THE 2006 REUNION IN ALBUQUERQUE
*********************************************
MIL:
*****
The CHS Class of '51, since graduation, has
had ten reunions. The years for these were 1961,
1976, 1981, 1986, 1991, 1996, 2001, 2003, 2006,
and 2008.
Through the 1996 reunion, the class met in Clovis,
in the the shadow of Seventh and Main, almost
holy ground to an old Clovis kid. These reunions
were skillfully planned by Gsne and Phyllis Walker
and other '51 grads living in Clovis.
A fellow CHS '51 graduate, Jimmy Whatley, planned
a special reunion, and pulled it off, mostly by himself--
way down in the middle of Texas Hill Country at
Kerrville, Texas, in 2003. Jim was always a congenial
and much-loved member of the class.
Partly due to airline convenience and other factors,
Wanda King Snipes took over the planning of the
reunions, with her husband, Art---and the latest two
reunions were held at a fine hotel in Albuquerque.
She was assisted in carrying out these events by
the Walkers, Sierens, and others.
SHADE GOAR:
****************
The thing I remember about the '06 reunion is noon
on Saturday. Most of the classmates
went shopping. Art and Wanda, Jim Whatley and his
wife, Edith, Sherman and his wife, Marcia Stebbins,
Bob Stebbins, I, and some others were sitting at the
big round table in the meeting room, talking.
Something was said about lunch. Wanda suggested
we get the left-overs from the fridge in Gene and
Phyllis's room. We got the leftovers and for the next
2 1/2 to 3 hours sat around telling stories and laughing,
and eating!
When we broke up, Sherman's wife told me that she
had been irritated because he didn't want to go
shopping. but she was glad that he hadn't wanted to go.
MIL:
*****
Shade--- Donna and I were one of the couples in
that little meeting room, while all our fellow guys from
CHS '51 were out shopping with their wives (and
having the time-of-their-lives.) That little session was
maybe the most-fun class encounter ever--- for Shade
didn't mention it, but Sherman, who was earlier in his
life a military jet pilot---and of all things---Art was a former
pilot, (and most of us didn't know that) ...and I'll tell you, the
funny stories flew "thick" back and forth. It was a treasure-
of-an-encounter
Right in the middle, Erlene Hren, CHS '53 came into the
bull session and Jim Whatley and Edith left with her. We
ate-up most of the cold cuts left from Friday night.
Marcia Stebbins told Wanda later on that it was the best
reunion she'd ever attended..."mainly because of Shade
and Mil..." That was nice, and I asked Shade: "What did
we do?"
But soon after, along The Trail, several classmates were
to leave us---Jimmy Whatley, Jerry Roberts, Marcia
Stebbins, Wanda Snipes, and Sherman Williams.
SHADE GOAR:
****************
When Art took me and Bob Stebbins to the airport, we
had some time to visit about our lives as kids, and how
little we knew about each other. I lived out in the
country, rode the bus, and did not socialize back in town.
I didn't know you were just an "old farm boy" like me.
A note about Noel Dougherty---he was one of our first
classmates to start the first grade at a three-teacher
school---first through eighth grades. The school was
called Claud. It was located 13 miles north and one east
of Clovis---on the northeast corner of a section of land,
which at the time was owned by Claud Gamble.
The five classmates were Dave Collins, Noel Dougherty,
Sue Taylor, Bob Wilhite, and me--Shade Goar. Dave and
I were the only ones to go through the sixth grade at
Claud.
Noel's family moved to Yeso for a time. Sue's family
moved into town Clovis for awhile, but I believe she
finished the sixth grade at Claud. Bob's family moved
down close to town before we finished the sixth grade.
In 1946 my father bought the section of land from Mr.
Gamble, and the school property eventually reverted
to Dad. Wanda King (Snipes) and her brothers also
attended Claud for two or three years. She told me
she started there in the third grade.
MIL:
*****
On the last (Sunday) day of the '06 reunion, as many
of us old CHS '51 friends were eating that great free
breakfast there at the hotel.... early that morning before
departure, I was eating breakfast with Jim Whatley.
He got up from his chair, and said: "Don't tell Edith,
but the biscuits and gravy are so good, I'm having
some more!"
some more!"
As we sat there, with Jim at the end of the table,
and me on his right, Don Todd came up and there
being no chair on Jim's left, Don just kneeled and
we got into a discussion of computers...Jim loved
his computer, and I'll never forget Don listening
to Jim with wide-eyed-respect, kneeling there,
listening. Those guys were very fond of each other.
That was the last time I ever saw Jim, and we had
been in bi-weekly touch by emails. Don flew to
Kerrville for Jim's service. I have a tape.
The '08 reunion was held at the same hotel, (nice
accommodations there) and planned well by Wanda
Snipes. On the last Sunday morning, Don Todd and
I wound up at the same table, this time without Jim
Whatley, and we had a nice talk over breakfast,
about our histories and experiences, as the meeting
was ending
As we talked, my photographic memory, flashed up
a photo I took one morning about sixty years earlier
of Don---standing by his Cushman, in front of
Murphy's Grocery...one morning before school...
as if he were going in for a loaf of bread.
Yes, a lot of water had passed under the bridge
in those sixty long years.
Wanda was planning, in her mind, that we would
have another reunion, but at a dinner at our house
August of '09, she indicated to me that she might
not "be up" to doing another one.
*******30*******
BY SHADE GOAR, CHS '51
and MIL
10-02-14
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