The Graduation class of Mannford High School is having their 50th reunion celebration on May 23-25, 1987.
There were 18 graduates in this class and there are 16 living though scattered across several different states.
We appreciate the Senior Citizen's invitation to their Friday lunch and the invitation from the Historical Society for their Saturday evening meal.
We are hoping all 16 graduates and families will be able to attend.
The two deceased classmates of the Class of 1937 are Ellen Box and Ralph Reynolds.
According to a copy of the MHS 15th annual commencement program, on Friday, May 7, 1937, 18 seniors walked across the stage of the high school auditorium to receive their diplomas from school board president Dr. C.R. McDonald. Class awards and congratulations were passed out by Raymond Harvey, school superintendent.
Genevieve Rainbolt, better known to us as Mrs. Dave Clegg, gave the valedictory address and Ellen Box, the salutatory.
Class officers were Jack Greenup, president; Miss Box, vice president and Mary Morgan, secretary. The class motto, perhaps anticipating today's decided nautical town theme, was "Tonight we launch. Where shall we anchor?"
While only two class members, Mrs. Clegg and Ira "Bud" Reed, put down permanent roots in Mannford, their fellow graduates responding to a call for a 50th class reunion still think of Mannford as the "home of their hearts."
Getting the chief credit for the class get-together, held May 22 - 24, was Roy Frost, a Fort Smith resident for the past 40 years but who still, along with classmate Joe Aldridge, holds membership in Mannford Masonic Lodge 515.
Frost began calling classmate "Bud" Reed some 1 1/2 years ago promoting the reunion. Between his busy flow of customers at his auto service, "Bud" consulted with his wife, Terri, and Mrs. Clegg.
Plans began to be made, with Mrs. Clegg enlisting the help of her daughter, Pat Owsley, who not only typed the letter going to the graduates but also the biographies going into a class memory book. Her son, Chris Ledbetter, in turn, did the lettering on the cover, reading "Mannford High School Seniors, 1937-87."
Mrs. Reed assisted in its compilation, with each class member getting a copy and one going to the KCHS. Anyone still wishing to send in biographical material is urged to do so, with copies to be made and distributed so as to become a part of the permanent record.
Ellen (Box) Kinion, the only class member known to be deceased, lived in Sand Springs. A cousin of Gene Box's, she died in about 1956. Ralph Reynold's whereabouts could not be located but addresses were found for the remainder.
Unable to attend were Mary (Runyan) Siler of Carmichael, Cal.; Neoma (Brady) Short, Buckner, Ark.; Carleen (Trower) Bailey, Marble Falls, Fla.; and Lorene (Zickefoose) Cray, Amarillo, Texas.
Those attending with their other family members, if present, included: Joe Aldridge and his wife, Juanita, from Muskogee; Genevieve (Rainbolt) Clegg and her husband, Dave, Mannford; Mr. and Mrs. Randy Clegg and Daniel, and Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Ledbetter and Shane; Arlie Dunegan and his wife Margaret, of Rt. 2, Peggs; Roy Frost and his wife, Mary, of Fort Smith; Jack Greenup and his wife, Johnny, of Fort Walton Beach, Fla.; Paul Hinton and his wife, Sonya of Skellytown, Tex.; Mary (Morgan) Moore, Tulsa, accompanied by her sister Mildred, and a cousin, June (Murphy) Gamble; "Bud" Reed and his wife Terri, along with Robin and Noel Reed of Mannford; Evelyn (Osterhout) Shook, Tulsa; Preppa (Ingalls) Smith, Rt. 1, Cleveland; Josephine (Young) Weaver and her husband, Claude, Selma, Ark. and sister-in-law Lenora Self, both 1934 graduates, of Pryor; and Frankie (Johnson) Whitt and daughter Linda Messer, Joplin; Dorothy (Krotzer) Tapley, class of 1938.
The graduates enjoyed getting caught up on the passage of time and informing each other the coming of children, grand children and for most, the beginnings of more leisurely way of life in a well-earned retirement.
They also were greatly appreciative of the welcome Mannford gave them, realizing that their home town wasn't the town itself but the people who made it up and who today as then, remain good friends forever.
The Lake Area Senior Citizens entertained them as guests at their Friday, May 22 pot-luck dinner, with the First Christian Church serving as their headquarters for a "gabfest" with light refreshments served from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. the next day.
Many of the graduates went from there to Lakeview Christian Church, which scheduled a 6 p.m. pot luck dinner with the Keystone Crossroads Historical Society members. On Sunday, they joined the mainstream of the Mannford reunion goers.
Raffles held during these events, with tickets sold for $1 each, plus donations, paid for all reunion costs. The Reeds donated a doll, won by Preppa Smith; a cloisonne egg, won by Sonya Hinton, an iron, old-fashioned toy car, won by Josephine Weaver. The Cleggs donated a floating fish light, carried home by Arlie Dunegan. Mrs. Smith was also winner of the centerpiece at the KCHS dinner.
Recognitions made included: Couple married the longest (50 years) the Weavers; graduate having the most children, Joe Aldridge; graduate having most grandchildren and great grandchildren, Frankie (Johnson) Whitt; graduates have changed the least, Arlie Dunegan, the most, Mary (Morgan) Moore; graduate having the youngest child, Preppa Smith.
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