It was 1955 when the four Madison County community high schools of Colbert, Comer, Danielsville and Ila were joined under one roof in a move by the state government to consolidate the education system of Georgia. And it was that first class of seniors – 77 members of the Class of 1956, that were also the first to call themselves “MCHS graduates.”
Most of the remaining members of that class, and some of their spouses, met for a reunion recently at the Ila Restaurant. Many still live in the area, but several came from as far away as Kentucky and North Carolina.
Class president Everett Carey, along with class members Ann Stovall Epps and Jackie Sartain Dillard led the group in getting reacquainted since their last reunion, which was held eight years ago in 2003.
Since that last reunion, they have lost 16 of their classmates, as well as their beloved principal Dan W. Bramlett, who died just a few months after the 2003 reunion. The day of the reunion was also Bramlett’s birthday and Epps read a letter from his wife to members of the class.
Bramlett was tapped as the newly formed Madison County High School’s first principal, and charged with the task of bringing the four high schools together – academically, athletically and in spirit. And from many of the stories told by his first senior class, it seems he did just that. The stories also reflect a time gone by, and illustrate just how much times have changed.
Anne Epps told the class that she remembers Mr. Bramlett telling students who did something he felt was inappropriate that “we don’t do that here.”
Several related spankings by Bramlett, who always strived to be “fair but firm.”
Other well-known names of faculty members, such as Dewey “Doc” Power, Miss Jeffie Fitzpatrick and Ed Hemphill were mentioned throughout the evening – especially “Doc’s” biology classes and the smell of formaldehyde.
Dillard said she was the first of the class to marry and have a child. She gave birth to a son in November 1956. A cheerleader all three years in high school, Dillard was told she couldn’t cheer her senior year, because she was engaged.
Max Sartain spoke of the wooden desktop he “bought” from Mr. Bramlett after Bramlett found his name scratched into its shiny new top. Sartain maintains that a classmate wrote his name, not him.
Sartain is also the “keeper of the jug,” or more accurately “keeper of the wine.” He brought along a 1991 bottle of wine, which is kept in a safe deposit box, and is designated to be consumed by the last two living members of the class.
George Bugg, the husband of late class member Beverly Chandler Bugg, told the story of how he met his bride after she got a job as a cashier in a parking lot in Atlanta where he was also working. He said he and another fellow “flipped a coin” for which one would have the privilege of asking her out. The couple had four boys before she passed away.
Jimmy Porterfield, wearing the same slacks he wore to graduation in 1956, told the story of how he took what he thought was gum out of the pocket of his friend Robert Arnold’s pocket, only to find out later that they were laxatives. Needless to say, he had to go home early that day.
Anne Epps told of how she and other classmates attended an unchaperoned cookout and hay ride, which got her summoned to Mr. Bramlett’s office the next day. Unsatisfied with her explanations of why the event was not chaperoned, he told her to “go in the teacher’s lounge and read the Bible until you can tell me the truth.”
Mary Ann Hardman Ramsey told the story of how she initiated a petition to have each row stand individually during the commencement ceremony, rather than everyone standing all together as was initially planned. She was called to the office and questioned by Mr. Bramlett, but she and her fellow petitioners won the day when each row was allowed to stand individually, a practice still followed today.
And there was the famous flashlight incident at Rock Eagle 4-H Camp, where the class had gone on a much-anticipated field trip. The girls thought it would be funny to take a flashlight and shine it in the boys’ cabin windows. Mr. Bramlett came to investigate and the girls had their flashlight promptly taken away.
Their senior class, along with underclassmen that first year had the task of deciding on the yearbook name, school colors and mascot. The choice of mascot came down to the “Black Knights” or the “Red Raider.”
A memorial has been set up at the high school sports complex across from the high school that the Class of 1956 designed and paid for in memory of Dan. W. Bramlett, a principal that class members say helped “mesh them all together” in 1956.
Class members plan to hold another reunion next year on Aug. 25, 2012, beginning at 4:30 p.m. at the Ila Restaurant. Class members are also invited to meet for breakfast at 8:30 a.m. the first Monday of each month at the restaurant.
