|
|
 |
|
STUCK TOGETHER  |
Conway reunion anyone?
They have 'em monthly!
By DAVID ZINMAN
of TheColumnists.com
Students graduating from high school in Conway, South
Carolina, in the midst of World War II have started a tradition
that is unique in their town of 10,000–probably in their
state and possibly in the country.
All other classes in this Southern town of 10,000 hold reunions
every five or 10 years. The 95 students of the Class of 1943
decided they would meet every month.
Today, 60 years later, they get together for lunch on the first
Thursday of every month. They've been doing that for 30 years.
As far as anyone knows, no other class in Conway (located about
15 miles west of Myrtle Beach)–or in South Carolina, or
perhaps in the whole U.S. for that matter–has held that
many reunions.
Why meet so often?
"Just because we want to," shrugged Betty Duke Allen,
whose father was related to the Dukes who founded the famous
North Carolina University. "It's really about friendship,"
she added. "We all like each other. Other class reunions
have boat rides and such. We just get together and talk."
It may be that the Class of 1943 stayed as close so long because
they shared indelible war memories. Many went right into the
service after graduation. Or maybe it's just that they found
they like being together, catching up, and revisiting their salad
days.
|
|
 |
|
were the host, Gen. James Vaught (in the green jacket, standing third from the right); Class Archivist Betty Duke Allen (in the red jacket, second from right). James Goldfinch is seated at the left and his high school sweetheart, Mozelle, is standing, fifth from the left, in the white jacket. |
"I won't say we were the brightest of students," said James "Tiger" Vaught, the football captain who became a veteran of three wars and retired as a three-star Army general. "Our mascot was a tiger. But in the yearbook, we had a picture of a buffalo. We also ran a picture of Joseph Stalin. For a class who couldn't tell the difference between a tiger and a buffalo and thought Joe Stalin was their friend, we did all right."
Vaught directed the ill-fated helicopter operaton that President Carter ordered in 1980 to rescue 53 American held hostage in Iran. A desert sand storm and mechancial failures that crippled five of the eight helicopters led to the mission's failure. The hostages eventually were released.
Today, Vaught and his classmates enjoy reliving old times, occasionally pouring over their old yearbook. The Class Prophecy correctly predicted Mozelle Floyd Goldfinch would become a teacher. But it was wrong when it forecast triplets for Irma Graham Cannon. She had only one child. And it strayed way off the mark when it prophesied a career as a Hollywood makeup artist for General Vaught.
But then everybody saw himself as a comic those days. People put their tongue firmly in cheek when in writing the Class Will:
--Earl Cherry left "all the chewing gum stuck in and around my desk in P.D. (Problems of Democracy) to anybody who cares to chew second-hand chewing gum."
-–Sescel Todd willed his zoot suit and bow tie to Oakley Herring, who was in the junior class.
-–Leila Paul and Pauline Prescott left their blonde hair to "anyone who will take the trouble to keep it blonde."
-–James Edward McGrew willed his "ability to cut school and to be late" to Billy Sessions. Now retired, Sessions became a distinguished author, playwright, and English professor at Georgia State University.
The red brick, two-story high school, now torn down, was on the site of the present Conway Middle School between Elm and Laurel avenues. Graduation in those days took place after the 11th grade–instead of the 12th.
As they start their 60th year reunions, 33 of the graduates are still alive–all in their 70s. For their January meeting, they held an oyster roast at Vaught's picturesque home overlooking the Waccamaw River.
Memories were bountiful–ranging from war stories to romances.
Bruce Chestnut of Murrells Inlet remembers his father had to walk across the stage on graduation day to get his diploma. Chestnut had enlisted in the Army. Before the year was out, he would fight in the Battle of the Bulge–the largest WWII land battle. The military became his career and he advanced from buck private to lieutenant colonel.
Also present at the January meeting were James and Mozelle Floyd Goldfinch. They were high school sweethearts who had a time-delayed relationship. James went off to war. When he came back, he and Mozelle found their relationship had altered.
"Time changes things," James said. Mozelle said: "Absence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder." They stayed friends but married different people. Their love story seemed over.
But in 1977, the unexpected happened–twice. Mozelle's husband, Billy Roy Nichols died. So did James's wife, Betty Jean Ford (whose father was county prosescutor). James and Mozelle started seeing each other again. Within about six months, wedding bells rang. This year, they will celebrate their 25th anniversary.
John Hardwick of Mount Pleasant, who says the 100 roundtrip miles he drives is the longest distance to the monthly reunions, was given the nickname "Cupid" by Florence Vaught, Class of 1944. Florence's first husband died in 1994. It was Hardwick who passed the word to Vaught that she was now a widow. The General knew a good woman when he saw one–even though some years had gone by since he had last set eyes on her. He called Florence, then living in Charlotte, N.C. Three years later, they were married.
About a third of the students
went to college. Notables include three ministers–Bruce
Hall, a Baptist; the late Claude Harper, Methodist; and Marion
Martin, who became a missionary to Italy (but whose faith no
one is sure about.) There were also several school teachers and
businessmen.
Though many went into the service, only one classmate was killed
in WWII. He was Henry "Buddy" Long, who left school
before graduation. No more information was available on him.
Joey Goldstein, who came from one of four or five Jewish families
then living in Conway, became a nationally known sports public
relations director. Among many events he regularly publicized
was the Millrose Games, the nation's oldest indoor track meet,
held in New York's Madison Square Garden. Goldstein started with
the class in the first grade. But he did not graduate because
his family moved when Joey was in the eighth grade.
Classmates said Allen is the glue that keeps this happy group
together. A retired legal secretary, she is class archivist who
maintains the records and sees that every one knows about the
next meeting.
In the beginning, only five or six came because everybody was
working. But since people have retired, the class gets many more,
usually about 15. Eleven class members and several spouses came
last week. "We meet for lunch at different places and talk
about everything from politics to whatever," Allen said.
She remembers the day gas rationing started because everyone
got a one-day holiday.
"Since the war was on, our class couldn't have a full-fledged
prom," she added. "But we were permitted to have a
barn dance in the gym. It was all very informal. In our senior
year–nothing."
And then once in a while, somebody brings out the old "Mirror"
Yearbook
that contains the Class Poem. The author, Betty Lou Wetmore,
who married
Carlton Todd, another Conway High graduate, now lives in Sumter.
She has never been able to come to any meetings. But she is there
in the nostalgic lines of her poem. The last lines she wrote
say:
"As we turn from
thee, our voices we raise
To sing our final hymn of praise.
For years to come, we'll always try
To bring only honour to Conway Hi."
©2003 by David Zinman. The Zinman caricature is ©2001
by Jim Hummel.
You
can comment on this column online. Please address your message
to either "The Editors" or David Zinman. To send an
email, click here: talkback@thecolumnists.com
| Home | About Us | Archives | Talkback | Shopping Mall |