School Reunions

We have a school reunion every 5 years, and it's that time again. The school in our community is a consolidated school, and is called Riverside. When I was in school, it was just plain Lake City. We didn't have other schools among us. We were pure.

We now gather to remember that school, see old friends and classmates, and spend time thinking about how much everyone else has aged. Our school came into existence in 1929 with a graduating class of 9, and in the year 1985 had it's final graduation of 24. That's not very large classes considering some schools graduate hundreds each year, but we are very proud of our graduates.

We have lost most of those from the early classes. If you graduated in the first class and were seventeen, you would now be 108. When we met yesterday, we determined the oldest living graduate is from the class of 1942. He is 85. Our last graduating class is now 40. Our group is aging and eventually there won't be anyone left who remembers the Alma Mater, or that we were proud to be the mighty, mighty Catfish. Which brings up another point. We were one of two schools in the US that had unusual mascots. Why, you ask, would anyone want to be a fish that is the bottom feeding scavenger of the river? Well, our town is built on the banks of the St.Francis river, and we are known for producing some of the best catfish in the tri-state area. I don't know who picked the mascot. Maybe the child of a fisherman from that first class of 1929. Who knows. But we were proud to be called catfish and many of us own license plates that have our beloved mascot on it displayed on the front of our vehicles.

Those who met yesterday have a lot of work ahead, geting letters out, working on the program, finding entertainment, planning the meal, making sure everything is in place so that everyone who comes will have a great time.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful day. Pray for our troups. Love one another.