War year graduates eye reunion
Published 5:00 am Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Phyllis Spearman and some of her Brookhaven High Schoolclassmates are trying to reconnect with other graduates from theWorld War II era in time to have a reunion for the classes of1941-1945.
Spearman, who has helped organize many of her class of 1943’sreunions through the years, said the goal is to be able to have areunion for the classes in question the weekend of this year’s BHShomecoming.
“It’s our class’ 65th reunion, and we’d like to get everyonetogether because we’re all dwindling so fast,” she said. “Ourclasses are getting smaller and smaller every year because of ourages, and we thought it would be a great idea to get the classesthat were involved in the war years together.”
In addition to reconnecting with old friends, Spearman said thereunion is also aimed at honoring the veterans who served duringWorld War II. She said the idea was one that Barbara Becker Baileyof New Orleans, also a BHS wartime graduate, came up with.
“That was a big thing in our time because the whole country wasmobilized,” Spearman said. “We feel like this is a good time tohonor our vets that are still living, and that’s sort of whatstarted all this.”
Spearman said the most important thing to putting the gatheringtogether is locating other people from the five years in question,because over time lists of contact addresses and phone numbers havefallen out of date and been lost.
“Any information we could gain about members of any of thoseclasses, be it addresses, telephone numbers, or any of that, we’dbe glad to have that,” she said.
The reunion plans are in their early stages, Spearman said, butso far include a supper on the Thursday night before homecoming,with a possible tour of the military museum. Plans are anotherreason Spearman said she’d love to locate other classmates fromBHS.
“I’d love to get feedback from some of the other classes,” shesaid.
Spearman said her class has had several reunions that she hashelped coordinate. She said the job falls to her because she’swilling to do it, and because she’s located in Brookhaven.
“I’ve sort of done this for my class for a number of years,because we get together more often than every five or 10 yearsbecause the ones of us that are still living like to see eachother,” she said.
Spearman said anyone who is interested in helping, or who mightknow how to locate other classmates from the years of 1941-1945 cancall her at (601) 833-5198.