Those attending the reunion were: Ellen (Lanham) Brinkman, David Starrett &wife Sheree, Donna (Gingerich) Moffett, Deb Barnhart, David Shively & wife Mary, Renee (Roberts) Glass, Russell & Theresa (Forsythe) Lancaster, Rocke Weaver, Kerry Wilson, Martin Minter, Pam Swindler, Tim Crook, Betty Jo (McNary) Purvis and husband Rick, Marsha (Gingerich) Eppley and husband Lyndell. Guests were Lexie Eppley & Seth Drennan. 

Lots of laughs and many memories were repeated until everyone departed looking forward to the next reunion in 5 years. Our class has lost seven members in the past 35 years and those of us that travel great distances, would really like it if the class members that live close to Lancaster would attend the next reunion. Time slips by so fast and we would like to see every living 1973 class members.

Date: March 26, 2003

TO: The Lancaster Excelsior, PO Box 250, Lancaster, MO 63548 660-457-3707, fax 660-457-3707

From: Kerry Wilson, PO Box 2009, Gadsden, AL 35903 888-218-6711

The year was 1973. Gas was thirty-two cents per gallon. Martin Minter's 1972 Olds 442 and Tim Kerby's 1964 Chevrolet Impala were the coolest cars in town, and fifty-eight seniors of the graduating class of 1973 had big plans. Occupations of those who graduated now include: homemakers, farmers, mechanics, nurses, school teachers, an electrician, photographer, military personnel, a carpenter, government and city employees, bank officers, agricultural business leaders, retail sales persons, technicians, hospital workers, a Certified Public Accountant, a staff accountant, several self employed business owners, a Program Director, an insurance agent, a pharmacist, and a minister. Six are deceased. Twenty-two graduates and their families attended the 20th reunion on 6-27-1993, and twenty attended on 7-4-1998. Besides the thirty-six that still live in Missouri, other graduates now reside in Texas, Kansas, California, Kentucky, Iowa, Alabama, and Germany.

The 30th year reunion is planned for July 5, 2003 5:30 PM at the Lancaster Country Club. "We want everyone to show up that can get there! We've lost so many. We don't care how much weight you've gained or how much hair you've lost! Please don't let this reunion pass without you!"

For more information, point your browser to http://www.kerrywilson.com/classof73.htm, or call 888-218-6711.

PRESS RELEASE

Date: May 9, 2003

TO: The Lancaster Excelsior, PO Box 250, Lancaster, MO 63548 660-457-3707, fax 660-457-3707

From: Kerry Wilson, PO Box 2009, Gadsden, AL 35903 888-218-6711

Re: Schuyler R-1 High School Class of 1973, Lancaster, MO 30th Year Reunion

Richard M. Nixon was President. Spiro T. Agnew was Vice President. Nixon had stopped all military action in North Vietnam on January 15^th. Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the Yom Kippur War on October 6^th. OPEC announced a ban on exporting oil on October 19^th, and gasoline prices were on the rise. In response, Nixon signed the Alaskan Pipeline Bill on November 16^th, and told reporters on November 17^th, "I’m not a crook". The U.S. attempted to rescue American POW’s in North Vietnam but no one was found at the prison camp on November 23^rd.

Favorite songs were Crocodile Rock, Delta Dawn, Half Breed, Killing Me Softly With His Song, Live And Let Die, Midnight Train To Georgia, You’re So Vain, and Time In A Bottle.

Eggs were $,84 per dozen, a 1^st Class Stamp $.08, Milk $.68 a half gallon, Flour $.64 per 5 lbs, and the Dow Jones was 851.14. Students used electric typewriters to learn to type. Personal computers were 12 years away from being made available to the public. Pocket calculators cost $75, and were too big to carry in a pocket.

May 17, 1973 was a special day for 58 graduates of the 1973 graduating class of Schuyler R-1 High School in Lancaster, MO. July 5, 2003 will be another special day for these graduates. The class of ’73 Reunion Committee is planning it’s 30^th year reunion, at the Lancaster Country Club, July 5^th at 6:00 P.M. All class of 1973 alumni and former teachers are urged to attend. For more information, contact Martin Minter at 660-457-3075.

Press Release

May 28, 2003

From: Class of ’73 Reunion Committee c/o Kerry Wilson, P. O. Box 2009, Gadsden, AL 35903

To: The Lancaster Excelsior, P. O. Box 250, Lancaster, MO 63548 Fax: 660-457-3707

Martha Berry’s Dime

Martha Berry is alive and living today in the hearts and minds of the students of Berry College. Her legacy lives not only at the institution but throughout Northwest Georgia.

Born shortly after the Civil War to wealthy parents, Berry began her career as an educator teaching classes on Sunday to the poor children of Possum Trot. Berry decided to start a school at Lavender Mountain for these children. The county agreed to hire 2 teachers for the new school. Realizing that would not be enough, she paid for a third herself and contributed her own time and money frequently supplementing the schools meager budget. The school showed immediate results and steadily increased in students.

In 1902, against the advice of her family and attorneys she deeded land to found the Boys Industrial School. At this time public schools were not common in Georgia. The student body and school grew rapidly. To meet community needs, expansion and money became essential.

Hearing that Henry Ford was making endowments to worthy causes, Martha Berry visited Henry Ford to raise money for the Berry Schools. Ford, tired of being a donation target, reached into his pocket, grabbed a dime and flung it on his desk, saying, "This is all the money I have I my pocket. Take it and leave."

Berry took the dime, returned to Rome Georgia, and bought seeds. A year later, she went back to Ford and showed the multimillionaire pictures of the gardens, crops and trees she planted with his dime. Ford was so impressed, he gave Berry $25,000 on the spot, an unheard of fortune in that day. The automobile magnate went on to build the Ford buildings, a cluster of Gothic edifices on the campus. The Ford Foundation recently gave Berry College a $9.4 million grant.

One vote can decide an election. One run can win a World Series. One more alumnus attending the Class of ’73 30^th year reunion will make the reunion a success. That alumnus is you! We want to see you at the reunion. If you think it won’t matter if you attend, or if you think it won’t make a difference to us if you come, remember the difference that Martha Berry’s Dime made to the poor students of Northwest Georgia.

For more information, please contact Mr. Martin Minter, at 660-457-3075. We want to see you at the reunion. One makes all the difference!