A crowd of more than 650 people enjoyed a nostalgic trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the good old days with former classmates, friends and family at an inaugural Vero Beach High School Golden Grads Reunion.
“It’s called the Golden Grads, for people who graduated 50 years ago or more,” explained Jeanne Bishop. She and husband Gene Bishop, both class of 1964, were on the committee, made up of representatives from the various classes.
A reunion the year before that combined 1962, 1963 and 1964 classes proved so successful, organizers decided to broaden the field. Saturday’s reunion at the Indian River County Fairgrounds included graduates from 1932 to 1965.
“The reason I wanted to do this is because families with children who went to school over many years have never been able to go to a Vero Beach High School reunion together, as a family,” said Buddy Provost, ’63, the mastermind behind the multiple-decades reunion. “We’re going to do it again next year on the 9th of April, same time, same place, adding the class of ’66.
The current high school was completed in 1963 so the vast majority of the Golden Grads had attended high school at what is today the Freshman Learning Center. It was the county’s only public high school until 1994, when Sebastian River High School was completed.
“For a first-time event this is awesome,” said Alma Lee Loy, ’47. “It shows the respect that people in this community have for Vero Beach High School. People are having a great time just visiting with each other.”
“The surprising thing is so many are from out of town. We’re just having the best time,” said Judy Mitchell Roberts, ’62. “With my sisters and cousins we spanned 12 years of graduating classes, so we know so many people. It’s fun to see them all.”
“This has been so much fun; absolutely amazing,” said her cousin, Mary Jane Mitchell Stewart, ’63. “It’s such fun to reconnect.”
Tables were laid out in decades from the ‘30s through the ‘60s, but nobody stayed put for very long; there were far too many people to see and stories to swap.
Maxine Radin Case, ’48, related memories of her mother Garnett Lunsford Radin, who founded Vero’s first hospital in 1932, in a former hotel on Old Dixie. “There was a sign as you approached the hospital that said ‘quiet zone’ but I couldn’t keep quiet,” laughed Case.
She said Radin was later instrumental in the planning and construction of today’s Indian River Medical Center; patients can thank Radin for specifying that rooms would all be private.
Hiram Henderson proudly wore a shirt proclaiming him as one of the “1951 Undefeated Football Team.” Henderson was greeting attendees as both an alumni and a former teacher – he graduated in 1952 and went on to teach math and science there from 1959 to 1996.
“I have on the class rings of my mother and daddy and me,” said Sue Kennedy Holbrook, a grandchild of Kennedy Groves founder John Alexander Kennedy, who moved here in 1909. Pointing to the rings strung on a necklace, she added, “My daddy was 1940, my mother was 1942 and I was 1962.”
Will Barker and Penny Beach Barker, ’63 and ’65, were among many of the alumni who met while in high school. “She didn’t like me back then; it took me a while to convince her,” said Will Barker with a warm smile.
“There’s a lot of wisdom in this room, a lot of experience and a lot of good people,” said Ruth Bookout Stanbridge, ’61, attending with husband Bill, ’59. They also met at school and will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year. “Somehow the years just flow away when you see people again. Nobody wants to go home!”