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Some Stuff I Wrote (2001) H. Morris Williams

followed by James E. Breen’s one year.
Student Body Presidents: Julian Collins (1962) and Jack Meeks (1969) were the only

student body presidents of the 1960s to also be class valedictorian. Student body president Ray
Williams (1964) was killed in Vietnam.

Schoo! Superintendents: Buford Galloway served the first nine years of the 1960s. Silas
Pittman the other year, 1968-69.

Senior Class Presidents: John Wolfe was the only senior class president of the 1960s who
was also class valedictorian. Sign of the times: Every senior class president and every student body

president was male during the ten-year period of the 1960s.
Valedictorians: Twice there were co-valedictorians (1963: Mary Carol Halbrook and

Marylee Phillips; 1966: John Wolfe and John Lockett). Two valedictorians were sisters: Mary lee
Phillips (1963) and Suzanne Phillips (1967). Julian Collins’ (1962) son Justin would become

CHS co-valedictorian thirty-one years later, making them the first father-son valedictorian
combination in CHS history. John Wolfe’s mother, Dorothea Rountree, was CHS valedictorian

in 1938 so Dorothea and John were the first mother-son valedictorian combination in CHS history.
Salutatorians: There were two co-salutatorians in the 1960s. Dale Pigott and Danny

Squillace (1965) would be followed by Joyce Williams and Linda Turner in 1966. Lydia Estess
(1964) who graduated June 1, was killed in a car accident in August at age 18.

Baccalaureate Speakers: All were local ministers. The Rev. E. F. Montgomery, Sr.
spoke twice (1966, 1968). The Rev. W. McLaurine Hall (1969) is the only still active local

minister. All “services” were held in the CHS auditorium 1960-64. Then when the 1965 class came
along with 230 members, they needed more seating space so they moved to Memorial Stadium.

Then they went back to CHS auditorium in 1969, even though the class had 243 members - crowd
size was controlled through the use of admission tickets.

Exchange Students: Lorna Noel France Stammers from England (1964) became the first
exchange student to graduate from CHS, followed in succeeding years by students from the

Netherlands, Chile, Brazil, Sweden and Australia.
Prayers at Graduations Programs: All ten CHS graduation programs from 1960-69 began
with an invocation and ended with a benediction. Each prayer was given by a male class member.

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