Driving north on Highway 431 as I cross into Kentucky, my heart beats a little faster. The colors and smells from the fields, trees and barns are as I remember. It’s Tobacco Festival weekend and I’m almost home.   

Freshen up and it’s time to attend the RHS Alumni “Meet and Greet.” For the first time in 44 years I enter the ‘new’ high school. Mary Ewing is there! Yay! Old friends trickle in and hugging ensues. Several of us ease away from the crowd for a tour. We can’t remember our locker numbers, but agree on the former layout of the cafeteria tables. We laugh about Miss Ruth’s ability to handle a certain disruptive classmate, and marvel at Mrs. Carver’s gift of music to so many students. Where is the picture memorializing Mr. Reynolds? Resolved: we will address this deficit.

The fire engines are deafening. The parade is underway! Happy reunions continue. Other than an occasional wave to kids on floats, our focus is on enjoying each other. Too soon the horses are trotting by and the parade is over. Wasn’t it just the best ever weather for a parade? It was.

Now for some much anticipated visits to some special people … Bobby and Joyce Guion, Mrs. Sarah Emberger, Mrs. Dot Hindman. More happy reunions and good conversation. Don’t they look wonderful? They do.

On to S. Winter St. for a delightful hour with Ruth Morris, my piano teacher. She recounts funny stories and fusses about her new hearing aids. I can picture her slender fingers demonstrating how to properly phrase a musical passage. I meant to tell her how I convinced my mother to let me stay home from school one day to practice piano, as I did not want to face her unprepared. I’ll write a note.

A drive past the old high school results in laughing about Miz G. (Patti Gillespie) abandoning the chemistry lab on the day we cranked up the hydrogen generators – just in case of an explosion! We’re sad the lovely main building is gone. A swing in the yard of the O’Bannon House provides a restful perch for surveying the fall colors while catching up with more friends. 

Sunday morning brings a final drive down Ninth Street … past the stadium, across Main Street and a left turn at the cemetery. The wind gusts and a few rain spatters appear, so I don’t stop to take a picture of the sunflower field. Hope it’s there next year.

A graduate of Russellville High School, Cathy Holmes is active in community affairs in Dalton, Ga.