Beth Brady and 156 other Seniors graduated in May 1969 from Sulphur Springs High School, located back then on the site of today’s Sulphur Springs Elementary School and formerly Sulphur Springs Middle School. Plans for the 2019 reunion set for Saturday October 26 are twofold. There is a gathering for stew at 11am on the Hopkins County Stew Contest grounds under the Class of 1969 tent, set up across from Central Baptist Church and near the Skateboard Park area. There will also be a casual dinner at Whimsey, 300 Connally Street, at 6pm that same evening. Reservations for the dinner can still be made, but Beth wants everyone to know that if you were a high school student back then and were friends of someone in Class of 1969, you are also invited to stop by and share some memories. Your presence will make the 50th Class Reunion all the more special! If you’d like to contact Beth to reserve seats, call 903-348-1614, or email her at [email protected].
Beth visited the KSST Good Morning Show with Enola Gay on October 22, 2019 to share Reunion plans with listeners. She gave a nod to committee members Sheila Jacobs Moore, Pam White, Linda Potts, Susan Payne, Diane Davis Collins, Vicky Minty and Linda Charles Blount for helping plan the event. “We hope class members who attend the Reunion will bring their old annual or Cat’s Paw class yearbooks, because they are so much fun to look at. And getting them signed by friends at the 50th Reunion would make them even more special! Wear your class ring, if you still have it. And wear your letter jacket, or if it no longer fits, just bring it along with other memorabilia that was part of the fun of going to school here”.
Enola asked Beth about some of her best high school memories. She reminisced, “my car in high school was a 1964 Comet station wagon with a standard shift. It did have air conditioning, which was rare then! One girl drove an Edsel. Nobody had a Mustang that I remember, they were so new! Mostly, we were glad to have anything with wheels! Some of the teachers I remember were Wayne Galyean who taught English and then became an administrator; also Durann Ardis and Rex Wileman were teachers then and are still active in the community. I’m sure I’m leaving someone out! Journalism was taught by Blanche Lewis, who has passed away. She influenced me a lot, as I was on the Cat’s Tale newspaper staff. I was in band and wanted to try out for Drum Major but I was already involved in lots of other clubs and organizations. I told Band Director Mr. Wileman that I was willing to pare down some of my other involvements in case he was interested in me for Drum Major, so that he would know I would do a good job and be devoted. His reply to me was one I’ve always remembered. He said, ‘No, don’t get out of anything. It’s always the really involved people who can seem to find time to give for new things which interest them’. So I tried out for Drum Major and got it. We Seniors on the line could go to Kilgore Rangerettes summer camp and try-outs, and so I did. It was a 2-week camp and the first time I’d been away from home. One day I called Mom and said I was ready to come home. Even though she advised me to stay for the tryouts at least, I didn’t stay. I already knew I was going to marry Donnie Wisenbaker and spend my life with him. And that’s what I did. We got engaged that summer. I had met Donnie at Quitman Lake when I was a Freshman and he was a Senior at SSHS. The first time I saw him, he was driving a ski boat with his feet! That, and his good looks caught my attention. And we’ve had fun ever since”.
During high school, Beth was a member of National Honor Society, Future Teachers of America, Science Club and Homecoming Court, and in the KSST Radio Workshop program. Following some years as a Western Outfitters retail merchant, she was elected as Hopkins County Commissioner Precinct One and served in that office for twenty years, a role that was a “first” for a woman in Hopkins County. Today, she stays busy with United Way and other interests in serving the County.
