Passing it on: Class reunions more than just chance for a good time

We're not going to lie -- the Dillard/Goldsboro and Central/Eastern Wayne alumni sure do know how to have a good time -- and their parades are pretty epic, too.

But if you think that this weekend was all about cookouts, marching bands and good times with family and friends, you really have missed the point.

The generations of alumni who come back to Goldsboro each year do enjoy seeing each other and reconnecting with old friends.

They have plenty of good food to eat and lots of stories to tell.

But they are also carrying on a tradition -- and teaching the next generation a whole lot about what really matters.

In this age where you are more likely to lose contacts than to maintain them, these high school friends have managed to stay in each other's lives -- and to make gathering every year a priority for generations.

But these alumni groups do more than just meet once a year. They raise scholarship money to help the next generation of Goldsboro and Eastern Wayne graduates to find futures of their own.

And there are thousands of young people whose lives have been changed because these alumni decided to pay their own good fortune and hard work forward.

There is a spirit that is evident in any gathering of these groups.

There is plenty of laughter and lots of good-natured ribbing.

But the picnics, parades and parties also honor a tradition that the alumni learned from generations before them.

It is a simple lesson really -- you never forget where you came from or the people you met along the way.

There is no one class that gets the credit for keeping the tradition of coming home once a year alive. There are thousands of people who over the years have made sure that the plans were made and the arrangements solid.

And every year, there are classes that mark milestones -- this year it is the Class of 1965, which celebrated its 50th anniversary.

But there is an understanding among those who gathered this weekend -- and the next generations that shared the day with them.

This is a tradition that needs to be honored, to be savored and to be protected.

It is inspiring to see the lessons that those who graduated so many years ago are teaching the Class of 2015 and beyond.

They are leaving a legacy that will endure -- and making sure the young people understand just how special it is.

And if they do, and if those young people protect it, there will be alumni reunions in Goldsboro for decades to come.

And that is an achievement to be admired.

Published in Editorials on May 23, 2015 11:24 PM