I spent the past weekend in Danville, Virginia attending my husband's class reunion. He went to school at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, VA, but as it turns out, there's not much in Chatham other than the school, so we did a lot of driving back and forth between the towns.
He hadn't been back since he graduated in '88. He thoroughly enjoyed seeing his old classmates - most of which he hadn't seen since '88 - but he was saddened by the state of disrepair the school had fallen into, as well as the lack of discipline in general. Several of the alumni tried to prepare him, but he was still shocked by what we found.
Apparently, back in the day, they kept the floors so clean you could eat off them. Literally. They scrubbed the corners to get all the dirt out of them, put down bowling alley wax, and buffed the floors. The buffing pads were old and worn out, so they would put the smallest guy on top of the buffer to add weight, so they could get it done faster. Based on the stories I heard, they only had a few minor injuries... and if anyone did fall off and spill blood, they had to clean it up themselves. :D
Let me tell ya... ain't no one eating off those floors now! However, they apparently eat a lot in the stairwells, because there were food wrappers all over the place, as well as crushed chips and pretzels on the floor. And it was more than just a day's worth of crud. I was completely baffled. Even if that's the way the floors normally are, wouldn't you think they would've cleaned them up for THIS weekend? It was Homecoming! It's when people like my husband go back, filled with pride and love for the school that set them on the straight and narrow road, rather than the back-alley of a life some of them (like my hubby) were headed toward.
No one was filled with pride. Every single person we talked to said they wouldn't send their kid there now. I spoke with a man who graduated in '78 (he's the one that reminded me of my uncle that I talked about on Facebook), and he gave a few of the TACs hell about the state of barracks. There was a looooong thread on the school's facebook page last night, hundreds of comments from alumni who were upset and saddened by the state of affairs.
Hubs said he'll go back in five years to visit with friends, but he won't go every year (something we could do, now that he's retired). He's glad we went, but it was also bittersweet in a lot of ways.
What about you? Do you go to your class reunions? Are they all you'd hoped/expected?
I'm headed to Myrtle Beach this afternoon for a 36 hour writing sprint. I'm so far behind on the new series that I have to do something to try and get caught back up and get on track. I don't know if I'll have internet access or not, but I'll reply to comments as soon as I get back on Wed. night (if not before).
Have a great week!!!!!
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7 comments:
I have gone to some of them. We had a 5th and 10th that I went to. I would have gone to the 25th but it was the same week as our vacation. This year will be the 30th (yikes) and I'm not sure if I want to go. Probably depends how many of my friends go. I still keep in touch with my closer friends...some I have know since 1st grade!
I only live about 15 minutes from my high school and my kid's school plays against them for some sporting events so I have been back inside. I must say I think it looks better than when I went there which is saying much since the school building is over 60 years old.
Good luck and hope you get some writing done!
My 10 year reunion is coming up and I'm still local, but I'm not planning on going. They've booked a venue for the reunion and to me the price per person is crazy!
Lisa W
Sue - You and I graduated the same year!! I went to my 10th, but I haven't been to any since. I'm not sure if there have been any others, or not. I haven't heard anything so far this year, so I'm guessing there won't be a 30th either. I keep up with a few friends on FB, but the ones I interact with the most, aren't the ones I was closest to in school. :D
Lisa - Since you're local, do you run into a lot of classmates on a regular basis?
I haven't went I really didn't care for high school and what Few friends I had I stay in contact with.... But it was cool that you got to meet some VERY cool people!!! :)
Angela - That's the way I was too. I only had a few friends in high school, and I've actually lost touch with most of those. But I've really enjoyed some of the classmates that I've connected with on FB, that I wasn't friends with in school.
Angela - I didn't have many friends in high school either (I started a new school in 9th grade and I didn't know anyone!). I've lost touch with most of the friends that I did have, but I've enjoyed connecting with a few that I wasn't close to in school, but thoroughly enjoy on FB now.
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