Local News - July 2003

LHS Class of ’62 throws a krewe

By CALEB HAWKINS, LTN Correspondent

No one was calling the gathering of the Lincolnton High School class of 1962 Saturday a reunion.

   “It’s a combination reunion/celebration of life,” said Harry Costner, a member of the class, who put together the event.

The event at Woodside Manor was also a krewe (a Mardi Gras celebration) and induction.

Despite the title, around 70 former classmates, an internationally acclaimed chef, and a world famous band all attended Saturday night.

Some came from Texas, Louisiana, Washington D.C., Virginia, and South Carolina.

Jimmy “Bad Boy” Uhl wasn’t a member of the class of ’62, but he and Costner were old friends. Uhl agreed to be the cook, and came all the way from New Orleans.

The jambalaya, Uhl’s specialty, was steaming in the already hot evening.

The jambalaya contained pork, beef, alligator, gumbo ya ya (or “roach killer” as others called it), various spices, and “anything else that comes along,” joked Ed Cocetti.

Cocetti, who, like Uhl, wasn’t a member of the class, came from Humble, Texas for Costner as well.

When asked Cocetti if he was just the stirrer, he was insulted.

“The stirrer is the most important job,” said Uhl. “If you let it sit, it will coagulate.”

Uhl denied claims that he wrestled the alligator, merely attesting to running it over.

He doesn’t own a restaurant. “There’s not enough money in the world to make me do this every day,” he said.

Later that night, bluegrass band the Foggy Mountain Bottom Rocking Boys played.

Also, the former members of the Captain’s Club, a group of boys in the class of ’62, inducted 5 new members and a goat.

The former Captain’s Club was for debauchery and mischief, according to Costner. “Now it’s going to be for good purposes,” he said.

The new group’s first project will be saving a worm.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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