Generations past reconnect at reunion
Frankie Flowers Miller of the WPHS Class of 1951 reconnects with an old friend.
Months and months of planning and preparation made by the Wills Point ISD Alumni Association finally came together at the high school cafeteria Sept. 26 with the 5-year reunion for graduates of Wills Point ISD.
More than 200 Wills Point graduates, ranging from graduating classes in the 1940s all the way to the class of 2008, attended the event.
Festivities opened with registration and campus tours beginning around 10 a.m., and more than an hour of free time for people to reconnect before lunch service began.
Current Wills Point staff members, including WPHS Principal Jim Lamb, Tiger Band Director John Young, Ag. Sciences teacher Corky Ragland and head football Coach/Athletic Director Greg Cranfill each spoke to graduates about their respective programs, and how they’ve grown and changed over the years.
Current assistant superintendent of schools and WPISD Alumni Association VP Damon Davis took to the podium next, reading the names of all the members of the 1965 Class A State Championship winning Tiger football team.
Members of the team that were present included Coach Ken Autry Davis, Coach Dewayn Carter, Coach Wendell Boozer, as well as players John Holt, Hershell Lybrand, Roy Deen, Johnny Barnett, David Laney, Wayne Langford, C.W. Wilson, Mickey Robertson, Tim Provence, Snookie Curtis, John Shepard, John Deen, Steve Steadham, Tom Castleberry, Buddy Sledge, Bruce Miracle, Tim Sockwell, David Teel, Jerry Lawrence, Danny Mapes, Robert Hindman, Randy Burch, Jerry Barnett, Wayne Lusk, Joe Dempsey, Richard Davis, Mike Whiteside, Danny Teel, Kirk Evans and Donnie Dodson.
One of the major highlights of the reunion came shortly after the introduction of the 1965 Class A State Championship winning Tiger football team, with Davis reading a letter from his father (Coach Ken Davis), addressed to the 1965 team:
“Greetings! Fifty years ago I was 27 years old…not much older than you were. I was a new man on the job who dreamed of winning and was proud to carry the title of ‘Coach’ and My Blood Ran Blue!
