Thursday, October 18, 2001, the golfers enjoyed marvelous weather for a day on the links.

Friday, October 19, 2001, 74 former students, spouses and friends gathered at the 57^th Fighter Group restaurant at Peachtree-DeKalb Airport to celebrate by renewing friendships, reminiscing and enjoying a buffet lunch. The weather was made to order with October’s bright blue skies and perfect 65° temperature. A backdrop of WWII planes (which are part of the restaurant’s mystique and nostalgia) recalled those years when many of the graduates would be entering the armed services in preparation for duty in Korea and Vietnam.

Saturday morning, October 20, a group met at Bass High for a tour of the school and grounds. While the building itself has been converted into ‘Bass Lofts,’ the integrity of the structure remains and everyone enjoyed seeing the transformation that has taken place. While strolling down the halls, we were invited into an apartment by a couple whose hospitality was exceeded only by their gracious personalities. It was delightful to see how a former classroom could be changed into a charming apartment with 10’ ceilings and a blackboard all across the whole length of the room. We enjoyed the beautiful landscaping, seeing a swimming pool on the site of the old playground and softball fields, touring the gym – also full of condos – and visiting the auditorium. The ticket booth remains in the foyer. The center aisle still makes its way down to the stage – with two original seats on each side and about 6 full rows across the front. The murals of bygone days were still visible as we climbed those four steps to the stage where we stood together and sang our graduation song, "You’ll Never Walk Alone" … with tears in our eyes.

Saturday evening found our Class of ’51 meeting with Bass friends and graduates from the classes of ‘48-’57 at the beautiful Atlanta Athletic Club. The 195 in attendance enjoyed a lovely evening with a delicious dinner. The Atlanta Seventeen Orchestra provided a musical tribute and recognition to those who had served in the Armed Forces. The evening progressed to excellent music for dancing, with the ’51 Class leading off to "Sentimental Journey" … which it was! As the evening came to a close, we all reluctantly said our good-byes with many promises to ‘see you again next year!’

It was a lovely way to spend an evening.

Helen Glenn Taylor