Central High class of 1958 celebrates 65th reunion

N

The Central High School class of 1958 celebrated its 65th class reunion at the home of Greta Brown Dajani in Manchester Saturday Sept. 23.

Dajani said when she and her 134 classmates were attending high school, the building was known as Central High.

“Then they changed the name to Manchester High School and then they changed it again and it is now Coffee County Central High School,” she said.

Of those 135 graduates, 83 are deceased, she said.

Dajani said it was great for the class of 1958 to be able to come together to celebrate their 65th class reunion, and classmates came from as far away as Alabama, Kentucky and Georgia.

“To me it is a heartwarming thing because you see people you haven’t seen and it brings back memories you have forgotten,” she said. “For me it is kind of a rejuvenation of our spirit of just being together. It is just a good time for all.”

Alumna Frances Simmons said she helps organize the event, which typically has been hosted every five years since graduation but has included yearly get-togethers in more recent years.

“I keep up with all the addresses of the people who are still living and I send out letters for when it is going to be and Greta has always had it at her house, so the main thing is just getting the letter together with the what, when and where and send it out,” Simmons said. “I keep up with all the ones that have died and if I can’t find them then I get on Ancestry.com.”

Dajani said one of her favorite memories of high school is Mrs. Doris Rollins homeroom class.

“We had the best home room class,” she said. “We had five homerooms, ours was Ms. Rollins in the library. She was a wonderful lady and we did a thing here to honor her a few years ago.”

Class member H.D. Crosslin said for him, the reunion was all about, “fun, laughter and enjoying our classmates.”

Crosslin said one of his favorite school memories involved the principal.

“Talking and going by Mr. Patch’s office,” he said with a laugh. “He was a good one.”

Betsy Burger Allen made the trip up from Atlanta with her daughter and son-in-law to attend the reunion.

“My precious daughter invited me to come, she said she and her husband would drive me,” she said.

Allen said she had the choice of a journalism or nursing scholarship following graduation, and she opted for the latter.

“So I came to Emory University in Atlanta and I ended up leaving Manchester, which is kind of a shame because it is a wonderful place,” Allen said.

Allen said she had not been able to attend the annual reunions the last few years because her late husband had been ill, but it was nice to visit with her classmates again.