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Local News - September 2002 |
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Reunion evokes memories High Shoals ‘family’ gathers By ALICE SMITH, LTN Staff Writer September 9, 2002 - HIGH SHOALS — Over the years, they’ve moved away, drifted apart, lost touch. But for one day, they come back to reconnect, reflect and remember, and the time lost seems to disappear. Past and present members of the High Shoals community came together at the High Shoals ball park Saturday to relive memories that tie them together as a town, and as a family. Old friends relax in lawn chairs under big shady trees, children play on scooters and skateboards, volunteers cook hot dogs in the concession stand. Pat Yarbrough, who served as mayor of High Shoals for six years and was in and out of the City Council since the 80s, greeted people she hadn’t seen for years. Yarbrough was born and raised in High Shoals, and her pride in the city shines through in every word that flows from her mouth. The reunion is designed to bring back old memories of High Shoals, she says, for anybody who ever lived there, went to school there or played there. She smiles as she looks up to the sky — serene and blue — and says that the event has been blessed with perfect weather since its beginning six years ago. “I just love this kind of thing,” she says, before being embraced by another friend. Current City Councilman Dennis Gilbert has lived in High Shoals all his life. “It’s a good get-together,” Gilbert says, adding that the first reunion brought people together who hadn’t seen each other in 20 years. Close to the picnic shelter, Alice Baker sits with five of her friends. She’s a small lady, with soft gray hair and sparkling eyes. Baker, 89, has the distinction of being the oldest reunion attendee. She’s lived in High Shoals four different times, she says, and it’s where she met her late husband, Archie. They were married in 1934. Betty Lynn Jarrell, Baker’s sister, remembers days of walking to the old High Shoals Elementary School. The school now sits empty, with broken windows, surrounded by tall grass and a high chain link fence. But what the school once was is reflected in the eyes of the people who attended it many, many years ago. Most went to the school together and had the same teachers, says Sandy Reep, who now lives in Gastonia. What’s special about High Shoals, he says, is that it’s more of a family than a town. If any High Shoals residents, past or present, find a family in need, they chip in and help, he says, because that’s what High Shoals neighbors do. “High Shoals is a great community,” Reep says. Clyde Garver, who now lives in Lincolnton, has strong ties to High Shoals. Garver served as Postmaster here for 17 years, spent four years as mayor and held a City Council seat for six years. One of his most vivid memories of the city is the whistle blowing at the old cotton mill. It would blow for big events, he says, and remembers hearing it at the end of the war. Garver also used to hear singing from the Church of God floating through the town on Sunday nights. “It seems like everywhere I go now, I see people who worked in High Shoals or lived in High Shoals,” Garver says. And that’s what makes the place special and keeps drawing people back year after year — the people. “High Shoals has always been a close-knit family,” Reep says. “We always will be.”
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© 2001 Lincoln Times-News |
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