Tidball helped plan the reunion and said it’s difficult to find classmates since many aren’t on social media, but he’s looking forward to meeting people he didn’t know from their class of more than 400 students.

“For me, it’s not as much getting together with maybe the handful of friends that I had in high school, but maybe checking in with some people that I didn’t really know that well in high school, and I regret it,” Tidball said.

Some alumni have kept together with virtual book clubs or meeting up, but Tidball said as they are getting older, it’s become more clear to him that it’s important to take it all in this weekend.

“I think that there’s going to be people that, like me, think, ‘Gosh, if I don’t see so and so this week or this year or touch base with them somehow, I might never see them again,’” Tidball said.