Class of '60 hangs on another year!

This photo of the Dexter Class of 1960 was taken on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 at our 50th reunion. Though it looks like a good turnout, keep in mind that there were exactly 100 in the class, and 27 of the group have gone to meet their maker. I count 47.

Rumor has it that Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010 was going to be the last high school class reunion for the Dexter Class of 1960. I think I've made it to three or four of them over the last 50 years. That's probably why the various organizers have decided not to do it again. Once every five years doesn't seem too difficult a task - but the next five years will bring a LOT of changes.

I think Dixie (Nea) Mangrum and Russell Layton may have been the ones in charge this year. If I'm right - thanks, you two - because I had a very good time and got a huge kick out of seeing my old classmates!

Maybe it's just me, but they didn't seem as OLD as they did at the 2000 reunion ten years ago. What does that say?

I think my husband's class ('59) always classified my class as "Goody Two-Shoe-ers." I'm not sure why that was, but in my gullible, naive high-school mind, I always considered us as being a little more innocent (do I hear laughing?) and less driven by beer and cigarettes than his class was. Mmm...Maybe I'm still a bit naive....??

It would be interesting to do a little informal study on the two classes to see which one has lost more members. I was pleased to see that Ruth Ann Williams had commemorated the fallen with a poster, showing the photos of our classmates who were gone.

If these blogs had the capacity to allow more than one photo, I could flash on the screen a photo of the poster. Seeing the faces, as they were in high school, really brings it home. How could they be gone?

I can't give all of the names of my classmates in this current picture. I never knew ALL of them, and I still don't.

Another picture I wish I could put in here for a comparison is the one that they had on top of the reunion cake. Dixie told me on Facebook that it was a shot of us at 8th grade graduation. That makes sense, since I don't remember our getting all garbed up in puffy white organza and chiffon skirts for our graduation picture. The comparison between the two photos could move you to tears!

We were so young and so fresh! We had our whole lives before us, with no clue as to how long we would live - whether we would find love right away or have to marry an assortment of people before we found the "one" - or maybe we never would. We girls played games to "predict" how many children we would have. How many of the games were accurate, I wonder?

Sorry I've been so long getting this blog written - I hope that at least some of my classmates will check back to see it. Jerry Palmer and Connie (Joseph) Oliver were two of the ones who had come the farthest - he from....oh, dear...Washington? Oregon? and she from California (yes, I'm sure of that).

I wish we had played that song I remember from bus trips to ball games...."Heart of My Heart." The class sang it every time a group got together...."Heart of my heart, I love that melody. Heart of my heart, brings back those memories...when we were kids on the corner of the street...We were rough and ready guys, but oh, how we could harmonize...I know my eyes would glisten if once more I could listen to that gang that sang heart of my heart...."

Thanks for the memories, guys! Are we doing it again next year, before too many of us are gone forever?