Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 30, 1990 TAG: 9006300167
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: SUGAR GROVE LENGTH: Medium
People from across the country who attended the school at any time during its nearly 90-year history have been invited to the school's first-of-its-kind reunion, which will honor some of those associated with the school over the years.
Honorees will include:
Vernon I. Slemp, 93, who graduated from the school in 1916 and is its oldest living graduate.
Sena Roberts Ward, 89, who taught at the school in the 1920s and is believed to be its oldest living teacher.
Robert F. Williams, a former principal at the school who later became superintendent of Smyth County schools and now lives in Richmond.
W. Pat Jennings, a former Smyth sheriff, 9th District congressman and House clerk and a 1937 graduate of the school, is chairman of the reunion committee.
Reunion preparations have been hectic, and Jennings commended other committee members for the handling of various tasks.
"I told someone I didn't know whether I had a bear by the tail or Santa Claus by the beard, and I was afraid to let go and find out which one," Jennings said.
He said people coming to the reunion should bring folding chairs. Tents will be set up for groups attending during various time periods, and reunion tickets will be collected at the tents when the former students report in.
It was thought that the gathering might be the largest in the history of Smyth County but, unless the number goes well above 2,000, that distinction will stay with graduates of the county's Rich Valley High School who attended a reunion there two years ago before it merged with a high school in Saltville.
The Sugar Grove high school was converted to an elementary and junior high school in 1969, and high school students from the area went to Marion after that.
A directory, including a history of the school and information on graduates, will be on sale at the reunion and orders will be taken for a videotape of the reunion itself.
by CNB