May 1, 2008

The 104th Ava High School Alumni Banquet will be held this Saturday evening, May 3, beginning at 6 p.m. The Banquet will be held at the Ava High School. Advance tickets may still be purchased for $10 and are available at Ava Drug or by contacting Phyllis Swofford at Town & Country Bank. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door on Saturday for $12. Several classes are planning reunions at the banquet and will have meeting rooms reserved at the high school for gathering prior to the program. Doors at the high school will open at 3 p.m. for classes to gather, school officials said. Several special awards will be presented this year, highlighted by the announcement of the 2008 inductee into the Ava High School Alumni Hall of Fame. The names of those currently in the Hall of Fame include: Daisy Ellis, Florence Garrison, Una Ellison, Shirley Piland, Trellis Dewhirst, Minnie Dean, C.W. Parker, Emmett Norman, Wayne Powell, Don Sallee, Lena McClendon, Lawrence Barnes, Bill Cradic, Mary Lou Sallee, Jim Norman, Max Decker, Larry Silvey and Ann Hunt. As the program begins, the welcome will be given by 2008 Alumni president Carol Bell Silvey, class of 1961, and Nancy Martin Lawler, director of curriculum for Ava Public Schools, class of 1986. The invocation will be by the Rev. Oren Alcorn, pastor of Ava General Baptist Church, class of 1970. An alumni business update will be given following the meal by David Norman, class of 1960, and special awards will be presented by Dale Davis, class of 1957, and Silvey. Chester Jenkins, class of 1954, will present the 2008 inductee into the Alumni Hall of Fame. The roll call of Ava High School graduates will be conducted by Kris Norman, class of 1978. Mary Martha Hutchison Williams, class of 1962, will lead the group in the singing of the School Song. The buffet meal for the banquet will be catered by David and Mary Kay Harnden Davidson, class of 1964.