Remembering a Classmate - Gary Neal Large

On Wednesday, I was informed of the passing of our classmate and friend, Gary Large. To be honest, it has hit me very hard. When I thought of the ultimate Clintwood fan, I thought of Gary. When I thought of politics and dedication, I thought of Gary. For short, my mind has not been off Gary since I got my first e-mail from Jennifer telling me he was sick. Now I wish I had one last chance to tell him how much he meant to me. I won't have that chance.

My prayers and condolences go out to Asa and Lula, his brothers and sisters and the rest of his family. Prayers go out to his extended family, those of us who stayed close and those of us who renewed and rekindled those relationships after years of inactivity. It hit me while writing this post, just what Gary means to me. I hope you can relate. Here is something I wrote:


The Ultimate Human Being
He was the ultimate fan.
He was the cheerleader at the game.
He was the cheerleader in life.
He was the child who came back to take care of his parents.
He was a loving sibling, uncle, cousin and extended family member.
He was my classmate.
He was my friend.
He was the cheerleader not for the big play,
He was the cheerleader for EVERY play.
He worked tirelessly to see us all come together.
He was so happy to see the fruits of his labor.
He was looking forward to our next gathering.
He has now gathered at an even greater gathering.
One where he will once again cheer, yell and scream,
Released from his bounds and chains of sickness,
Cheering his family, classmates, his teammates to keep up the fight.
The game is not over. There's no time to quit. In his death, it appears at first to be defeat.
But our dear friend has finally won the battle and taken hold of the trophy.
Now he's cheering us on to keep on with the battle.
Our friend, Our classmate. Our member of family.
I already miss your energy and excitement. Your love of life.
The game is not over. Rest In Peace Gary.
The game has just begun.
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CHS Class of 1983 Forum Now Online

A new forum has been set up to allow classmates to stay in touch and keep classmates informed as to family news and general conversation. You can visit the forum at:
http://chsclassof1983.forumotion.net/forum.htm

The Official Class Reunion Photo

Senior Superlatives Now Online

The Senior Superlatives of the CHS Class of 1983 are now online. It is the hope that we can update the pictures with a sort of "then and now" tribute page after the 25 Year Class Reunion takes place. If any of you have any suggestions for other additions to the website, e-mail me.

A Reunion Tribute - In Memory of Classmates

Late last night (Saturday), I decided to put up a page honoring our deceased classmates, While we are aware of only two, several of our other classes at CHS have lost more than we have. We hope you will visit the page that honors our two deceased classmates, read the lyrics from John Lennon and Paul McCartney and think about these two wonderful individuals and the good times we enjoyed.

Putting it another way, it's been 25 years since we graduated. We all had differences, we all felt different about each other and certain things. On September 19 and 20th, lets all come together and be thankful for one another, erase those old bonds and chains, and be thankful we have this opportunity to come together, relive the past, renew friendships and rekindle old ones eroded by the past. I am sure our classmates that have gone on would want the same thing. The page can viewed here.

Reunion Flashback: 1983 Graduation Program

How many graduates of the Class of 1983 still have their graduation program? Well here is the scanned graduation program from June 3, 1983. Dr. Joe Smiddy, Chancellor of then Clinch Valley College, was the speaker. I found the program recently while going through some of my late mother's things. Hope you enjoy as much as I did. Some things to make note of: Randy Pruitt was Band Director / Choral Director and the late Holly Coe (Class of 1984) was pianist.

You can click here for the program.

More Photos Added Online

More photos have been added online to the CHS Class of 1983 Photo Album. If you have any pictures you would like to submit to be added, e-mail chsclassof1983@gmail.com. The photos are available at this link.