Virgil’s house was easy to find. You go north on Peachtree Industrial, turn left on Woods Road, then go until you see River Club on the left. There’s a gate and a guard. The guard checks your name against a list, then opens the gate and you follow the signs that say: "Williams Residence ."

When we arrived, Virgil and Sara Williams warmly greeted us. A photographer took our pictures by a perfectly restored, fiery red 1959 Chevrolet, and we entered the house. Thus began what I thought was a most amazing night, but it’s possible that I gush. Let’s drop back and come at the story from the beginning.

THURSDAY

Susan and I got to Atlanta Thursday afternoon, arriving a day early to take it easy, but we actually spent our time preparing four picture boards, one of Demmond pictures, one of our week at the Wynns’ beach house, one of Saggus pictures and one of miscellany. Our designated day of resting up wound up action-packed instead.

FRIDAY

Peggy Sue Thrailkill Miller, our esteemed Reunion ’03 Committee Chair, laid on a hospitality room for us. Susan and I were there from when it opened at noon until about ten that night with rest periods interspersed. Here are some things I remember:
1. Slim as a marathon runner David Skaarer giving weight loss consultations.
2. Jimmy Childs with a marvelous white mustache that a New York fireman would be proud of.
3. Meeting Peggy’s 9-day old grandson, William (Will) David Weber. Peggy’s daughter Julie Miller Weber dropped by with him.
4. Hearing Ben Trimble say, "We parked our plane at the Marietta Airport." (Megawd!)
5. Peggy hugging me from behind while I sat, her telling everyone something I couldn’t concentrate on, so distracting was the hug.
6. More face time with Karen Lingham Reecer than I had throughout high school.
7. Seeing Harry and Linder Clark and remembering their visit in Tifton when we were still in our chaotic moving-in disorder,
8. Mimi Doscher Brandt making Jimmy Childs’ year by posing with him for a picture.
9. Sultry Judy Thrailkill Grier doing that Wow! thing she does with her eyebrow.
10. Seeing Bobby and Wanda Kline Boylston for the first time in 45 years.
11. Bobby Boylston charming all of us, telling stories, listening attentively, making all of the hero worshippers including me feel really fine.
12. Wanda matching him, the great comedienne in top form.
13. The hug and shriek I got from Carole Meadows Walker when I recognized her.
14. Someone I couldn’t quite place saying, "Lee? It’s me, Mel. I’m Mel Leach!" And it was true, she really was.
15. Claire Strickland Ansley’s ten-million dollar smile breaking out all over her whole face.
16. Terrell Jones (’59) bringing in a box of flowers. I never knew why, but they were great flowers and Terrell brought them in like a pro.
17. Doug Grimm, recently retired radio mogul, owner of five stations, making the rounds, shaking hands, nodding and talking.
18. Seeing Pat Drennon and Ben Trimble, heads down in serious conversation and me wondering how many IQ points were there represented. 350? 400?
19. Pat and Cheryl Drennon breaking out the Champagne, strawberries, grapes, and home-made chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies, sharing the celebration of their 29th wedding anniversary with us.
20. Cheryl Drennon’s grin when she explained, "I was ten when I married him."
20. Barbara Field explaining husband Chris Johansen’s reserve. We know Chris well after his putting up with us over the last 5 years, and we assured them that we are used to Chris and consider him part of our class. Chris was reading Cold Mountain, a great book.
21. All the way from Colorado came Colleen Ely Miller and Jim. Colleen was our Valedictorian, which she says amazes her kids. She teaches driver education out in the Rockies. 22. Nancy Carnes Tarrer was there from the first, greeting, hugging, making everyone welcome and generally being a Guru of Joy.
23. Reid and Janet Burns Hartsfied arrived. Reid is in the furniture business and has recently sold to a Tifton dealer. He may stop by to see us as he services that account. Bueno!
24. Cordell Hart gave me a tiny bottle of Yunnan Paiyao and a pound of Chinese tea. You make the Yunnan Paiyao into a thin paste and rub it on whatever hurts. Everybody wanted some!

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

This one fooled me. As an ex-administrator at Druid Hills, I know about old grads. I have hosted when various reuniting classes asked for access to the school buildings on Saturdays. While all were gracious enough, many were disappointed. Nothing is really as we think we remember it.

When Peggy asked me to arrange for our Saturday afternoon visit to the school I was reluctant, but Principal Sandi Woodall said she would meet us at 1:00 PM, be at our disposal, and would close up for us at 4:00.

