Thomas Wolfe was wrong. On July 30, 2005 thirty-six members of our class "went home again" and it was everything we could have hoped it would be.

Was it good planning or dumb luck that the Morgan County Fair was being held at our old high school on the same weekend as our reunion? I was delighted to have the opportunity to tour the building. What used to be the front entrance is now the back entrance but the auditorium and the gym are still in the same place. Of course, I cried when I walked into the auditorium. So many memories came rushing back. The balcony has been enclosed and looks like it must be a projection room. Too bad, some real good memories were engendered up there! The seats have been recovered and the ironwork has been painted but is still the same. Remember that arrowhead design at the end of each row of seats? Of course, the softball field is still the same and I think I recognized the bleachers on the football side of the field. Could they still be the same ones? Surely not. The fair itself was a bit tame. No rides and no exhibits. What makes it a fair?

We went back to the Lodge and took a nap, then on to the reunion at 6:00.

The Millstone Restaurant is a very convenient setting for a large gathering with plenty of room for both dining and socializing. To me the food was incidental to the socializing and I would have been happy with just a table full of hors d’oeuvres. I was too excited to eat. Good thing, because they ran out of chicken and beef before we made it up to the buffet table. They finally brought out more chicken but I never did see any more beef.

Bill Michael, our host, finally got us settled down and gave a report on the scholarship fund. Our CD totals $6,700 with an additional $300 being held in a checking account to cover next year’s recipient. Sure would be nice if we could get it up to around $13,000. We could then raise the scholarship amount to $500 and pay it from the interest earned each year. Fund would be self-sustaining. I plan to add the scholarship fund to my will in the near future. If we all did that for as little as $200 each we would reach that goal and the scholarship would continue in perpetuity. Think about it.

Billy then read us a letter from Kent McBee written last year. He had planned to attend the reunion up until just a few months ago. He didn’t quite make it. This called for a moment of silence for all our departed classmates and the invocation was then given by John Morgret.

Dinner was followed by photo ops. I wasn’t counting but I’d guess there are at least 50 pics of each of us out there somewhere! The few photos my husband took turned out terrible so you will not see them here (or anywhere). Can’t wait to see the ones Henry and Bob McCoy took. Oh yes, Patricia Stotler was recognized as having the best long-term memory for being the first classmate to answer all three trivia questions correctly. (Mrs. Talbot was Minnie Mouse. Miss Lillie Rockwell had the dipping dress. Jack Fisher bore #1 on his football jersey.)

Someone asked where the band was so we could dance. Too bad Sammy Moss’ band couldn’t be there (was their name something like "Blue Ridge Mountain Boys"?), or maybe the Rhapsodiers, our own BSHS combo. Perhaps next time we could have at least some 50s music on tape. (I still have some great 45’s but nothing to play them on.) Then we girls could dance with each other the way we used to in gym class. Remember?