Former students from Eva H. Harris High School will reunite to celebrate and fellowship in July.

The reunion will be July 12-14. Activities will begin that Friday evening and conclude on the Sunday afternoon. The theme of this year’s reunion is “An Affair to Remember.”

The fee to participate is $85 per person.

President Curtis Tyner, a class of 1966 alumni, is excited to reunite with other Eva Harris students.

“We just hope that the people can come together and enjoy themselves,” Tyner said. “We just want classmates to come together again. That’s the real purpose of it.”

Classes are encouraged to decorate a table on the evening of July 11 or the morning of July 12 before the beginning of the weekend’s festivities. Decorations can be the class color or school color with tablecloths and a centerpiece.

The reunion will begin July 12 at the Lincoln Civic Center with a fish fry dinner followed by music and dancing.

On July 13, the festivities will continue at the Lincoln Civic Center with a “fun day” starting at 8 a.m. The day will consist of wrapping May poles, barbecuing and fellowshipping.

The banquet and program begins at 7 p.m. followed by music and dancing.

On July 14, from 8:30 to 9:25 a.m., Sunday school will be led by Barbara Dillon Buie. The worship service will be from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m., with Rev. Robert “Chuck” McCall Jr. His father Rev. Robert C. McCall Sr. was an alumni of Eva Harris.

Everyone is invited to attend these services at no charge.

A meal and gospel singing program with local groups will begin at 1 p.m. Groups interested in participating should call Carolyn E. Beard Humphries.

During the reunion, those who have passed on will be remembered with a moment of silence.

The classes of 1968 and 1969 will be honored this year for their 50th golden year anniversaries. The class of 1968 celebrated in 2018 and the class of 1969 will celebrate this year. Members of these classes are encouraged to attend.

The classes of 1978 and 1979 will also be honored during the reunion for their 40th anniversaries. The class of 1978 celebrated in 2018 and the class of 1979 will celebrate this year.

“It’s just for coming together and counting our blessings, that God has allowed us to come together again,” Tyner said.

The school was built in the mid-1950s, according to a blog published by 1964 graduate Leon Whitfield.

“The groundbreaking ceremony was in September 1958 for the new Eva Harris Negro School for all Negro high school students and a portion of the Negro elementary students in the Lincoln County Schools District,” he wrote.

Building the school cost nearly $300,000.

Eva H. Harris had several names between 1971 and 1994. According to Whitfield, the school served as a middle school and a vocational-technical center.

The school opened in 1960 and the first graduating class walked the next year, with Eva H. Harris serving as principal.

Once schools began integrating in January 1970, students from Eva Harris were assigned to various schools within the Lincoln County School District.

That May, 75 students who were sent to county schools returned to Eva Harris for graduation ceremonies. This class was the school’s last to graduate.

For reservation information, call Carolyn E. Beard Humphries at 601-833-5753.

Story by Gracie Byrne