I had seriously underestimated the Class of ’58 and profoundly underestimated Ms. Woodall!

When I got there shortly after 1:00, the entrance hall was swarming with our classmates and Ms. Woodall was right in the middle of them. There were gales of laughter, screeches of recognition, and many hands were shaken and many necks hugged. Gordon Siefferman gave me such a great hug I didn’t want to let him go, but I feared Lady Ret might bonk me if I didn’t. Nancy Kain McKinnon was there, and Judy Gaither Hall. We were posing, passing around cameras, gasping and backslapping.

The Booster Club had a table set up and we were buying T-shirts at a respectable clip. ($10 for one, $15 for two; red, black or white, sizes S through XXXL) Hank Klausman was showing Ms. Woodall a ’58 Saga. Drs. Bill and Ilana Wynn were islands of quiet among the frothing seas of laughing, swirling, howling humanity. Bobby Weinberg was there with striking Carolyn Gibson, his significant other.

We surged this way and that, into and out of the auditorium, finding faces, recognizing and hailing, chattering, and once in awhile someone would gasp then shriek and riotous hugs would ensue.

Ms. Woodall took us on a tour. Off we went, upstairs and downstairs, going into and out of rooms, aahhhiing over computers and ooooohing over artwork and stopping on the staircases as cameras were passed down to Ms. Woodall who patiently took shot after shot after shot of the grinning, milling Class of ‘58. We went outside, admired a water feature, saw a train go by, and marveled at a bridge over the railroad tracks.

It was a fine tour.

SATURDAY NIGHT

Let’s see… Up top I got us through the gate and described our greeting by Virgil and Sara Williams in front of their house, and told you about having our pictures taken by the red Chevy.

I must say that the house is quite beyond anything I had imagined. In a moment I was in the entrance hall giving out nametags to those who had not picked them up at the hospitality room or the school.

Carr and Dorothy Colvin came in. Carr sports a great mustache and goatee that make him look like a duke and he and I had a good time getting back together. Later we learned that Dorothy hails from South Georgia and is the mother of Mark the Paint Guy, a friend of ours at Short and Paulk Hardware in Tifton. Small world. I think Carr is now called Joel and I believe he’s in the printing business. Nice family. Susan and I had our pictures taken with them and later we showed them to Mark.

Tom and Barbara Bland came in. Tom lives in the same house he lived in through school and I reminded him of our many Saturdays of playing baseball in his yard. He came right back reminding me that we played a lot of baseball in my yard on Briarcliff Road as well. For a second I thought I was going to travel in time, but someone else came up and I did not.

Gale and Janet Sights came in. Gale is an ex-Army helicopter pilot and Southern Company retiree who now motorcycles all over wherever he can get to by land.

Up the stairs came Barbara Cowart Lee, reporting that the grandchildren she is raising are doing well and ruing whatever made her miss getting her picture taken for the ’58 Saga. Her nametag was of the generic variety with no picture. "Forty-five years ago and still paying for missing that day," she said, but she was cheerful and disappeared into the swirl of humanity carousing round the house.

Joe and Marianne Hogsed Baumgartner were there. Marianne is a retired teacher and told about stopping by a school to congratulate an old friend on becoming principal. She came out with a difficult five-week long-term substitute job. Ha! Next time she’ll just send a card.

Anita Whitman Thompson and I have seen each other a lot over the last five years. She spoke to several of my classes about her hair-raising adventures providing Bibles to people in countries where Bibles are not welcome, and I was very happy to see her. She claims to be a "little old grandma," but she looked fantastic in a blazer and natty red sweater. She was bright-eyed and outgoing so I think she had a pretty good time.

Suddenly there were Bob and Kathleen Neal. We last met at the 60th Birthday Bash. They had been recently married then, and Kathleen, a minister, was going to a new church the next day. Just as a really good conversation got going someone new arrived and off we went in another direction.

Neal and Joan Stewart Turner were making the rounds and as they went by voices whispered "She looks exactly like she did, doesn’t she? Hasn’t aged a day. Remarkable!" True. They were at the Week at the Wynns’ a couple of years ago and we were glad to see them again.

I hope you saw Richard and Norma Foster LeClerc. Richard is a handsome guy and he needs to be to hang out with Norma. She is a beautiful lady who seemed to glide when she moved. I was impressed.

