2006 Golden Reunion Activities

	2006 Golden Reunion Activities

	I had the distinct pleasure of meeting with the reunion committee Friday, January 27, at the Southland Restaurant, as they finalized most of the plans for the 2-day celebration that will be our 50th Reunion. On this page, I will give you the details of what you can expect to find when you come back to the scene of our youth. Some of the decisions, such as the exact menus and the specific programs have been delegated and will be finalized in the future. Peggy King Bishop is mailing you your invitation and registration form, and no doubt some of the remaining questions will be answered in this mailing. As soon as I know anything new about our activities, it will be posted here.
		HEADQUARTERS HOTEL Click on Pic For you out-of-towners, Peggy is contacting the Holiday Inn--Sheffield to set aside a block of rooms to use as your home away from home. None of the events will actually take place at the hotel, but it is centrally located to all the activities, as you can see on the map. Click Here for information on reservations.

	6:00 p.m., FRIDAY Click Here for a sneak preview JEAN GARDNER ESTES' HOME We will kick off the weekend reunion events with an evening of getting reacquainted, catching up and making new old friends. Our hostess and Ron Newborn will reprise their skit presented at the very first reunion of The Class of 1956. Those of you who were at the Riverbluff Restaurant back in 1974 will remember the hilarious roasting that "Mr. Boley" and "Miss Hammond" gave the members of our class. Our best storytellers will get us started down "Memory Lane" with some of the best tales of our youth you have ever heard. At this event, I will make the "RC Cola and Moon pie" awards for the website contest winners and contributors. Big Mike's Steakhouse, "home of the 72-oz steak," is our caterer. The Louisiana-style menu includes Cajun turkey, ham, and boiled shrimp. Trimmings will be corn, potato salad, and rolls along with fruit, vegetable, and cheese trays. Peach cobbler will be the dessert. To drink, we have lemonade and water. . . . . .but no 72-oz steak!	*Map to Jean Gardner Estes' Home (Click on Pic)* *Driving directions from downtown Sheffield:* Go to Village 1: I like to go up Montgomery Ave. to Alabama at the "Y" intersection. Take the left fork onto Alabama and proceed to Little Rock Ave. Follow Little Rock to the railroad crossing bridge and turn right onto West 20th Ave. As an alternative, you could go out West 3rd Street from downtown and you will come to the railroad crossing bridge. Follow W. 20th Ave. past the old nitrate plant (now Wise Aluminum) 'til you get to Village 1. W. 20th has turned into Fontana St. Look for Pickwick Street and turn left onto it. Stay on Pickwick as you go through Village 1 and Rivermont. As you leave Rivermont, look for this entrance into the Estes property:

	(This link will take you to a page with a map from Sheffield to the RTJ clubhouse ) Or, better yet Take the Shuttle Bus and enjoy being with classmates instead of hunting street signs!	9:00 a.m., SATURDAY BREAKFAST AT THE ROBERT TRENT JONES SHOALS CLUBHOUSE In August 2004, the Retirement Systems of Alabama added its latest star to the constellation known as the Robert Trent Jones Trail which golfers who know rate as the number one value in the world as a golf destination. Start the day by having breakfast with your classmates at the new RTJ-Shoals clubhouse. Those of you who are golfers might want to schedule your tee times for late morning right after the breakfast get-together. The courses are spectacular. Bobby Glover is heading the team to provide shuttle bus service from the Holiday Inn out to the RTJ Clubhouse Saturday morning. It will leave at 8:30 a.m. To get a seat on the bus, call Bobby (use your reunion directory from prior reunions or send me and e-mail) before Friday evening or sign up for a ride when you check into the Holiday Inn.

	12:30 p.m., SATURDAY Tour SHS, and Sock-Hop in the gym Click the Pic Get a load of the size of Farley's "Big Pics"	For that long hiatus between breakfast and Jim's feast, come back home to your Alma Mater, Sheffield High School. The current SHS Principal, Ronnie Wicks, will host us on a tour of the facilities. You'll see, hear about and be amazed at the changes that have occurred over the years, yet the main building looks much the same as in our time. The tour will end at the gym where some of you may remember the after-lunch sock hops that Miss Hester started with the help of Annette Clark and Bill Gray (a year ahead of us). John Collins will provide the music for a sock-hop of our own. Bring your spouse or date and plan on reliving some of the best times of our youth, dancing for an hour in the gym after lunch. Snacks and beverages will be available in the courtyard plaza. We'll have some cool souvenirs to give away, and you have to come to see the giant photos Farley came up with showing us bopping back then. P.S.: Dancing is not mandatory. This will be another social occasion, but I, for one who never knew how to dance in high school, plan to see what y'all said you had fun doing.

	*Map to Jim Holland's Home (Click on Pic)* *Driving directions from the intersection of Jackson Highway and Hatch Boulevard:* *Drive west toward Sheffield on Hatch to 33rd St.* *Turn right on 33rd Street and proceed to 19th Ave.* *Turn right on 19th Ave., and continue to Holland Drive (you'll run into Jim's house if you cross that intersection.*	6:00 p.m., SATURDAY JIM HOLLAND'S HOME Jim is going all out to turn his home and grounds into the reunion spectacular. We will feast on catered steak, all the trimmings, homemade pies and cakes and ice cream under a giant tent. On this occasion, we will remember our deceased classmates and focus on family and friendships. Jim has gotten Paul Slatton of the local radio station, WBTG-AM (1290 on your AM radio dial), to put together a CD with 160 titles of our 50's music featuring the original singers that made them the hits they were. This will be our "background music for the banquet." Jim is having those pictures of your families made into a slide show on a CD, and it will be playing on a large screen as we dine and socialize. Edsel Holden, the singer with the Edsel Holden Band that played for our Junior-Senior Prom, will entertain us with a few of those 50' s tunes that we loved so much. We're fortunate to have classmates who have gone to the extent Jim has gone to make it possible for us to enjoy such nostalgic entertainment and the fellowship of old friends and comrades.