The Class of 1974
Speech presented by Kyle Rhodes in 2019 (Our 45th Reunion)
Where have we been, and where are we going?
As time marches on, I suspect that, like me, you often find yourself reflecting on the past. I invite you to recall the words of Alan Jackson’s song, “Remember When.”
The song goes:
“Remember when
I was young and so were you,
And time stood still
And love is all we knew.”
It is a song to celebrate the passing of time and the creation of memories. Now that our hair has turned gray, and in some cases, turned loose, or both, how often does your mind travel back in time? Perhaps only now do we truly understand that it was a wonderful time—those school days, the sweetest time of life, a time that has passed so quickly but not that long ago.
Did you ever think about the makeup of the class, who we were and what we did, what was happening in the world around us, or did it matter? Our class, the Class of ’74, graduated 225 students, one of the largest ever. The class was nearly equal in terms of the number of males and females [105 males, 120 females]. We are the class of twins with 7 pairs. All male students were not only required to register for the selective service but were also issued draft cards. We wore our hair long, bell-bottom pants with large cuffs, wide belts, and hip-huggers. We waited in long lines at the pumps for only a few dollars’ worth of gas. During our high school years, our class was part of the total student body that experienced the first and last rock-n-roll concert to be conducted on the campus of Marion Senior High School.
During our high school days, the creation of the 26th amendment lowered the voting age to 18, a war ended, and a governmental scandal led to the resignation of a President. The Class of 1974 boasted steadfast athletic ability. Eleven (11) athletes participated at the collegiate level. The Class of ‘74 had a Junior Olympic Champion, Buddy Farris, in Track. On the gridiron, who would not remember the hard-hitting play of Jay McDonald, the contribution of John David Crewey as quarterback and punter, the “catch-me-if-you-can” running of Jeff Beaver, and the control of the offensive line exhibited by Delter Cullop, or the fleet-footed Ulysses Cox who preserved wins as a defensive back as a result of the interceptions he made.
Wrestling saw Fausto Obregon and Greg Steele dominate opponents, contributing to MSHS’s finish of 8th in the State in a field of 72 teams. Girls basketball dominated area teams as a result of the skillful and tenacious play of Ellen Farrington, Cathy Reith, Diane, and Debra Hayes. It is noteworthy that in our midst is a woman who has been inducted into 3 different Sport Halls of Fame: the Ferrum College Sports Hall of Fame, the Emory and Henry College Sports Hall of Fame, and the Smyth County Sports Hall of Fame—our own Debra Hayes. Boys basketball seniors Mark McCloud and Gary Perdue led an inexperienced team to be respected by the region. In track, who could forget the endurance demonstrated by Herbert Clay and Randy Tiller, Buddy Farris’s record quarter mile, the fluid running of Ulysses Cox, or the skill of Dennis Edmiston in the discus throw? Let us not forget “the Hayes twins” contributions in Girls track. Baseball witnessed the sure-handed play of Ben Wagner and Norman Barker, while Barry Bennett’s and Steve Forrest’s leadership on the Golf Team led to a Regional 2nd place finish. The Band was simply the best in the area and showcased their talent on a trip to Disneyland. How exciting for Terri Slemp, Sherri Prater, and Ivy Medley to lead a host of seniors known as “Roy’s Boys” down Main Street U.S.A.
Our school days were exciting, happy, and tranquil. We were model students and model citizens, or were we? I have solicited classmates to provide me with memories that I could share tonight. To that end, I have received a few stories from classmates. Please bear with me as I share some of those tales with you as a reminder of our varied experiences. Some of these may be considered confessions.
The names have been excluded to protect the guilty. If you feel compelled to stand up and testify and claim ownership of any of these alleged events or bloopers, please feel free to do so.
A male classmate shared that on the first day of school our Freshman Year, he walked into MSHS not knowing what to expect. He had heard stories all summer from some of the older kids in the neighborhood about what the upperclassmen did to freshmen as orientation. As he walked through the door of the school and down the hallway, he walked past some upperclassmen who were eyeing the freshmen as we walked down the hall. They looked his way and laughed and said “Here comes some fresh meat. You’ll be on the pole before the day is out.” Being a little on the cocky side, he looked at them and said, “From the looks of you, I won’t have to worry because you will never catch me.” He then took off running up the steps to the second floor and down the hallway to Mrs. Potter’s room with about 3-4 guys chasing him. Needless to say, he spent part of his mornings that year running from these guys. He ran them through the hallways, outside around the school to make a getaway until they tired out, which usually didn’t take long. On his last day of school that freshman year, he left school grinning from ear to ear because they never caught him. He had survived.
A female classmate shared that while she was running track, she would frequently get pulled muscles. The coaches worked out a plan for her to use the whirlpool that was located in the boys’ locker room. This was done while the boys were upstairs in gym class. She would do this several times a week. A male classmate had the job of getting the water temperature ready for her to use. One day she kept waiting and waiting for the male assistant. Finally, she decided to go look for him. And she found him standing in front of what she thought was a sink. She went back to the whirlpool and told a classmate that he was washing his hands at that strange-looking sink. The classmate started laughing… doubling over with laughter. She then asked, “What’s so funny?” The classmate informed her that it was not a sink; it’s a urinal. She then asked, “What is a urinal?” The classmate explained, and she replied that it still looked like a funny sink to me. Another time the girls were supposed to be out of the locker room before the boys came down from Gym Class. They did not make it out in time; boys were in various stages of dress and undress. One of the female athletes yelled, “Boys close your eyes we are coming through.”
