By By Scottye Carter/The Meridian Star
June 10, 2001
Organ notes of "Mr. Sandman" resonated off the Temple Theater walls Saturday morning as members of the Meridian High School class of 1951 sat and reminisced.
The old friends discussed how small the Temple seemed now compared to when they were younger. They remembered some of the movies they saw and disputed where the concession stand and ticket booth used to be.
But as soon as the organ started playing, everyone sat down and listened to the songs they grew up with play in the theater they grew up in.
Even though most of the time they spent in the theater was watching movies, many seemed moved to hear the organ and to sit in their old seats.
After the organ stopped playing, the classmates began a bus tour of their old haunts in Meridian, such as the high school, Frank's Drive-In, the Spot on old 8th Street, and the Opera House. They even made it out to the Bonita Lakes Mall to observe how Meridian has grown in these last 50 years.
This weekend, the class of 1951 celebrates 50 years since high school graduation. Friday night, the class met at Howard Johnson's to talk about old times and to catch up with old friends.
Even though they had a reunion five years ago, Frances Hinton, who still lives in Meridian, said she was anxious to see her classmates.
On Saturday night, the class met again at Meridian Little Theater for a program complete with singers and dancers, a group picture, food, and more reminiscing.
Jackie Crawford, of Meridian, was president of the class. She said the reunion went well.
Crawford and Hinton were only two of the former classmates who helped bring everyone back together. Hinton was able to find a few people through the guestbook feature on The Meridian Star's Website.
Her class was very special, she said.
Even though so many things can happen over 50 years that will relocate us, change us, and make us forget, home is always home. Some of these friends moved from Meridian 50 years ago and have just now made it back, and some of them never left. But none of that really matters in the end. Meridian will always be their hometown their roots and their classmates will always be their friends, no matter how far they stray.
Scottye Carter is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551.