By Jason A. Smith
Times Correspondent
Some high-school classes might
go for 10 or 20 years without see-
ing each other after graduation.
However, the same cannot be
said for the McDonough High
School class of 1954. In fact, they
make a point of getting together
as often as they can, in an effort
build onto their decades of mem-
ories.
The class will have its annual
reunion June 1 at 2 p.m., at the
Golden Corral, 1755 Jonesboro
Road in McDonough.
Addie Wilkinson grew up in
Stockbridge and has coordinated
the last nine reunions for her for-
mer classmates. Now living in
Manchester, she says they always
look forward to the yearly gather-
ings.
“We’ve had one every year since
’04,” says Wilkinson, 80. “It’s
just a special time, and everybody
shows up. We have them from
Indiana, New Mexico, Florida,
Alabama … we just have a huge
crowd. We stay about four hours,
and we just talk ourselves to
death. It’s like they’ve been there
all their lives, like … you hadn’t
seen them in a year or so. It’s like
you were just talking to them last
week. It just all comes home to
you.”
Members of the class also meet
on the first Wednesday of the
month at McGhin’s Southern Pit
Bar-B-Que in Griffin. Although it
can be argued that they do so just
because they enjoy seeing each
other, a few minutes with the
group points to another possibili-
ty – namely that they get together
so often because they haven’t fin-
ished their conversation from
dinner three years ago.
“We talk to a lot of people, they
can’t believe we’re this old and
still get together once a month,”
says Wilkinson. “The ones that
don’t come, we talk about ‘em
that day.”
Wilkinson acknowledges that
she has taken on a motherly role
within the class, despite being the
same age as the rest of the group.
She says she enjoys keeping tabs
on them.
“Everything they do, they ask
me for my opinion, and I give it
to them freely,” she jokes. “I
share all my good wisdom with
them, and that’s free, too. They
just need me.”
McDonough High School, in the
1950s, was located where the
Henry County Board of
Education is now and was one of
only two high schools in Henry
County. The class of 1954 repre-
sents the last group to graduate
from the school.
Donnie Dollar, 81, of Brooks,
Ga., attended the school with his
wife, Mary Lou, who passed
away three years ago. Dollar says
he appreciates the relationships
he has built with his classmates
through their monthly gatherings.
The Henry County Times
Page 7
May 11, 2016
McDonough High School class of 1954 to hold reunion
Inside
Henry
Members of the McDonough High School class of 1954 gathers once a month at Southern Pit Bar-
B-Que in Griffin. They will celebrate their 62-year reunion June 1 at Golden Corral in
McDonough.
Photo by Jason A. Smith
see
Reunion,
page 11
