Reunions
Together Again
Just About All in the Family
The Old Students Club Luncheon
was something of a family reunion for
Susan Fountain Thurston ’ 40 of
Greensboro, who was there with her
sister, Margaret Fountain Paylor ’ 45 of
Greenville, S.C.; her brother, Richard
Tillman Fountain ’50 of Rocky Mount;
and her daughter, Susan Thurston
Sember ’ 69 of Salisbury. Thurston had
met her husband, Thomas ’ 39, her first
day on campus. A medical student
helping process the new students, he
asked her about her vaccinations.
Paylor — who noted that she graduated two years early, “so I’m not as old
as you would think” — said her middle
sister missed the luncheon this year.
“Still,” Paylor said, “it’s rather remarkable that out of four siblings, as old as
we are, that we’re all up and moving.”
Hundreds of alumni return to campus for Spring Reunions
Weekend in May, including classes celebrating their
50th, 45th and 40th graduation anniversaries as well as
several from earlier years. These are some of their stories.
— Stories by Nancy E. Oates
Still on His Game
Once alumni reach their 50th
reunion, they become members of the
Old Students Club and are invited to the
annual Friday luncheon that officially
opens Spring Reunions Weekend. At the
May 6 luncheon this year in the The
Carolina Club’s main ballroom, Herbert
Stallings ’ 37 of Rocky Mount took his
seat at a table just inside the door. His
50th reunion was in 1987. On this
perfect spring day, rather than play golf,
as he had the day before, he welcomed
the new members to the club.
“I don’t think I’ve missed an Old Stu-
dents Club Luncheon in years,” he said.
SARAH MCCARTY ARNESON ’ 96
PHOTO SPECIALTIES
Photographic memory: The class gift from graduates in 1961 was near Fetzer Gym, in what
is now a brick courtyard. It was the perfect spot for the class to reunite for a group photo.
Sitting Pretty
Herbert Stallings ’ 37 is a regular at the
Old Students Club luncheon.
Fifty years ago, the class of ’ 61 paid for a
sitting area near Fetzer Gym and the Tin
Can. But after the Tin Can was torn down
and Fetzer expanded, the class gift was
moved and morphed into the brick courtyard along South Road. That’s where the
’ 61 alumni gathered on Friday afternoon
for their official class photo.
As they got organized for the photogra-
pher, Inge Heckel ’ 61 of Lakeville, Conn.,
was a hugging machine as she greeted
nearly a dozen of her Tri Delt sisters she
hadn’t seen in decades. Moyer Smith ’ 61 of
Chapel Hill reminisced with Marvin
Eargle ’ 61 of Candler about competing
against one another at a track meet in
Thomasville more than 56 years ago.
Someone remembered meeting, as a grad-
uating senior, members of the class of
1911. That made everyone feel old but part
of the continuum.
