Deshler High ‘Fabulous ’50s’ reunion group marks final meeting

The 1950s is a decade much reminisced by those who lived it and many others who wish they had.

Poodle skirts, leather jackets and jukeboxes at the local diner.

“I Love Lucy,” “Gunsmoke,” and “The Twilight Zone” on the television, which saw a boom in popularity.

Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and other legends playing on the radio.

The beginning of the Space Race, the Cold War and the creation of the polio vaccine.

These and many other areas of interest mark the decade that started some 75 years ago.

For many of the Deshler High School Fabulous ‘50s Reunion Group, it might seem just like yesterday.

Anyone who graduated from DHS from 1950 to 1959 was invited to join the group, which has been meeting every two years since the early 1970s.

After 50 years of reunions, however, the group has decided to conclude its activities. The occasion was marked by making $500 donations to both the Winston Home Preservation fund and the Helen Keller Public Library.

Charles Kelly Thompson, Class of 1953, was the one who came up with the idea. The Fabulous 50s Reunion Group first met at the Holiday Inn on Hatch Boulevard before moving to the Tuscumbia First Methodist Church’s activity center.

“The reunions were always highly anticipated, supported and well attended,” said group member Bud Pride. “A stone marker was placed on Charles Kelly’s burial site in Tuscumbia’s Oakwood Cemetery recognizing his vision for a long-lasting event everyone would enjoy.”

In addition to the donations mentioned above, the group also made other previous contributions to the Winston Home and provided a display case to the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art artifacts of county namesake George Colbert.

“Many DHS ‘50s alumni have stated the reunions were an enjoyable experience in their journey through life,” Pride said. “They recommend other alumni groups consider doing the same.”