I went to two class reunions on Tuesday night of last week, one for 1940 graduates, the group five years ahead of my class and one for the class of 1950, who were five years behind us. I was just going to run in and out and take a picture or two, but it didn’t work out that way. There were too many folks I wanted to see at each of the reunions.

My lifelong friends, Sally and Mary Jane Hardesty, were visiting Putter and me for the holidays and they went along to the reunions, hoping to see people that they know. Some of the people we saw for the first time in 30-40 years. We were especially glad to renew acquaintances with Mrs. Edyth Griffin who was a commercial teacher here during the time that we had no school building. She held classes upstairs at the bank and when I introduced myself, she knew that Sally would not be far behind… we were almost as close as Siamese twins.

There were just so many old-time friends at the 50-year reunion that we like to not have got away… Ernest (Doc) Jernigan, Elmer Wilcoxon, James England, Maxine Ainley, Anna Hettel, Freddie Mason Kimball, Audrey Johnson Sorrels and Loren Sorrels (who did the bulk of the work in getting the reunion organized) and so many more. My only regret is that I didn’t get to see Johnny Tracy. I understood that he was going to be there, and I really wanted to see him, but I guess I was so excited and so busy shaking hands, hugging and laughing that I forgot to inquire.

From there we took in the 40-year reunion. These were the “little ones” at the time we were big, important seniors and we kept them as afraid of us as we were of the 1940 class.

In a little while after we left the 1950 reunion, I said, “Shucks, one of the main ones I wanted to see was Thural Berry, and he wasn’t there.” Mary Jane said, “Yes he was too, he’s the one who was standing out on the sidewalk, and you all talked about how hot and crowded it was inside.”

It seemed so strange to see these “little guys” with gray hair… I’m talking about people like Billy Joe Whitehead, Jackie Lee Ousnamer, Billy Joe Ainley and Billy Boy Oliver. Of course, I see Archie Taylor, Louis Decker, Webster Smith often enough that I have grown used to their gray hair… but Charles (Sonny Boy) Patterson with gray hair, that really dates me!

Putter has a lot of friends that he doesn’t even know about… some that I didn’t even recognize. But it became right amusing when so many folks at the parade and at Wynn Park kept stopping me to inquire about the little booger and asking me to keep them informed about him in the column. He had to miss the celebration for more than one reason, mainly it was just too hot for him… plus the fact that he is a bit spoiled and barks at everything that moves. I was afraid that little feisty-britches might bark at the horses and cause one to bold and injure someone.

Every time friend Sally and I got a few minutes, Wednesday, we roamed the picnic grounds searching for our former classmate Dorothy Garrett. We didn’t know how she was going to look, and we had forgotten her last (married) name… but we kept trying and leaving word everywhere that we wanted to see Dorothy Garrett. Finally, we bumped into her brother, Carl Garrett, and he later told her about us… then she begins walking around looking for the two of us. One thing about it, that kept us busy most of the afternoon. We enjoyed visiting with Dorothy and I couldn’t but notice how both Dorothy and Sally have aged through the years, when I am the same as I was in 1945!

Wilton Gambill was here for the 4th of July. He was visiting with family, attending his class reunion and other 4th of July events. He also visited at Corning Cemetery and stopped by The Courier to leave a cash donation for the Cemetery Trust Fund. Thanks, Wilton!

For years I have tried to talk up a Museum for Corning, but to no avail. I tried everything I knew to discourage tearing down the railroad depot, but it went anyway. I just about had a fit with fever when they dismantled Hop Alley, but they did it anyway. Next to disappear was the County Jail and that’s when I realized that I was fighting a losing battle and decided that no matter how much I carried on, all the landmarks of Corning were going to be destroyed and I just about as well “cool it.” But I still don’t like it.

Corning needs a community building. I have felt the need for such a meeting place for a long time and I am sure that it would be money well spent. I think everyone is pretty well agreed upon the need for such a building, but the trouble is, we don’t seem to have the money.

The way I got it figured, we have always been able to get anything that we are willing to work for and when we get to wanting a community building bad enough, we will find a way to finance it. Where we missed the boat was by not building one when things like Revenue Sharing were available. If anyone else feels as strongly about the need for a Community Center as I do, why don’t we have a meeting to discuss possibilities… two heads are better than one!