Page 173 - some-stuff-i-wrote-and-some-stuff-i-didn't-(2011)-h-morris-williams

Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams

A Different Reunion

November 15,1994

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A DIFFERENT REUNION... The CHS Class of 1941 held their 53 class reunion this past
October and it was different from other class reunions in two ways. First, the reunion was held

outside Lake City, in Dowling Park - so the class members could be free from any distraction or
interruption. Second, the reunion lasted three whole days - so the members could have generous

time to just relax and talk. How did this new arrangement work out? According to member Buck
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Parker, it worked so well the class plans to do the same thing for their 55 reunion in 1996.
This class of 1941 has reunions that are different in another way. The local people also meet
monthly for small reunions. They all love each other so they meet often to greet and eat and enjoy

themselves. Then, of course, they have their big reunions every two years. AJso, this class was one
of the first to invite former teachers to attend all of their reunions. Some who have attended over
the years have J. B. Johnson, Sam Eff, Dan Folsom, Meriba Ogden, and principal, Jerome Eastham.

Nineteen-forty-one was a special year to those 90 CHS graduates who left school and went
out into a world at war. That year the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, New York Yankees’ baseball

star Joe Dimaggio hit in 56 straight games. Cheerios cereal was first introduced and a loaf of bread
cost nine cents. Since 1941,25 class members have died but miraculously none were killed in World
War II, though many served.

Another unusual fact — the outstanding and beloved Donald Cason served as class president
for 50 years, conducting all class meetings and reunions, until his death in 1992. Since Don’s death,

Kay Kurtz, Buck Parker and Bobbie Sue Wade Blanton have taken a turn at leading the class.
The classmates also updated their class slogan to accommodate their senior citizens’ status.

In 1941, the teenagers’ graduation motto was “We have climbed the hill — yonder lies the mountain.”
Now in 1994, these bright-eyed seniors say, “We have climbed the mountain. Now we can rest and
enjoy the view!”

Obviously, this class of 1941 has many distinctions but one was especially unusual — their
senior year lasted just eight months because the school system had a money shortage. They

graduated early on April 28, 1941.

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