Warm and pleasant greetings to all. We hope all of you are enjoying a good week.
The Retired Teachers Association Saturday breakfast on Aug. 31 was successful. The proceeds help with the RTA Scholarship Fund. Sevelda Taylor, RTA president, expresses thanks for the support and encouraging comments toward this project.
She further states that the organization is here to help the community achieve its education goals. RTA meets each second Tuesday beginning in September and continuing until May, but the beginning meeting for the 2024-25 term will be in October. Membership dues are payable.
Visiting with others, we understand the class reunions and some other gatherings over the Labor Day weekend were quite enjoyable.
Families members enjoyed their individual reunions along with some other activities in and around the community, including worship services on Sunday.
We were happy to see and to hear from others who took time to share a visit or call to greet us.
Thanks to the various classes remembering your teachers. We are all proud of you.
Speaking of reunions, I have not attended my high school reunion for several years now. The school’s reunion has always been held on Labor Day weekend, where all the graduates celebrated.
My high school, Union High (UHS) in Gallatin, Tennessee, was a small school. History dates back to Union Elementary and High School, where the first graduating class was in 1924.
Our parents graduated from UHS. My father was in the class of 1929 with seven other students. All eight students remained close friends for the remainder of their lives, the same with our mother and her classmates she always called friends! In 1950, a new Union High School was built.
My siblings and I attended and graduated from UHS before schools were integrated in 1970.
Union High School celebrated its 100-year reunion this past Labor Day weekend and it’s reported to be the most memorable of times. Some members of the first graduating class from the new UHS building in 1954 were present and recognized more than 70 years later.
Before Sumner County schools were desegregated, Union High School was the county’s first and only high school for black students. For almost four decades, the school’s memories, photos and trophies were displayed in the school’s hallways.
The Union High Resource Center, which was Union High School from 1951-1970, now displays photos of its graduating classes as far back as 1929, when it was in a building on Winchester Street. The school was opened in 1922. The space that once was UHS is now the home to Gallatin Shalom Zone, Mid-Cumberland Community Action Agency and other organizations.
Class reunions are still popular simply because there is a human urge to see and hear about our contemporaries. Somewhere, the records show about 40% of classmates attend at least one reunion. Typically, attending are those who were popular in high school, participated in extracurricular activities or retained friendships.
What do you say? Its reason is with the individual, I think. Occasionally, I reminisce about those old school days, looking through my high school journal, and high school class night and graduation programs. I occasionally wear my high school ring, too!
Enjoy life today. Be blessed.
