63rd Reunion of Marshall High School Friday, 26th September 2008, 2:55pm

63rd Reunion of Marshall High School’s Class of 1945 held at Sky Valley Lodge, Whisper Mountain

A clear, bright August day at Whisper Mountain played host to four members of the Marshall High School graduating class of 1945 who gathered here for their 63rd reunion.    Accompanied by family and guests, the celebrants, including Fred Graham, Forrest Jarrett, Mary Sprinkle, and Harry Woodson, met at the Sky Valley Lodge.  The festivities began at five in the afternoon with dinner on the east deck, overlooking the French Broad River Valley and the Black Mountains.
Some of the 25 graduates of the class of 1945 have been gathering consistently since their 44th reunion held in Mars Hill.  Their 50th was held at the Deer Park Restaurant on the Biltmore Estate, and their 52nd through 62nd were held at Mr. Jarrett’s picnic area on his property in Leicester.  The switch to Whisper Mountain, past the log cabins that form the Welcome Center and Poplar Ridge House, seemed to be a return to earlier times, to a time these octogenarians remember from their childhood here in the mountains.
Mr. Jarrett recalled walking with his father past several vacated log cabins off of Little Pine and listening to his father tell him, “You remember this… all of the empty log cabins we have passed… I won’t live to see it, but you will see people come back to the mountains.”  Forrest was gone from the mountains about 40 years and now points to Whisper Mountain and says, “It’s true!”
Mrs. Sprinkle, who retired from teaching in 1992 reminisced about how things have changed in the mountains.   She observed that all of the local towns had their own schools, and travel from one town to another was not easy over dirt roads.  Children walked to school and everyone seemed to know everyone else.   Forrest Jarrett noted changes as well, adding that during World War II, many families left the mountains to find work in Baltimore and Norfolk in the shipyards and airplane factories.  Some returned, but many did not since industry in Asheville was limited.  According to Jarrett, the auto industry of Detroit offered more possibilities for employment and many families never returned to the mountains after the war.  Mary Sprinkle added that by 1974 many of the area high schools had merged because of a declining population, and observed “that the character of the mountains communities seemed to change without their own schools.”
What hasn’t changed is the resilience and strength of the people who have remained in Madison County.   Mrs. Sprinkle quoted the inscription above the elevators of the Buncombe County Courthouse, “Men to Match our Mountains,” and observed that it was true even today.  Certainly, these four classmates who gathered here 63 years after their graduation are a testament to those who embody the spirit of the mountains and who appreciate their natural beauty.   We hope to welcome them again, next summer, for their 64th reunion.