CLASSMATES — Several members of Buckhannon-Upshur High School class of 1945 recently gathered in Buckhannon for a class reunion. Members attending the event are, seated, from left, Lucille Boggs Brooks, Donald Whiting, Lorna Westfall Linger, Jessie Potts Marsh and Benzil Marsh; standing, Manzel Brooks, Marguerite Hefner, Texie Thorn, Louise Dean, Calvin Bailey, Dorothy Pletcher Lantz, Ray Hefner, Goldie Reger Tinsley, Dorothy Dutton Short, Mary Ann Simons Stemple, Virgil Stemple and Tyde Riggs.

Several years ago the first reunion of the Buckhannon-Upshur High School class of 1945, combining students who had graduated that year from the Tennerton Division and the Buckhannon Division, was hosted at what is now known as Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School. During the business session of this first combined reunion, it was agreed to gather again in five years. This event was under the direction of Lorna Westfall Linger and the late Willard Wimer and the tradition still continues every five years. A few years later, it was suggested by Wimer that classmates living in the local and surrounding area meet on an annual basis for a mini-reunion. This group later became known as the “Inner Circle.” For several years, the annual gathering was hosted by the Wimers. Eventually, that duty was passed on to others, including Morgan and Shirley Perry, Jessie and Ben Marsh and the late Sue and Earl Williams. In July 2008, classmate Ann West assumed the duties of hosting the annual even.