Paparazzo Barbara Ann caught these two dancing before the music had begun, and she confided to me that they’re "an item." I can keep a secret, Barbara. That’s our classmates Mary (Brown) Tewmey and Donald Baird.

David and Ceely Shepherd made a family affair out of coming to Louisville for our Birthday Bash. "We also are visiting my son and two grandchildren, who live in Goshen, and my sister, who lives in Scottsburg, Indiana," David tells us. Married for 42 years, the Shepherds live in Florida. "After I retired from the railroad, a few hard snows is all it took," notes David. Among classmates he enjoyed seeing, he mentions Mike Grider: "I bought a fishing boat from Mike way back when. And Gary Robinson: same ole Gary, same ole laugh. We played in the band together. I asked Gary, who is quite a gardener, what kind of tomatoes he likes to grow, and he said ‘Mr. Stripey,’ the same variety I like down in Florida, red with yellow and orange stripes; they grow up to two pounds!

Ask David about the time he riled Southern teacher Ruth Miss Willis. He’s still explaining why "it wasn’t my fault!"

Mike and Sandy (Herdt) Potter, both Southern grads, have been key movers in organizing our various reunion events. "We had a great time," reports Sandy. "The food was good, and I talked to people I haven’t seen in a long time!" The Potters celebrated their golden wedding anniversary on Feb. 23, 2012.

Morris and Barbara Sue (Sanders) Longacre arrive in a splash of color. And why shouldn’t the late Morris be clad in purple; he was Southern grad, too, (Class of 1957) and he was a standout athlete. Four years is quite an age spread in high school, though. "Oh, we didn’t date in high school," explains Barbara Sue, who swished her poodle skirt through the chemistry lab in our junior year. "After Southern, I attended Western, and I posted a note on the bulletin board, as college students used to do, hoping to hitch a ride home. Well, the rest is history!"

We thought no one could come between Ernest "Sonny" and Betty (Beasley) Miller — and yet! Sue, is that you gal? These early party arrivals were ready for some fun.

Patricia Louise looks quite elegant in purple. Pat (Cook) Riggs is retired from the Bullitt County Board of Education. Her favorite pastime is "to work on genealogy. I have over 6,000 people in my report and go back to 1613 on my family and to 1530 on Leon's family." She and Leon will celebrate their 52^nd wedding anniversary in January 2013!

Janeffa (Bridges) Hall married Elmer in 1964. They have three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. "After Elmer Ray retired, we bought a condo in Florida and spend six months there and six months in Shepherdsville."

David and Carolyn "Connie" (Barmore) Gay live on Peaceful Way in Shepherdsville. Connie wrote in the senior annual that her favorite pastime was "talking on the telephone." Some things never change. (Now, if we could get her to write a personal bio.)

As people began arriving at the South Park Country Club for our SHS Class of 1960 collective 70^th birthday year party, Barbara Ann got this side by side shot of Carolyn (Anderson) Polston and her daughter, Angela. Same size, same hair, same complexion and same eyes! Our classmate was ready to celebrate, though her own birthday is in April.

Joe and Jo Ellen (Thurman) Crouch have three children. Jo Ellen celebrated a big (Shhh) birthday on July 31, but she was happy to extend the party to August 17 in order to include her classmates. Now, if we could get her to complete her profile.
(Regretfully, we must add that Jo Ellen passed away on May 27, 2014, Details are in our Family News section.)

"I think now is the best time of my life, and I’m grateful to God for helping me realize that every day is precious," says Lee Markwell, photographed with his wife, Marte. Any children? How about David, Susan, Paul, Cynthia Lee, Michael, Jeanne, Sheri and Cindy Lynn! Grandkids, you betcha!

Southern High reunions are a family tradition in the Riggs clan, lately. While Melves and Martha Riggs are shown here at our 1960 get-together, Melves’ sister, Marcella Brooks, had her Class of 1961 reunion event last year, and his younger brother, Joe, came in for his SHS Class of 1962 50^th reunion on August 11, this year!

Beverly (Sanders) Humphress and her late mom, Jenny Cruse, who is also classmate Pat (Hogan) Morgan’s aunt.

"David never meets a stranger," brags April (Burks) Bond as her husband blends right in with April’s classmates at our 70^th Birthday Bash. "David likes to dance, too," continues April, "and he goes with Bonnie and me when we line dance with the "Nuts and Honeys" group.

"I don’t need to catch up with my pal April at this party," explains Bonnie (Carney) McMurray. "We see each other a couple of times a week." Bonnie lives in Taylorsville, but works in the personnel office at the Salvation Army in Louisville. "On my lunch hour, I like to walk over to Fourth Street Live, just to see what’s going on, and I love to read when I can."

We jotted down David Shepherd’s phone number since we barely got to talk to him and his pretty wife, Ceely, but he did have time to tell us about coming across a passel of wild turkeys a while back. The Shepherds live in Crestview, Florida.

Sounding like someone released from imprisonment, Kathy (Pybus) Ryan told us, "June 1 was my first day out — it was my birthday, too! — and I am still learning to enjoy retirement." We’re pleased you’re ‘out,’ Kathy, and we hope you have a long and happy tenure in your newfound freedom. At Kathy’s behest, her friend, Cindy Smith, created the beautiful cake for our recent birthday party bash!

Sandy (Priddy) Page brought her son, Sean Page, to our 70^th Birthday Bash. We are more accustomed to seeing Sandy photographed on a horse. She is actively involved in distance and endurance riding with her Arabian horses. "I have 36 acres in Southern Indiana and would love to retire, but that’s probably not possible for a long time. My son and his wife are helping me build a bermed house with an interior that uses logs made by the Amish."

OK, we photographers sometimes hand our cameras off and "watch the birdie," too. I gave my Nikon to Barbara Ann Fultz, who deftly grabbed this shot of me without even rising from her chair. – Jim Reed