One night very close to graduation, a group of girls met at a friend’s house. They dressed in camouflage and blackened their faces. They crept through the school grounds over to the field house. Someone obtained the white lime used to line the fields, and they wrote CLASS OF 74 on the field. The next day on the side wall of the intermediate school, someone had spray-painted something else about the class of 74. They were scared to death that someone thought it was them. To this day, no one knows who wrote on the school walls. They got away with it. Another time after school, a classmate was asked to help judge cheerleading. She was walking down the hall heading to the gym. She looked down and what did she see …A BIG FAT Doobie. Under normal circumstances, she would have known just what to do, BUT a teacher was walking to the same object. So the student picked up the Doobie and handed it to the teacher…. well, she handed it back to the student and smiled. The student continued walking to the Gym. The student decided to play it safe and gave it to an administrator. He thanked her. After the tryout, she learned that the administrator lit up the Doobie and passed it around so each teacher could smell it. One teacher said, “My room is near the smoking pit; I didn’t know it was pot I have smelled for a while.”
On our senior trip, we were staying at a motel in Washington DC when somebody broke into several of the girls’ rooms and stole their belongings. The parents came and picked up the girls as they were concerned for their safety. On that same trip, several girls were standing in their motel room looking across the pool and noticed the curtains in one of the boys’ rooms opened and closed, opened and closed again. As they continued to watch, they realized it was a male classmate at the window, butt naked, assuming a variety of poses. Another male classmate was actually manning the curtain, opening and closing the curtain quickly. Each time it opened, the girls saw a different pose. The only reason he stopped was that they thought the teachers were coming by or somebody saw him.
One evening during the band performance at halftime of a football game, a fellow classmate made the wrong pivot on the football field in the band and marched down the field by himself 15-20 yards before he realized he went the wrong direction. When the band went to New Orleans to march in the Mardi Gras parade, we had a classmate become quite ill the night before the parade. We thought she had really bad gas, so we were in the mall in New Orleans trying to help her pass it, but nothing eased her discomfort. She had to have an emergency appendectomy and missed the whole event. Her parents had to drive to New Orleans and pick her up after her surgery.
And of course, surely you remember the streaker running down the railroad tracks on the evening of our graduation?
I will now open the floor for others to share their favorite memory of high school. Are there other stories…the floor is open? (WAIT…encourage others to speak up…I don’t think they can ask for our diploma back 45 years later!)
Diligence and hard work allowed the fledgling class of 1974 to leave the nest, to go into the world and seek new milestones. Classmates entered the workforce, served in the armed forces, while others continued their education.
As I close, I have another story to share. Some of you may have heard it before, but I believe it is worth sharing.
Billy Graham died at the age of 99 in February 2018. Several years before that, leaders of Charlotte, North Carolina, invited their favorite son, Dr. Billy Graham, to a luncheon in his honor. Dr. Graham initially hesitated to accept the invitation because of his struggles with Parkinson’s disease. The leaders informed Dr. Graham, “We don’t expect a major address. Just come and let us honor you.” He finally agreed. After many wonderful things were said about him, Dr. Graham stepped to the podium, looked at the crowd, and said, “I’m reminded today of Albert Einstein, the great physicist who has been honored by Time Magazine as the Man of the Century. Einstein was traveling from Princeton on a train when the conductor came down the aisle, punching the tickets of every passenger. When he came to Einstein, Einstein reached in his vest pocket. He couldn’t find his ticket, so he reached in his trouser pockets. It wasn’t there. …….He looked in his briefcase, but couldn’t find it….. Then he looked in the seat beside him. He still couldn’t find it.
The conductor said, “Dr. Einstein, I know who you are. …. We all know who you are. I’m sure you bought a ticket. Don’t worry about it.” Einstein nodded appreciatively. The conductor continued down the aisle punching tickets. As the conductor was ready to move to the next car, he turned around and saw the great physicist down on his hands and knees looking under his seat for his ticket. The conductor rushed back and said, “Dr. Einstein, Dr. Einstein, don’t worry, I know who you are; no problem. You don’t NEED a ticket. I’m sure you bought one.” Einstein looked at him and said, “Young man, I too, know who I am. What I don’t know is WHERE I’m going. Having said that, Billy Graham continued, “See the suit I’m wearing? It’s a brand new suit. My children and my grandchildren are telling me I’ve gotten a little untidy in my old age. I used to be a bit more stylish. So I went out and bought a new suit for this luncheon AND one more occasion. You know what that occasion is? This is the suit in which I’ll be buried. But when you hear I’m dead, I don’t want you to immediately remember the suit I’m wearing. I want you to remember this: I NOT only know who I am. I also know WHERE I am going. May your troubles be less, your blessings more, and may nothing but happiness come through your door. Life without God is like an unsharpened pencil – it has no point.
Class of ’74, let us always celebrate the memories of our friends and classmates. Let us always enjoy our time together. May we continue to indulge in the bounty of choices, possibilities, and adventures that lie before us. Life is truly a wonderful journey!
This weekend has been a time of reflection on “those school days, the sweetest time of life”. Let us never forget the ones who are not with us this evening. Let us never forget WHO WE ARE, WHERE WE’VE BEEN, or WHERE WE ARE GOING!
THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS!