Former Elkins High School cheerleaders reunite after 40 years

ELKINS -- Lifelong friends who were teammates in an extracurricular activity during their high school days recently came together to share memories and enjoy everything their hometown has to offer.

Over the course of several days, a group of Elkins High School cheerleaders from the classes of 1973, 1974 and 1975 met up for a cheerleading reunion in Elkins this month. 

The group, which included Bobbie Moran Kerns Burks, Renee Looney Beale, Joyce Harshbarger Hutton, Paula Hepler Heinke, and Cheryl Hinchman Wyatt, remained close after graduation and had always talked about having a cheer reunion.

"We've kept in touch over the years and we've threatened to do this reunion for a few years now," Hinchman Wyatt told The Inter-Mountain. "Renee (Looney Beale) came up with the idea to do it this year because the class of 1973 was having their reunion and Bobbie (Moran Kerns Burks) and Joyce (Harshbarger Hutton) would already be in Elkins for that. So we decided to get together and have the cheer reunion we always talked about."

All of the cheerleaders in the group were invited to attend the 1973 reunion that took place on the final day of their three-day get-together on Aug. 10.

"Two members from our group were from the class of 1973, so the entire group was invited to attend that reunion as well," Hinchman Wyatt said. "It was really great because we all got to see people we haven't seen in a while. We are now thinking about combining some of the classes and attending some of the regular class reunions in the future."

While some of the cheerleaders still live in Elkins, others came from as far away as Texas and North Carolina. Hinchman Wyatt lives in Charleston and works for Senator Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va.

"Paula (Hepler Heinke) had us a really nice dinner at her home on the first day on Thursday night," Hinchman Wyatt said. "We had a whole evening of fun during the dinner and the next day everybody got together and drove around the old stomping grounds.

"We went out to Stuart Park, visited the City Park, and went to Scotties a couple of times throughout the day. We carried our pom-poms with us everywhere we went and stopped to take some pictures at the Iron Horse and some places up town."

Hinchman Wyatt said the cheerleaders are now planning to make the reunion an annual event.

"I think next year we will either have it back in Elkins, or in Texas where Bobbie lives," Hinchman Wyatt said. "There are others who cheered with us and we will probably invite more the next time around."