I knew Wesley Clontz and Regina as soon as I saw them because Wesley looks the same and their pictures were in a recent ’58 & Holding. They do mission work in foreign countries and I envy them their fortitude. Time! I wish we’d had more time to talk.

I spotted Dorothy Harrison Staley but we never got to talk. Bad luck. Dorothy is a teacher and a clever, funny lady. My loss. Some other time I hope.

Vicki and Gilbert Rich were there. Gilbert is a financial planner in Dunwoody and I think he is very lucky to have Vicki. They were at the "Lee’s Last Supper" Tom Childs threw for Susan and me when we left Atlanta, and I was finally able to talk to Vicki for a few seconds. Tom and Marilyn Lantz appeared. Tom was at the first couple of reunions, but has laid low ever since. He sent us a picture of himself and his family at Edinburgh Castle and then signed on for Reunion ’03. I remember him as a clever, funny guy. Good show!

Anne Waggle Jones, our newsletter picture editor, and Jeff were there, having driven down from Silver Spring, Maryland. They Picked up Dr. Ina Jane Cowan Wundrum in Covington, then came out to Virgil’s where we had a fine time talking by the pool.

When we saw Virgil start around the pool, heading for where the band was set up we all got quiet. Virgil took the microphone and made a touching welcoming speech. It was short and it was sweet. I wish I could quote it perfectly. He said something like,

"Sara and I have been blessed greatly, and since we got our new house we have felt we should share what we have been given with others. We could not think of a better place to start sharing than with the Druid Hills High School Class of ’58. We welcome you to our house and ask that you let us know if there is anything that would make your visit more comfortable."

We cheered like maniacs. We sang the Fight Song. We prayed.

I guess it’s time to say what I know about the house so you will understand what happened as the evening progressed. You go through the house and are on a verandah overlooking the pool. Beyond the pool is what I’d call a super gazebo. Below the gazebo and beyond the pool the band set up. They were tuning up when we got there and soon were making great music. I love live music and I really enjoyed their performance.

There were tables set up around the pool, and the part of the house that gave onto the pool had an open bar, a game room and a squash court. The picture boards Susan made and a whole bunch of pictures Mel Leach’s sister took at our afternoon at the school were arrayed on the billiard table and Ping-Pong table. Mel and I talked about them and I nosed into her business.

Mel was a brilliant student and athlete. Somehow or other, way back then, I knew that Mel was going to Florida State and majoring in Physical Education. Everyone who knew that probably thought she ought to be majoring in nuclear physics. Way back then it occurred to me and now I was bold enough to ask; "Have you done exactly what you wanted to do?"

Mel looked up from the pictures we were examining and said, "Pretty much. Yes. I knew I wanted to teach and coach on the college level and I’ve done that for 44 years. Yes, I’ve done what I wanted to do."

"Perfect," I said. "I wonder if anyone else here tonight can say that."
I’m sure others of us can say that, but I was glad to hear it from Mel, a friend from so long ago. Good for you, Mel. You go, girl! (I watch a lot of Oprah these days.)

Chow was served buffet style. There was beef and chicken, roasted vegetables, marinated green beans and mashed potatoes and a whole bunch of other stiff. My plate weighed about ten pounds. We found places at the table with Hugh and Pat Cuttino Tracy.

While wolfing down the grub and grooving on the music we learned that the Tracys have sold their fabulous house on the marshes in Chatham County and are renting a cottage on Tybee Island!

"Where am I supposed to stay when I come to Savannah?" I demanded and Pat said there is a bed & breakfast practically next door. Well, good. I guess. Hugh says they were tired of living in one-third of their big house and were looking for a condominium suitable as a base as they travel and tend to their duties in Savannah.

Just as I thought I might explode from food overload they brought around cheesecake topped with peaches and I… Well, you know.

I finally go to talk to Penny Naylor-Bailer. She told me about a visit to Georgia State. Her father was big in radio and early TV in Atlanta, and she, along with my sister Joyce and brother Bob, have been organizing a mass of memorabilia he left with an eye to donating it to a university library in the area. This has been going on for maybe three years and they have dozens of organized, tightly packed boxes. When they contacted Georgia State University they found that there is already a Don Naylor Collection there, featured alongside their Johnny Mercer Collection. Penny and Bob Saye had spent the afternoon there, looking over what was there and arranging to deliver more. Hoorah!

I felt a rumble.

