Words from Billy Shomo
In a private message, Billy Shomo noted that I had posted some
photos from a family reunion held recently in Cumberland Md. He wasn't aware that
my family had lived in Cumberland on two occassions.
The fact that my family lived in Cumberland is not remarkable.
A number of Pearisburg folks have families who spent time at Amcelle.
What is remarkable is Billy's response. For some reason it gave me
a real "feel good" moment.
Billy's words follow:
"I'm tempted to say "small world" but it becomes much less so when one of
your parents work for
Celanese. My father was born in Hambleton WVA, a short distance from Cumberland. His dad was a
carpenter for the coal mines and died of pneumonia when my dad was 15. They were a large,
poor family so my dad quit high school at age 15 and went to work washing bottles in the lab
at Celanese for .15 cents an hour. He finished high school at night, married at 18, had a child
(brother Ron) and worked his way up. In 1939, Celanese transferred dad to Narrows to help open
the new plant. His sister, Lena stayed behind and worked for Swift meat. They lived on Goethe St.,
which deadended (good choice of words) into the city cemetary. Dad's wife died in Narrows and at
age 33 he was a single parent with a 12 year old son. By then he had a pretty important job and
had several people working for him, including my Mom, a pretty WVA redhead who worked in the lab.
So I'm a Celanese kid. The house in Fort Branch was their first and last, my brother Ron helped
raise my brother Chuck and me and we all somehow found our way in the world. Those Miller boys
up on the hill were always great fun. Thought it was the end of the world when your family moved
away. Where do the years go?"
Thank you for the words Mr. Shomo!
Rebecca Hargis Moses
I won't do well with this.
Becky passed on Friday July 23, 2010.
She was a friend, a teacher,
a mentor and a servant to our school, our community and our world.
If you can help me with words, please do so.
The obituary is here."
The reunion will be held at the Pearisburg Community Center (our own Pearisburg
High School). The Reunion Committee has planned the following events and hopes that all of you
will attend each event.
| Date |
Time |
Event |
| Friday, August 27 |
3:00 |
Registration - 50/50 Sales and Raffle |
|
3:00-5:00 |
Meet and greet time |
|
5:00 |
Pizza Party - Cafeteria |
| Saturday, August 28 |
9:00 |
Golf Outing - Castle Rock |
|
9:30-11:30 |
Coffe/Tea at Johnson House |
|
2:00 |
Registration - 50/50 Sales and Raffle |
|
4:00 |
Program - Auditorium |
|
5:00 |
Dinner - Cafeteria |
|
8:00 |
Dance - Giles Country Club |
The cost of the reunion is $30.00 per person for early registration (by August 1, 2010).
Late registration (after August 1,2010) will be $40.00 per person. The golf outing will be an additional
$30.00 per person to cover golfing fees. It is important that we have this information by the deadline so
that we can plan for the correct number of guests for the golf, coffee/tea, dinner, dance, etcc. Please
make you plans and get those reservations in early.
If you have not received an announcement from Barbara click here
to send us an email containing your name and address and Barbara will mail you the information
you need to make your reservations.
When you arrive at the reunion, please look for signs directing you to
the registration desk so you can pick up your name
tags. You must have a name tag in order to be served dinner on Saturday. This is our way to keep expenses
down by not issuing dinner tickets. We must request that there be no carry out plates. The caterers have
agreed to charge us according to the number of people we tell them are to attend, therefore, no extra plates
will be allowed.
The golfers had a great time and want to play again this year. If you are a golfer,
please consider joining the group. This is a fun game and not a tournament. Anyone who can hit a golf ball
is welcome to come.
For those not wanting to play golf, a coffee/tea with light refreshments will be held at
the Johnson House which is maintained by the Historical Society. The Historical Society strives to keep
different artifacts on exhibit at different times of the year, as well as adding new ones as they are
received. If you enjoyed last year's viewing, you will enjoy this one just a much. The Historical Society
is operated and maintained by donations. Please leave a dollar or two in the donation box to help with
their endevour.
The theme for the dance this year will be "2010 Ocean Cruise". We will have a DJ
playing beach music as well as hits from the 40's. 50's and 60's. The dress fof the evening will be
casual cruise. Marilyn requests that you not wear bikinis or speedos. We want everyone to feel comfortable
and enjoy themselves. You don't have to dance. Just come out and enjoy yourself.
Flashback: The reference to 50's and 60's music reminded me of working at the pool
in the late 50's. Becky Hargis, Coach Mulheren and Patrica Bieterman all worked there. If I remember
correctly, the music selection consisted for about six 45 rpm records. (Does anyone remember
what the six records were?.) -Chip
For Class of 1960 Only
| Date |
Time |
Event |
| Thursday, August 26, 2010 |
5:00 |
Meet and Greet - Pearisburg Fire Hall |
|
6:00 |
Dinner - Pearisburg High School |
| Friday, August 27, 2010 |
11:00 |
Brunch - High School Library |
These events are for the Class of 1960. We are celebrating the 50th anniversary.
Remember, you only have one 50th anniversary of your High School Graduation.
There will be an additional $20.00 for these events.
Festivities will start on Thursday night (August 26) at 5:00 with a meet and greet hour followed by a
catered dinner at the Pearisburg Fire Hall.
On Friday morning (August 27), brunch will be served in the high school library.
More information soon.
Scholarship Fund
The PHS Alumni Association is soliciting contributions for the scholarship fund
that they have established. Details are here.
Can you believe that it's been fifty years for the class of 1960! There's a major
effort underway to get everyone from the class of '60 to the reunion. I showed up last year for the first
time, so I can't complain too much.
The reunion is open everyone who attended Pearisburg High School, ever. My friends from
the late '50s era had best show up or I will personally sulk for days. You know who you are. If
you don't you will be appearing shortly in the before and after section. Stay tuned.
Be sure to check out the "Pearisburg High School Grads Group" on Facebook.
Quite a few of our classmates have a presence on Facebook. If you don't have a Facebook account
consider getting one and join the fun over there. A bunch of folks are on ClassMates.Com. If anyone has a
paid memebership over there, it would be nice to invite those folks to join Facebook.
If you are a lost soul hiding from the reunion committee, send us an email with your name,
mailing address and email address. We will forward it to the reunion committee so you can keep up
with reunion plans.
Carl Bagby, who is a seemingly endless source of really good stuff, sent me this picture. I
remember it from 50 years ago.
Have camera will travel
Douglas Turner's photos are scary-good. You can check them out
here.
Among other things, he has photos of Angel's Rest, the Cascades, and Big Walker Creek.
As the proud owner of a genuine 1960 Pearisburg High School annual and access to
Facebook, I do have the technology to post before and after photos of lots of us.
I'll start with myself. How do you like the flat-top?
