An Inconsistent Newspaper Policy

So, off I went to the timesdaily.com website and their "Search Archives." What, to my surprise, did I find but a hit on an article last year about the reunion plans for the Coffee and Bradshaw Classes of 1985!

Coffee, Bradshaw reunion committees working together to plan celebration
Staff Writer

Published: October 30. 2005 3:30AM

FLORENCE -- It's not about orange and brown or black and gold for members of the 1985 graduating classes of Bradshaw and Coffee high schools.

They see a united class with plenty of room for former students from both of the former high schools in Florence.

When their 20th class reunion rolls around on Nov. 12, they'll celebrate as one.

Members of the reunion committees at Coffee and Bradshaw are working together this year to plan a combined celebration. It will be the first time the two schools have observed homecoming together.

And they plan to keep the trend alive at any subsequent class reunions involving the Class of '85.

"It just made sense to do this in light of the fact that the schools are now combined and we all ran around together in high school anyway," said Bradshaw graduate Michelle Simpson, who is helping organize the joint reunion.

The two schools were combined last year to become Florence High School. The consolidation effort was the result of declining enrollment at the schools over the past two or three decades.

Consolidation brought a close to one of the most spirited rivalries in Alabama.

The class reunion will be at 6 p.m. at the Florence Country Club. There will be hors d'oeuvres and music. Organizers say there will also be "lots of catching up."

Coffee graduate Pat McAlister agreed that combining the graduating classes seemed an obvious step because neither class was having successful reunions individually.

"Between the classes there are nearly 500 students and we just wanted the best opportunity possible for a strong turnout," McAlister said.

Assisting in the organization is a Birmingham-based company that specializes in organizing class reunions.

Registration is being handled through the company. To register, members of the Class of '85 from both schools can go to the company's Web site at www.REUNITUS.com and sign up.

McAlister and Simpson agree that the new format should have more appeal since there has always been far more friendships than rivals among class members.

"We have really high hopes for the first Bradshaw/Coffee Reunion," Simpson said. "It's about old friends getting together and hearing about the paths each others' lives have taken. By the 20th reunion, everyone is much more settled."

Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com.

Leighton school reunion starts Friday
By Russ Corey
Staff Writer

Published: June 29. 2006 3:30AM

LEIGHTON -- Frankie Hogan said it's important to preserve the history of Leighton Training School and the building that served as a school for many black residents.

"We want to preserve our legacy for generations to come," said Hogan, who was both a student and a teacher at the school. "This is what is so valuable to us as a race of people. Our school had so much pride, the teachers had so much pride."

Held every other year since 1988, the Leighton Training School Reunion is now in its 10th year. Hogan graduated from the school in 1962 and taught there for a short time in 1968. The school opened in the 1920s and closed in 1970, Hogan said.

This year's reunion will begin Friday at Northwest-Shoals Community College Hospitality House in Muscle Shoals.

At 10 a.m. Saturday, a parade will take place in downtown Leighton. On Saturday night, reunion participants will be treated to a prom/extravaganza at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence. The reunion winds down Sunday with a 3 p.m. church service at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church on Old Highway 20 in Leighton.

"We're a close-knit family," Hogan said. "That's the way it's been with this group."

She said participants come from all over the country.

Leo Cobb said a classmate, Dorothy Hardy, came to him in 1987 and asked if he would lead a committee to hold an all-class reunion. Cobb and Hardy were members of the Class of 1946.

"We really didn't know where all the former students lived," Cobb said. "We started out trying to network, and we were hoping we could preserve the old school building."

Cobb said the first Leighton Training School Reunion attracted about 500 people. Hogan said she expects about 300 this year.

Hogan said the reunion is an opportunity to seek alumni support for renovating Leighton Training School as an educational center for the community.

"We have been cleaning up, and it looks good," she said.

The Leighton Training School Community Service Board has the deed to the property but now has to raise the money to renovate the 77-year-old school after a $290,000 grant was terminated.

The committee had to raise $17,790 to repay the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for funds used for preliminary work on the renovation project.

Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.

