SALISBURY — Fifteen members of the Boyden High School Class of 1954 gathered for their 70th reunion on Oct. 5 at the Salisbury home of Roy and Norma Campbell.

Meetta Lampert, one of the classmates, said no plans had been made as of the summer to have a reunion, except that Norma had mentioned inviting the class to have lunch at their home to celebrate the 70 years.

Nothing else was discussed, Lampert said, until she received an email from Wyndham Robertson, a fellow classmate, asking if a reunion was going to take place.

Robertson, she said, spurred the reunion onward and the Campbells and Meetta Lampert and her husband Mack met to select a date and organize the event, Meetta said.

Along with the classmates, 16 guests joined them for the special occasion to swap stories, catch up on each other’s lives and enjoy a lunch of barbecue, chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches, tea and Cheerwine.

At 12:30 p.m., a special surprise arrived in the form of a freezer of Cold Stone Creamery ice cream. A friend of the Campbells furnished a freezer containing three different flavors of ice cream and toppings.

“The ice cream was a surprise” to all except the Campbells, Meetta said, “and that was really, really nice.”

The event began at noon and continued until approximately 3 or 4 p.m. As the guests arrived, they were directed to park and gather on the wrap-around front porch or at a large table where they enjoyed a time of visiting and sharing stories. 

Robertson said that the Campbells “are terrific hosts” and Meetta added that everyone enjoyed their hospitality.

Other than being together, there was no additional business conducted during the reunion, but Meetta did note they had lost 20-plus members since their last gathering.

Prior to COVID, she said class members would gather for an informal time once a month or every six weeks at a barbecue restaurant, but COVID stopped that.

“We are now meeting every five years,” she said.

Classmates who were able to attend this year were Jim Allen, Shirley Barnes Freeze, Roy Campbell, Meetta Carlton Lampert, JoAnn Davis Reid, Jim Ellenburg, Carolyn Honeycutt Trexler, Mack Lampert, Telka Mowery Weant and Peggy Swaringen Looney, all from the Salisbury area; Martha Ellen Copley Scruggs of Mooresville; John Rainey of Enfield; Wyndham Robertson of Chapel Hill; Sarah Sharpe Wilson of Linwood; and Janice Davis Holbrook from Spartanburg, S.C.

Three of the guests were wives of deceased members of the class. These were Joyce Evans, (Buddy Evans); Pat Freese, (Bob Freese) and Von Yantsios (John Yantsios).

Meetta said there were approximately 177 members of their class and now have “about 50 of us still living that I know of. Some of them we just can’t reach.”

One thing about this reunion that was memorable, said Meetta, was the fact they found several classmates they had lost touch with.

After reaching out in various ways to find him, he somehow got the message and called one evening and attended.

“This feeling, it was a mixture of tears and smiles,” Meetta said. “We were so happy to know, number one, he was still alive and in good health.”

Another one was found in California, and she said, “that in itself is a reunion I think.

This class has been pretty close, Meetta said, and has stayed in touch.

Robertson said she had kept up with many of her high school friends throughout the years, and credited Meetta with being the “unofficial class secretary and does a great job of circulating news about classmates.”

Being able to see one another, especially those whom they haven’t seen in a while, was fun, Meetta said, “after you decipher who is who,” she added with a laugh and the fact that they had name tags.

For Robertson, she said, getting together “reminds me how blessed I and the other attendees are to still be alive and kicking.”  

The Boyden High Class of 1954 “is still full of joy,” Meetta said, and while nothing has been planned yet, they are thinking about their next reunion.