More than 60 years have passed since the Chilton County High School Class of 1948 walked across the stage. But even after that many years, the group remains tight-knit to this day.

Several years ago, class members decided to hold annual meetings that have been well attended.

“From one reunion to the next, we would lose a member,” class secretary/treasurer Betty Hogue Ward explained. “So we just decided to meet once a year.”

The Class of ‘48 was a rather large class. Even though close to 30 members are deceased, more than 50 members remain. They meet at Lessie’s Restaurant every year to renew acquaintances and catch up with one another.

“We don’t make a big deal out of it,” Ward said. “We just have a big meal, visit for a while and go home.”

Tomorrow, they will hold their 60th class reunion at Lessie’s beginning at 11 a.m.

Another class member, Buddy Roberts of Prattville, says he may know why the meetings have seen such favorable turnouts.

“We are just a group of really outgoing folks who like to get together,” he said.

Roberts has an interesting connection with the school’s history. His grandfather by adoption, James H. Roberts, bid for the construction of the original school building, which was built in 1914. Roberts won the low bid of $20,000, and the school was completed within six months.

“It was a two-story building, a really nice looking structure,” Roberts said.

The original CCHS burned in 1939, and during the interim, students attended class at Clanton First Baptist Church, according to Roberts. The new building completed in 1941 would eventually become Henry M. Adair Jr. High School, which was torn down a few years ago.

The existing Chilton County High School was built in 1962.