	An Inconsistent Newspaper Policy
	Even if you didn't participate in the reunion planning activities, you probably noticed that we spent every effort to get out the news and information about this, our "Golden Anniversary." This website was the brainchild of the crazy guy who thought that if you let people know about the reunion by this interactive project, they would contribute to the website content and visit it often, resulting in enthusiastic collaborators who would want to attend this special event (A whole bunch of classmates proved him right). The small cadre of reunion planners, especially Peggy King Bishop, used every sleuthing tool available to find the current location of each and every living classmate and get the announcement package in their hands--and, glory be, they succeeded! We asked Carol Driskell, classmate Wallace Driskell's sister-in-law and secretary to the Mayor of Sheffield to see if Mayor Billy Don Anderson would honor our class by proclaiming June 2-3, "SHS Class of 1956 Days" in Sheffield--and, glory be, he did! Dean McCormack of The Colbert County Reporter, the venerable weekly newspaper published in Tuscumbia since 1912, could not have been more helpful in giving us all the publicity we could stand. Every classmate who was asked to do something by the reunion committee graciously and enthusiastically did their part; not one turned down the opportunity to help make this a reunion to remember. One such classmate was Ron Newborn. Due to his 'way back experience in radio broadcasting, he was asked to prepare some public service announcements for the radio stations and to try to arrange publicity in the dominant newspaper of the Shoals, The Times-Daily. Not only did Ron put all of his creative efforts into this project, he spent several days visiting each venue to put the information into the hands of the people who make the decision to give or withhold the light of public airing of such announcements. He had limited success with the radio people, and got us onto the calendar of events publicized on Alabama Public Radio's website. BUT, when it came to the Times-Daily, after being bounced around to several people at the paper, he got the announcement from Sharonda Allen that "it is the policy of the Times-Daily NOT to report on private events that are not open to the public." Apparently, they took the position that if you graduated from a public high school in a particular year, anything that class does is not open to the public and therefore is a private event. They respectfully declined to do a story on the upcoming reunion prior to the June 2-3 weekend or to do one on the event after it occurred. *Well, now. . . . . . let's examine that statement in light of the record.*

