Sheffield High "Fifty-Sixers" to Celebrate 50th Reunion

To add a Sock Hop to reunion events

June 5 will mark the 50th anniversary of graduation from Sheffield High School for the SHS Class of '56.  To celebrate the occasion, a hard-working committee of that class has been meeting since just after the 45th reunion, and especially during the past year, to plan the events that will be take place in Sheffield on Friday, June 2, and Saturday, June 3, the weekend closest to the actual graduation date.  Headed by Peggy King Bishop, the committee includes Sandra Foreman Morris, Patsy Bell Congleton, Joyce Horton Johnson, Rebecca Malone Floyd, Joanne Marsh Gargis, Jim Holland, Johnny Neyman, Mary Ann Byars Lenz, Betty Ann Douthit, and Louis Buettner.

Peggy Bishop has announced the schedule of events and requested advance registration by attendees.  The committee has adopted as its prime rule, "Reunions are for fun and getting reacquainted with each other."  Maximum time will be allotted to socializing and "catching up."  In addition to the usual request for updates on the class members' biographical sketches, she wants classmates to send family group pictures and to relate a funny, interesting or significant event that occurred during high school in their responses.  Here are the events that SHS 1956 alumni will be enjoying.

INFORMAL SOCIAL

Jean Gardner Estes Home at 6:00 p.m., Friday, June 2

            Classmates will begin to gather at the Estes' home at six o'clock in the evening while there will be enough daylight left to wander through the extensive rose gardens and enjoy the miniature ponies that comprise Jean's hobby/avocation.  Supper will be a barbeque feast catered by Big Mike's Steakhouse.  Entertainment for the evening will be a reprise of the skit written by Aaron ("Ron") Newborn and acted by Ron and Jean at the very first reunion of the SHS Class of '56, held at the River Bluff Restaurant, Christmas, 1974.  Designated story-tellers will get the crowd started reminiscing.  Peggy Bishop will present a report on what happened in the lives of their teachers after the class graduated. 

REUNION BREAKFAST

Robert Trent Jones Golf Course Clubhouse, 9:00 a.m., Saturday, June 3

            Early risers (actually not-so-early risers) will get together for an al fresco breakfast out on the patio of the beautiful clubhouse of the newest jewel in the Retirement System of Alabama' Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail—the most magnificent collection of public golf courses in the country.  An inspirational moment focusing on the meaning of "Friendships" will start the occasion.  Because the RTJ courses are new to many out of town alumni, the reunion planners are arranging to provide shuttle service from the headquarters hotel, The Holiday Inn, leaving at 8:30 in the morning.

TOUR OF SHS & SOCK HOP IN THE GYM – Late addition to the events!

Sheffield High School, 12:30 p.m., Saturday, June 3

successors after our graduation.  Then, he will conduct a tour that will show class members these improvements and innovations.

           The tour will end in the gym where, during their junior year, Miss Bernice Hester, the girls' Physical Education instructor, held the "Dance Class After Lunch," which quite literally was a Sock Hop.  Those of you who danced in the Fifties will understand that bopping was an aerobic exercise.  The Class of '56 will enjoy a re-creation of  that dance class—even though actual dancing will be optional.  They hope to have a message from Billy Joe Gray, Class of '55, now living in California, who along with Annette Clark, Class of '56, was one of the students recruited by Miss Hester to lead that dance class.  Classmate John Collins will provide the music, and the gym will be appropriately decorated with Fifties memorabilia.  Reunion Sock Hop team leader, Patsy Bell Congleton, says that attendees will receive Fifties souvenirs and light lunch snacks will be available in the school courtyard plaza.

REUNION BANQUET

Jim Holland Home, 6:00 p.m., Saturday, June 3

Jim Holland is turning the grounds of his home into an outdoor extravaganza where classmates will gather, socialize and dine under the stars—prudently protected by a large party tent.  Jim has commissioned Paul Slatton to locate and assemble the music for the occasion—all the favorite tunes of the Fifties, recorded by the original artists.  Entertainment will be provided by Edsel Holden, leader of the band that played at the Senior Prom of the Class of '56.  The theme of the occasion will be the families created by the Class of '56, and the family photos sent back to Peggy Bishop with the registration forms will be displayed in large format during dinner.  Sandra Foreman Morris will lead a memorial moment of remembrance of the deceased members of the class.

            Leading up to the big weekend, class members have the opportunity to get in the mood for the event by visiting the website created just for the class by members of the class:  www.shsclassof1956.org.  On this website, in addition to the nostalgic trip down memory lane and all of its nooks and crannies, there are several contests in which the classmates can win the most desirable of prizes:  "An RC Cola and a Moon Pie."  Louis Buettner will announce the winners and distribute their prizes at each of the reunion events.   He will also distribute a souvenir CD containing all the nostalgic material that is found on the website—the rare photographs and snapshots, news clippings, all issues of The Hi-Lites (the school newspaper), programs booklets of the special events and other memorabilia, along with the biographical sketches of all classmates.  Roaming the grounds at each of the events will be a videography team, collecting footage which will be used to develop a souvenir DVD of the best reunion a high school class ever held.

            There are still a few exciting "loose ends" that have not been finalized at this date, so those of you who read this will need to attend the affair in order to be in on the full experience.

            So, there you have it, SHS Class of Fifty-Six!  Girls, get down those poodle skirts, make your appointments at your hair salon to get your beehives.  Bobby sox will be provided as souvenirs at the Sock Hop, but you might want to go out and accessorize with Fifties stuff.  Guys, go get that Vaseline or your favorite hair gel, and, even if you don't smoke, you'll need a pack of cigarettes to roll up in the sleeve of your white tee shirt.  Make your plans to be at all of the events that are planned for you to have the best reunion the Class of 1956 has ever produced.