GHS grads attend all-school reunion

Gainesville High School on Saturday swarmed with graduates young and old – or perhaps old and older – as it celebrated its every-five-year, All-School Reunion. Chairperson Paula Herd Rose (class of 1979) said 150 people attended the event, which included two hours of mingling, visiting, enjoying refreshments and tours of the high school building beginning at 9 a.m. followed by a program in the gym at 11 a.m. 

Most of the out-of-town attendees (and many of the local residents) had not been inside the school since the building's latest additions and were curious to explore the new front entrance area and see the FEMA-building space, which includes a new dining and meeting room connected to the cafeteria, plus restrooms, offices and locker rooms connected to the gym. 

For many GHS grads, it was their first time to enter the gym through the new north entrance instead of the now-removed doorway that had opened to the west since the school opened in 1963. Grads also appreciated the new bleachers, which offer several rows of seats with chairbacks instead of only bench-style seating that existed before the latest remodeling.

During the program, Paula Rose listed many of the school's physical improvements and program enhancements that were funded by various grants totaling more than $4.9 million. She recognized district superintendent Justin Gilmore for leading the efforts to find and procure the grants. 

Next, Rose listed many of the other capital improvements, totaling another $4.2 million, that had been funded by the district without grants. Gilmore credited the Gainesville Board of Education for its leadership in completing that work, which included more than two dozen projects ranging from a new $2,700 gate for the elementary school campus to the $1.1 million roof replacement on all the district’s main buildings.

Oldest and youngest attendees, and grad who traveled farthest

The program included recognition of the oldest and youngest grads attending the reunion as well as the attendee who had traveled the farthest. Colene Pitcock Rose, class of 1949, was the oldest graduate attending the reunion; her class was the only one represented from the decade of the 1940s. 

Colene is the daughter of the late Vergie Morrison Pitcock and Floyd Pitcock, a farmer and Ozark County teacher for 47 years. Colene worked as a secretary at the school for several years.  She and her husband, the late Bill Ed Rose, are the parents of two GHS graduates: Carma Rose McGee, class of 1976, who died in 1996, and Paul Rose, class of 1980, who accompanied his mother to the reunion. Colene said it was very special to have two of Carma’s classmates and friends, Julia Mahan Naylor and Sheila Johnson Sturdevant, welcome her and Paul to the event as they were working at the registration table. 

The youngest reunion attendee was Kimberly Bohannon, class of 2008.  

Aleta Hines, class of 1978, of Caldwell, Idaho, was recognized as the attendee who had traveled the farthest. Others had come from as far away as Knoxville and Nashville, Tennessee, and Dallas, Texas.

Until next time . . .

Paula Rose thanked the team of volunteers and contributors who made the reunion a success, including committee member Barbara Luna, class of 1966, and Mary Ann Moore, class of 1983, who helped organize and serve the refreshments and D&D Signs, an affiliate of Rob Collins’ Chaney Monument Co., for the many signs that directed attendees to various sights and gathering spots.

Paula explained that invitations were not mailed to graduates, as had been done in the past, because of the monumental work required by class organizers to gather addresses – and because, of the 2,000 invitations that were mailed for the last all-school reunion, 300 were returned due to outdated or incorrect addresses. Postage has increased drastically since then as well. 

She had told the reunion committee if only 100 people attended the event, she wasn’t going to lead the effort again. “But we have 150 here, so I guess I’ll do it again,” she said. 

If all goes as planned, the next all-school reunion will be held on Saturday of Labor Day weekend in 2030.

Noting that the role as chairperson was something she felt honored to do, Paula wiped away tears as she recalled that both of her parents, the late Paul and Jean Silvey Herd, had been teachers in Ozark County for 30 years, and she herself had also taught here for 30 years before her retirement a few years ago. 

A devoted supporter of her community, Paula now turns to leading the committee overseeing the upcoming Hootin an Hollarin festival, to be held in Gainesville Sept. 18-20. And after that, she’ll lead the town’s Christmas celebration planned for Dec. 5.

Editor’s note: Check out the Ozark County Times Facebook page to see more than 100 additional photos of the event.