	This little article from the Tri-Cities Daily in 1944 started all this fuss. It was in the latest package of memorabilia and photos sent to me by Bette Anderson Pickin, and, after I got over saying, "Isn't that cute?" I thought, "Well, now, that's a private event!"
		"But Louis", you might say. "Give them a break! After all, that was ancient history and the newspaper was under a different owner back then. Maybe the new owners, Yankees that they are, changed the policy." So, I said to myself, "O.K., so the New York Times doesn't consider 'warm and fuzzy' things about the community worthy of their reporting, but, just to be sure, let's us check that out." So, off I went to the timesdaily.com website and their "Search Archives." What, to my surprise, did I find but a hit on an article last year about the reunion plans for the Coffee and Bradshaw Classes of 1985! Coffee, Bradshaw reunion committees working together to plan celebration Staff Writer Published: October 30. 2005 3:30AM FLORENCE -- It's not about orange and brown or black and gold for members of the 1985 graduating classes of Bradshaw and Coffee high schools. They see a united class with plenty of room for former students from both of the former high schools in Florence. When their 20th class reunion rolls around on Nov. 12, they'll celebrate as one. Members of the reunion committees at Coffee and Bradshaw are working together this year to plan a combined celebration. It will be the first time the two schools have observed homecoming together. And they plan to keep the trend alive at any subsequent class reunions involving the Class of '85. "It just made sense to do this in light of the fact that the schools are now combined and we all ran around together in high school anyway," said Bradshaw graduate Michelle Simpson, who is helping organize the joint reunion. The two schools were combined last year to become Florence High School. The consolidation effort was the result of declining enrollment at the schools over the past two or three decades. Consolidation brought a close to one of the most spirited rivalries in Alabama. The class reunion will be at 6 p.m. at the Florence Country Club. There will be hors d'oeuvres and music. Organizers say there will also be "lots of catching up." Coffee graduate Pat McAlister agreed that combining the graduating classes seemed an obvious step because neither class was having successful reunions individually. "Between the classes there are nearly 500 students and we just wanted the best opportunity possible for a strong turnout," McAlister said. Assisting in the organization is a Birmingham-based company that specializes in organizing class reunions. Registration is being handled through the company. To register, members of the Class of '85 from both schools can go to the company's Web site at www.REUNITUS.com and sign up. McAlister and Simpson agree that the new format should have more appeal since there has always been far more friendships than rivals among class members. "We have really high hopes for the first Bradshaw/Coffee Reunion," Simpson said. "It's about old friends getting together and hearing about the paths each others' lives have taken. By the 20th reunion, everyone is much more settled." Lisa Singleton-Rickman can be reached at 740-5735 or lisa.singleton-rickman@timesdaily.com. OR HOW ABOUT MORE RECENTLY. . . . Leighton school reunion starts Friday By Russ Corey Staff Writer Published: June 29. 2006 3:30AM LEIGHTON -- Frankie Hogan said it's important to preserve the history of Leighton Training School and the building that served as a school for many black residents. "We want to preserve our legacy for generations to come," said Hogan, who was both a student and a teacher at the school. "This is what is so valuable to us as a race of people. Our school had so much pride, the teachers had so much pride." Held every other year since 1988, the Leighton Training School Reunion is now in its 10th year. Hogan graduated from the school in 1962 and taught there for a short time in 1968. The school opened in the 1920s and closed in 1970, Hogan said. This year's reunion will begin Friday at Northwest-Shoals Community College Hospitality House in Muscle Shoals. At 10 a.m. Saturday, a parade will take place in downtown Leighton. On Saturday night, reunion participants will be treated to a prom/extravaganza at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center in Florence. The reunion winds down Sunday with a 3 p.m. church service at Galilee Missionary Baptist Church on Old Highway 20 in Leighton. "We're a close-knit family," Hogan said. "That's the way it's been with this group." She said participants come from all over the country. Leo Cobb said a classmate, Dorothy Hardy, came to him in 1987 and asked if he would lead a committee to hold an all-class reunion. Cobb and Hardy were members of the Class of 1946. "We really didn't know where all the former students lived," Cobb said. "We started out trying to network, and we were hoping we could preserve the old school building." Cobb said the first Leighton Training School Reunion attracted about 500 people. Hogan said she expects about 300 this year. Hogan said the reunion is an opportunity to seek alumni support for renovating Leighton Training School as an educational center for the community. "We have been cleaning up, and it looks good," she said. The Leighton Training School Community Service Board has the deed to the property but now has to raise the money to renovate the 77-year-old school after a $290,000 grant was terminated. The committee had to raise $17,790 to repay the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs for funds used for preliminary work on the renovation project. Russ Corey can be reached at 740-5738 or russ.corey@timesdaily.com.
	*So, there you have it. Reporting policy at the Times-Daily is selective and subjective.* It always has been (Sam Edwards, Tri-Cities Daily photographer could always edit his pictures to make our boys look like buffoons and the Coffee players look like the NFL, a Sheffield victory over Coffee might make page 4 of the sports section but Coffee wins made the first page of the paper, and if SHS had 500 students in all 4 grades it was newsworthy to report parenthetically that Coffee had 400 seniors). This situation will probably always exist, and I guess that's okay in a free society. It certainly didn't diminish the success of our reunion, but, just think, the world outside the sphere of The Colbert County Reporter and our word of mouth will never know about the best high school reunion ever, nor will they ever be benighted by the knowledge of how to make their own reunions as good as ours.

	*Postscript:* In all fairness, for 2 days before our reunion and on that Friday, the first day of the reunion, the Times-Daily did include notice of our Golden Reunion in their Day Planner which announces events of interest to the public.
	This little page is not intended to be a sour grapes diatribe against the respected print media that keeps people in the Shoals area so well-informed. It is a lampoon that just had to come about when we discovered the social report on the festivities of our classmate, Andy Burch, on the occasion of his sixth birthday.