Owingsville Class of 1946 holds 70th year reunion

Pictured seated, from left are, Aleene Hutcheson, Rhoda Goodpaster, Margaret Helen Stewart, Edith Beeding, Lola Bruce Denton and Lydia Jane Wells; standing, class president Dorothy Ulery, Lewis Donohue, Alvin Mansfield, Louise Six and Mae McQuithy.

The Owingsville High School Class of 1946 held its 70th reunion this past Saturday at Martha’s Kitchen in Owingsville.

Eleven out of a class of 26 graduates attended the reunion.

“We started out with 27 in our class, and lost Charles Whaley during our 8th grade year,” said class president Dorothy Ulery—a title she’s held since the class’ senior year.

With an average age of 87, it is quite a remarkable achievement to enjoy a 70th year together.

The class has 13 surviving members and 15 who have passed away over the years. (Author’s note: my late aunt Gladys Barber Hatton was also in this class.)

“There were a couple who only lived a short time after graduating,” Mrs. Ulery said.

The class held reunions for its 25th, 50th and 60th years, and have continued every year since 2006.

This was the first time the group had gathered at Martha’s Kitchen; the sentiment over all was favorable due to the hospitality and relaxed, intimate atmosphere.

To properly appreciate the changing times, one must consider the contrast between 1946 and 2016.

It was post war and The United States was getting back into normalization rather than mobilization.

Minimum wage was $0.46, gasoline prices were $.15.

A new home cost around $5,100, with an average yearly income of $2,600.

For nearly all of Owingsville High School’s class of 1946, they had seen the hard times of the Great Depression and World War II.

Alvin Mansfield spoke about the Depression times and how his family struggled with making ends meet.

Louise Six talked about how her family took time to feed transients who were affected by the Depression, even though her family was also just managing to get by.

Most of the group stayed in or close to Bath County.

Attendees Alvin Mansfield and Lewis Donohue served in the military, although both were spared from the Korean War.

Mansfield served as a radio operator in the Army and Donohue as a communications specialist in the Air Force.

After his duty with the Air Force, Lewis used his training to his great advantage.

He landed his first civilian job just eleven days after Russia launched Sputnik into orbit, which gave birth to the Space Race.

Through his career, Lewis Donohue became a journalist, professor, and developed degree programs in communications for the University of Kentucky.

He was an integral part of the creation of the University of Kentucky College of Communications in 1970; successfully gaining more than a 41 million dollars in research grant money during his time.

Donohue also worked for the State Department and spent time in Africa, Norway, England and many other places.

Several pictures were passed around from school days and past reunions.

Some of the class alumni told stories of their past much to the amusement of everyone.

Alvin Mansfield compiled some of his childhood memories in book form and talked about his life growing up in Peeled Oak and Kendall Springs.

Lewis Donohue told about an ill fated day he spent when he found an old saddle hanging in a barn.

While singing the song “Back in the Saddle Again,” he stirred a nest of bees and was chased out of the barn.

One story told by Edith Beeding was about the day she and four classmates decided to skip school.

“We only had one exam in the afternoon so we thought we would take our bathing suits to school and skip to go swimming down at Slate Creek,” Edith said.

When the girls returned to school that afternoon, they were greeted by a not so pleased principal H.H. Jones, who promptly told them they could be expelled. Aleene Hutcheson said that she never told her parents of the ordeal, and Edith’s mother found out many years later when another classmates mother informed her while out shopping.

Margaret Stewart laughed when she recalled how she and other classmates debated if principal Jones had teeth or not.

Louise Six added that the principal was allergic to eggs and someone had given him macaroni laced with eggs, landing him a trip to the hospital.

For a couple of hours, the Class of ‘46 stepped back into time and shared their stories of life during and after Owingsville High School.

As an outsider, hearing these stories was very entertaining; taking me back to days bygone that were by far some of the best, and most simplest, of times.