Decatur graduates re-live bygone days at reunion

DECATUR — Graduates of Decatur High School gathered in the community room (old gym) at Decatur city hall (the site of the second high school) to see old high school friends and to remember days gone by.

This year’s event honored classes from 1955 and 1956, celebrating their 60th anniversary; 1965 and 1966, celebrating their 50th anniversary; and 1990 and 1991, celebrating their 25th anniversary.

Seventy-five alumni began arriving at around 6 p.m. to a room full of history and familiar faces, invoking memories of basketball games, band concerts and high school dances.

Decatur’s first high school was constructed in 1925. It was in use until 1937 when a tornado destroyed the second floor, rendering the building unusable for holding classes. For the next two years, high school classes took place in local homes and churches until a new building was constructed. In 1939, Decatur High School moved into its new building on Maple Avenue. Classes were held in this facility until the town grew at such a rate that a new building was needed. The high school moved into its present location in 1970.

Cow-Patty Creek Band, a country gospel group from northwest Arkansas, provided the evening’s entertainment.

Ike Owens, school board president, updated the alumni on the growth of Decatur High School. Owens explained that the Decatur school system has grown to 600 students this school year. This prompted the school board to take on an expansion project for the high school. In the next five years, Decatur High School will undergo renovation, adding a performing arts center, rest rooms, storm shelters and a new office.

After the program, friends and classmates gathered one last time to exchange contact information and say their final goodbyes as the reunion came to a close.

Photo by Mike Eckels Paula McGhee (center) talks to Leonard Truitt (right) during the Decatur Alumni Association’s biennial banquet held in the community room at Decatur City Hall April 23. At 98, Truitt was the oldest Decatur High School graduate at the reunion. By Mike...

Photo by Mike Eckels Lester Austin (center) listens to one of his classmates as his wife, Pat (right), engages in a different conversation. The Austins were part of the 2016 Decatur Alumni Association biennial banquet in the community room at Decatur City Hall April 23.

Photo by Mike Eckels A group of Decatur High alumni takes a picture during the 2016 Decatur Alumni Association biennial banquet April 23 in the community room at city hall in Decatur.