The 118th annual Union School reunion took place on June 10 at College Corner Union School, honoring the classes of 1943, 1948, 1953, 1958, 1963, and 1968. Over 100 people were scheduled to attend, which took tremendous effort on many people’s parts to pull off, but it was by all accounts a huge success. Alumni and their guests gathered at tables marked by graduation years, and ate a dinner served by Charlotte’s Catering and Banquets out of Eaton. Mike Murray was the MC, leading the group in the pledge and a blessing before the meal. After everyone was seated, there was a brief ceremony which included many highlights. One such moment occurred when UCCCJSD Superintendent John Edge presented the Heritage Hall School-Community Service Award to alumna and veteran teacher Jean Hartley for her many significant contributions to the College Corner Union School and community. Hartley told the room how she’d graduated in 1959 and came back to teach for 41 years. Another memorable moment came when the sole attendee of the class of 1948, the oldest class to be represented, Mary Paulin Hill spoke. Though her husband Gilbert (also a ‘48 grad) was unable to attend. Mrs. Hill spoke to the group about her graduating class of 14, of whom three are still living. There were six in the class who went all 12 years together, she said, and told of the teacher shortage that occurred during those years and the work the students put in to earn their required credits to graduate. Mrs. Hill also shared a funny anecdote about her senior class play, which required a fence be built by (her not-yet-husband) Gilbert and another classmate. Mary recounted offering assistance to the scenery creation, saying “can we do anything to help?”; to which Gilbert replied “Yeah, run down to the hardware store and buy six postholes.” Well, the girls did as they were told, and the memory still brought laughs to the couple many years later, as it did to the attendees of Saturday’s reunion as well. In fact, there were a lot of laughs shared in the room, including when Mary Lou Murray Ferris (class of ‘53) recounted their class sponsor, a woman whom she described as one who “if you had the hiccups and she walked up to you, you didn’t have the hiccups anymore!” Ferris, a long time teacher in the district, spoke of her classmates and their activities fondly, including John Johnston sitting beside her. Many stories of days past were shared, for example Tom and Helen Curry Greeson (class of ‘52) jokingly recalled when Helen was a cheerleader and lived through a scandalous change in the uniform length. Whereas cheerleading skirts had been mid-calf, they were shortened to knee length Helen’s sophomore year, something a local journalist rebuked in the next week’s paper! See the scandal-making uniform on page 6. Another highlight of the event was the Heritage Hall, housed downstairs at the school, which was set up museum-style with items donated by alumni from school-days past. A remarkable display of photographs, athletic uniforms, newspaper articles, school books, class rings, and various memorabilia from the past century has been curated and preserved by volunteers. A personal thanks to Curt Sizemore and Tonya Pinkerton Paddock for access to the Heritage Hall, it is a must-see! See more on this reunion on pg. 6!
