Overton High School - Memphis, Tennessee
Reunion of the First Graduating Classes 1962-65

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Joyce Wilcox Graff - Welcome remarks,
and observations on managing the database

Hi, Y’all! Are you having fun? We're so glad you're here! I'm the "scribe" who has been corresponding with many of you, and speaking with you on the phone. And I really appreciate all the kind acknowledgements. But it's not all me. This has been a team effort. Team members have little blue and gray ribbons.

Joyce Graff - photo by Susan Wilson

This has been a team effort. Team members have little blue and gray ribbons

• Shirley Buchanan Payne and June Baldridge Freeman planned the program
• June was unable to come, but she is the one who designed the mugs
• Diane Stewart Tonelli did the 45 invitations and the banner
• Gay Cox Bond applied her excellent editorial skills to the program and class list and prepared them for the printer
• Gay’s father negotiated with printing house
• My mother, June Wilcox, lent us her address, logged in the checks, and prepared the bank deposits
• Linda Glass Dowdy, our Treasurer, is in charge of the silent auction
• Jerry Chandler chaired the local team and organized the material that went onto the two CD’s
• Denise Chandler Anderson organized the decorations
• Sonja Ungren Eccles organized the menus

And we need to thank EVERYONE who showed up and pitched in to assemble the decorations, and those who donated items for the door prizes and the silent auction. As you can see, it took contributions of time and creativity from dozens of people to create this weekend. Let’s give everyone a round of applause!

We started Overton – we opened its doors for the first time.

We built up all the clubs and teams from scratch.

And it wasn’t just us students – it was teachers and parents as well. The Parent-Teacher-Association (PTA) was called upon constantly to raise money or organize transportation. They raised money for

• Band uniforms
• Sports uniforms and equipment
• Trips
• They even bought mimeo paper for the school

They organized

• Spaghetti suppers
• Sold magazines and candy bars
• Sold ads in every program book

The parents and teachers and students had to work together. It brought us closer, with a spirit of community and teamwork, a willingness to pitch in and get the job done. We have experienced that again on this Committee.

Many times in the course of my three careers I have thought about the skills I learned from Overton -- as an innovator, breaking ground in new fields -- fields that did not even exist when we were at Overton, or in fields where women had not previously been permitted. As I have spoken with so many classmates over the past two years, I have been struck by these qualities of strength and entrepreneurship in this group. Success in life is not just about talent – as they say, it’s 20% inspiration and 80% perspiration.

We have people in this group who have reached levels of success in

• Medicine
• Law
• First responders – police and fire
• In the military, the FBI, CIA, NASA
• Teaching at all levels, from elementary school to graduate school
• We have our very own award-winning librarian, Bonnie Lendermon Kunzel
• In business
• In banking and finance
• Restauranteurs – notably Preston Lamm, in the work he has done with the revitalization of Beal Street and indeed of Memphis itself.
• The arts – Diane Stewart Tonelli, June Beldridge Freeman, Marcia Goodson McAlister, Jephanie Robinson Stephens -- whose works of art you will see on the Silent Auction table. And Margaret Wilcox Smith whose fabulous needlework artistry you will see a taste of tonight in the Silent Auction as well.
• Jackie Nichols with his work at Playhouse on the Square and its current expansion – what a wonderful addition to the city and its culture
• Medical research – remember Becky Kocsis? Her professional name is Helen Rebecca Kocsis Rausch, a biochemist and breast cancer researcher at UCLA

And of course the many people in our classes who have met and conquered many personal challenges. That too takes teamwork, fostering a spirit of cooperation, determination, and hope among our families and friends – and no one has done that better that William Duke.

I am honored to know each and every one of you. I wish you continued success in life, joy in your retirement, and I look forward to continuing our friendships and celebrating new milestones, as we reach toward and beyond our 50 th year beyond high school.

Let’s stay in touch, and come together again to celebrate the 50th – even better!

Return to Reunion 2007 Program