I know a list would help, but how do you keep from forgetting to list something? After making this trip for the past 23 years, you'd think we'd remember the important stuff, right? Then how did I forget my cameras last year?

Oh well, thank goodness for Wal-Mart !

May 1st !  How many of you remember celebrating May Day?

     Back in the days when Sequoyah had grade school kids; it was a big day. It was a holiday, you know, no school.

      We'd gather on the old football field (where the softball field is now) for the festivities.  On the west side, close to the highway, there would be two rows of poles, standing about 8 feet tall, one for each class. Streamers or ribbons (crepe paper) were attached to the top,  in the colors chosen by each class. 

      About 6 boys and 6 girls chosen by the class would "Wind the MayPole."  In and out, round and round, we'd try to make the pattern look smooth and tight just like we'd practiced during music class in the days before the celebration. Winners were judged by neatness, pattern and overall effect.

I have a 1933 magazine which shows the celebration on the central lawn.

     Each class performed a dance routine for the amusement of everyone else. I remember in about 3rd or 4th grade, doing a dance called something like: "Jump, Jump, Jump Jim Crow."  The whole class would be in a circle (boy-girl-boy-girl) skipping and singing as the boys circled one way and the girls the other; weaving in and out. The older classes would do a variation of a square dance or something similar.

    Later, there were athletic contests: foot races, softball toss, chin-ups, high jump and finally, a tug-of-war.

    These are some of the things Ruby and I talk about on the long drive to Tahlequah. I tell her how it was to roam the fields and woods in the old days and she tells me about the girls in Cherokee  Hall.

     It all changed in about 1964. New school building, new dorms, new gym and ballfields. High school only; no little kids. No students with more than 4 years experience, which means no more alumni who literally grew up at Sequoyah.

Our old campus became just old buildings that would soon disappear.

    It's all different now, but I can't help hoping that somehow it's the same for todays students. That they'll feel as we do about Sequoyah and perhaps join us in our annual trip to reminiece with old friends and schoolmates.

    Thursday night there was a terrific thunder storm with high winds and heavy rain, but Friday dawned cool, clear and bright.  A great way to begin the 2008 Reunion.