One of the best elements the 79 and 80 classes added for our 30 year reunion was a service to remember fallen classmates. This event was appreciated by class members and family members as well. Held at the new CHS Fine Arts center on Saturday October 17th at 11am, Justin Carmody was the special guest speaker. While we did not video the service, here is a recap of the agenda and transcripts along with the outstanding video tribute produced by Mark and Becky Hardgrave. This does not capture the heart felt and emotional sentiments during our open mic portion of the service, but hopfully you get a sense of how meaningful this service was:
AGENDA FOR REUNION MEMORIAL SERVICE
CHS Fine Arts Building auditorium
10:30am – Doors open
11:00am – Welcome/opening remarks – Marty Houston
"Good Morining, fellow classmates, life long friends and family members. Welcome to the first memorial service for the late memebers of the CHS classes of 1979 and 1980 as a part of our 30 year reunion activities. This event, which started out as an idea to add a nice touch to our reunion, has become more meaningful.
Since planning begain in August, 2008, we have had two classmates pass away, one from the 1979 class and one from the 1980 class, both suddenly and both without warning. As we reflected on their lives it was hard not to intertwin our own, entering society through the same passage and sharing our youth with each other along the way.
I have come to believe that this is not only a nice gesture, but a responsability to take time to remember our late classmates as we reunite and share memories.
I realized this as I attended the funeral for one of those classmates Scott Talley in September of last year. Pallbearers, most of us who were also classmates of Scott, gathered at a coffee shop across the street from the Methodist church just before the service and spent about an hour sharing stories and rememberances of Scott. This continued on the ride to the cemetary, more stories and memories, it could have gone on. I thought of his young daughter, who just the day before he was tragically killed, told me about enrolling her in the first grade. A daugther who will grow up with very few memories of her father. How will she know this man that we thought so much of? What was he like as a kid, what kid of an athlete was he? was he kind? was he smart? was he popular?, did he have a lot of girlfriends? Believe it or not these are things she will want to know about her father as she grows older, and we as a group hold these stories like treasures to be passed on. Like it or not, we are historians of each others youth and as we grow older, these memories become more of a key to the roots of who we really are and how great we really were.
I am not sure how many of you have every participated in decoration. For the longest time I totally misunderstood what decoration was about. I thought decoration was almost like a weird family reunion with a change to change flowers and decorate grave sites. I have come to learn that it is a wonderful tradition for family members to gather and make sure their loved ones memories are always kept alive, that long after someone passes, there is someone there to talk about and remember them. For the CHS classes of 1979 and 1980, this is our decoration....
11:04am – Song – “Gone Too Soon” – Michael Jackson
11:10am – Introduction of guest speaker – Marty Houston
11:11am – Guest speaker - Justin Carmody
11:30am – Video tribute by Mark Hardgrave
11:36am – reading of deceased classmates names - Cindy Wewers and Jama Hatcher
Reading of classmates names
Cindy – The CHS classes of 1979 and 1980 take this time to pause and remember our fellow classmates.
Jama – as we read their names out loud, we reflect on their lives and memories of growing up with us
Cindy – Billy Craig
Jama – Dennis Bright
Cindy – Mike Holman
Jama – Mark Kimbrough
Cindy – Virginia Houston Malik
Jama – Harley Waggoner
Cindy – Rocky Hunt
Jama – Darla Teal Perry
Cindy – Lisa Hurst DeWinter
Jama – Arthur Kotch
Cindy – Scott Talley
Jama – Ronnie Roberts
Cindy – Mike Warren
Jama – Ken Wilson
Cindy – Never, Never to forget thee
Jama – In our loyalty
11:37am – Song – “Friends” Michael W. Smith
11:40am – open mic for remarks from attendees
11:45am – close, ajourn for tour of school
