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1999 Corinth High School |
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"Class of '79 Reflects on Their Years at CHS"
By Kim Jobe
News Editor
The Daily Corinthian
The year was 1979.
Georgian Jimmy Carter was in the White House. The USSR was still a
super power. “The Dear Hunter” was the Academy Award winning movie. And
the personal computer and World Wide Web had yet to be invented.
Ironically, it has been that technology that members of the Corinth
High School class of 1979 have used to plan their 20-year class reunion
this summer.
Much of the information about the actual reunion, as well as updates
on class members, may be found at www.cei.net/~jsmonroe.
Scott Monroe and Demmy Holt, two members of the class, have been in
charge of building the page and updating it from time to time.
“Demmy Holt and I talked in January 1999, about the upcoming 20- year
reunion,” Monroe stated in an e-mail sent to The Daily Corinthian
recently. “He asked me if I knew anyone that could do web pages. I had
some experience from my place of work, so I volunteered. So, this was
Demmy's idea as far as I know.”
Monroe maintains the web site.
“I would guess I spent 16-24 hours (couple of hours a day over a few
weeks) getting it up and running. I’ve spent a few hours since then
posting new information.”
Utilizing the Internet for communication, was a good move for the
class.
“Ninty-nine percent of my classmates have been very positive,” Monroe
said. “I think it did help with communicating about the reunion. But,
the main benefit has been making it easy for folks talk to each other
via e-mail. I’ve had lots of folks thank Demmy and me for putting them
in touch with former classmates. I believe it has generated a lot of
excitement about seeing each other later this month.”
In addition to information about the actual weekend of events, Monroe
scanned all of the senior portraits out of the yearbook and placed them
on pages on the site. Included, if known, are current mailing and
addresses and telephone numbers as well as e-mail addresses.
“A number of folks have sent me biographies telling what has happened
to them in the last 20 years,” Monroe said. “This information can be
found linked to their name above their senior portraits.”
Holt said reponse to the reunion was “very light” at the beginning but
has picked up as time for the actual event has grown near.
“I think we'll get between 50-60 percent of the people listed on the
web site,” Holt said. “That falls in line with the response we got from
our 10 year reunion.”
Though Monroe and Holt have been the ones primarily responsible for
designing and maintaining the web page, several other classmates have
joined together to make the reunion, in one way or another, possible.
They include: Teresa Avant Wilkins,
Virginia Brown, Danny Conniff, Laurie Dobbins Schnabl, Lantz Hallmark
Ferrell, Sherry Hathcock Prescott, James Roddy Hooper, Vickie Kyle
Pruitt, Leigh Ellen Martin England, Mary Ann McFall Brown, Kennth
Melvin, Ken Patrick, Richard Peeples, Terry Phillips, Stephanie Sanders
Clausel, Chuck R. Saulter, Vickie Vanderford Litttle, Mary Ann Wadkins
Mathis, Myra Walker Dawson, Pam Williams Meeks and Greg Younger.
Although Monroe lives in Arkansas now and his parents still live in
Alcorn County, he still finds it hard to keep in contact with his
friends from high school.
“I’ve not stayed in close contact with anyone over the years,”
Monroe
admitted. “Terry Privett and I stayed in touch for 10-15 years after
graduation, but I haven’t talked to him lately. He still lives in
Corinth and I’d really like to see him at the reunion.
“I did get to see a very good friend a few weekends ago who won’t be
able to make it to the reunion - Melanie Scott Heath,” Monroe added.
“She now lives in Belgium with her husband, David, and son, Adam. She
was home for a few weeks, but has to fly back to Belgium the week before
the reunion.”
Even after this weekend is over, Monroe hopes to keep the page up and
running on the Internet.
“I plan to continue posting new information to the page as long as
classmates keep sending it to me,” he said.
The CHS class of 1979 had more than 150 members. Of those, 19 could
not be located.
Tim Singleton, who was reported by family members as missing over
three years ago, is also a member of the class.
The website notes that four classmates - Steve Childers, Jeffery
Patterson, Bill Smith and Laura Tuckier - have passed away during the 20
years since the class graduated from high school.
According to Holt, classmate Lisa Dickens will most likely get the
award for traveling the furthest to get to the reunion. A teacher,
Dickens now lives in Los Angeles.
The classmates will gather tonight for the first time this weekend
with activities also planned on Saturday - including a picnic, golf
tournament, and dance.
Kim Jobe has been news editor of The Daily Corinthian since 1988. A 1981
graduate of Corinth High School, she has several friends in the class of
'79.
This web page was last modified on 04/05/00.