Across the table Mimi Doscher Brandt was starting to move. She got up, faced Peter Brandt, sort of wiggled and clapped her hands softly. Her eyebrow was up and smile that would crack a coconut played on the corners of her mouth. Peter chuckled, put his napkin on the table and got up. Mimi was away from the table, cruising like a starship about to jump to lightspeed, heading for the dance area beside the band. I don’t know exactly what you’d call what she was doing but I was keeping an eye on her. Peter scratched his beard and sort of jogged after her.

Buddy Harrsion and his friend Glenda Lee followed and soon a surprising number of 63-year olds were stepping in a most lively fashion out on the dance floor. Hoo-ha! I was getting sleepy. You know how it is when you are excited and sleepy at the same time. It was time to go.

I delivered a roll of film to Anjo, said a few good-byes, and tried to exit unobtrusively. Susan spotted a pretty lady and said "I think that must be the caterer. I want to tell her how great the food was."

"Thank you," said the lady, "but I’m not the caterer, I’m the interior designer."

"Well, the interior design is even better than the food," I said. They have an interior designer hanging around the house?

Out front the guy was bringing the car when Peggy Sue Thrailkill Miller burst out the front door and came running down the steps. "Where are you going? You can’t leave yet!" she cried. "Come back here! Put that car back! Lee, you big… we’re gonna give you…. It’s supposed to be a surprise! Come back in here this instant!"

The three of us went back inside and took the elevator (!) back down to pool level.

They did, they gave me two presents. Reid Hartsfield did the giving. He got out two #10 cans, one black and one red, connected by a cord and said, "Because you’re our great communicator we’re giving you this communication device." I took the pineapple can telephone and held it aloft and all cheered. Then Reid said something really nice but I don’t remember a word of it, because he gave me a plaque that says, "In appreciation of Lee Saye our great communicator, the glue that holds us together, presented by DHHS Class of ’58, October 4, 2003."

I couldn’t think of anything to do but bow, so I bowed.

The main presentation was for Virgil and Sara. Peggy had found a neat garden piece and Virgil and Sara graciously accepted, installing it in a strategic juncture of the pool. We cheered like mad.

SUNDAY

You may have noticed that on the backs of the nametags Susan made for our Reunion ’03 she put a schedule of events including the hours of the hospitality room, the time of the visit to the school, the time of going out to Virgil’s, and, on a lark, a line that went something like "Breakfast in the hotel dining room, Dutch treat, Sunday, 8:00 AM." We knew we would be eating breakfast there and hoped a few might join us and make the good time last a little longer.

The Sunday morning breakfast was a success. A picture taken by an obliging waiter shows Jud and Barbara Keith, Neal and Joan Stewart Turner, Bill and Dianne Hunter Cox, Karen Lingham Reecer, Pat and Cheryl Drennon, Carole Meadows Walker, and Susan and me. I know Cordell Hart was there, but the picture doesn’t prove it. Also, Ben and Joanne Trimble came by to say adieu. The Keiths and the Coxes were in on every activity of the weekend.

Bill and Dianne are intrepid travelers and are always off to somewhere and I was particularly glad that they were able to make it. Barbara and Jud Keith stick with us through thin and thick. Barbara has never known Jud as "Rochelle," and none of us have ever known him as "Jud." I guess it’s all right as long as he knows who he is. Jud looks like a super-fit Norwegian personal trainer. They are a terrific couple and I rue not having more time to talk to them.

The breakfast flowed mightily. Only a few of us claimed to be taking a full meal, but as the "coffee only" and "orange juice only" participants showed up the aroma from the buffet became more appealing and orders were soon being taken and heaping plates of omelets and potatoes and grits and sausage appeared. The wait staff took excellent care of us, adjusting when they had to and even sneaking food to the "Maybe I’ll have just one French fry" crowd.

We stayed there a long time but inevitably the group began to thin out and pretty soon there was really no excuse to sit there any longer. Our crowd departed and Reunion ’03 became a memory. I thought about how Shakespeare had Henry V encourage the English the night before Agincourt with

"Gentlemen in England now a-bed

Will count themselves accursed that they were not here."

If you missed Reunion ’03, don’t count yourself accursed, just plan to be there in ‘08.

We’re planning a picture edition when Anne Waggle Jones gets home from New York City ("The greatest city in the world!" she insists). For now go to http://btrimble.com/dhhs where Ben Trimble is maintaining a website for a wonderful portfolio of Reunion ’03 pictures. Those of you with no computer, get your grandkids to help you out. It’s worth it.

Selah.
Lee Saye
October 15, 2003