A 50 Year Reunion, 50 Years Later

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In July 1976, The Pioneer News published a 50 year reunion article written by Laura (Frick) Richardson of the Shepherdsville High School Class of 1926. Now fifty years later we'd like to share Laura's article with you again, along with a bit of additional information about her and the Class of '26. We begin with Laura's article, just as she wrote it.

It is said that "Age is a garden of memories." Age and recalled memories were much in evidence as the Shepherdsville High School class of '26 celebrated its 50th anniversary at the Best Western Motel on June 26th.

It seemed but yesterday when Professor J. H. Sanders, at noon recess, sat at his particular chair in front of the "gym." Several of his own children attended the school to which their mother walked each noon, carrying a large basket of lunch for 'Fessor and his offspring.

His math classes were a sprinkling of problems, puns, and proverbs. His favorite advice to the boys was "Always do more than you were paid to do" and "never watch the clock." The girls were likewise advised to "Always tell mother." These suggestions were evidently heeded because the principal of 50 years ago would have been well pleased had he known of the various professions and careers represented at the reunion.

School transportation, a half century ago, was a problem. Some teachers and pupils boarded at Shepherdsville. One teacher, Hester (Anderson) Hardaway met her future husband there and is still residing in Shepherdsville. (At the reunion she looked to be the same age group as her former pupils.) Some pupils, including the writer of this article, boarded at the home of Mrs. Tom Melton at Salt River and walked the railroad track to and from school.

There was no lunchroom. Lunch was brought in a sack or lunchbox. Some pupils walked "downtown" to the restaurant where a "hotdog and coke" were considered quite a treat. On the return trip, dessert, in the form of a candy bar, could be bought at Troutman's grocery.

There were no restrooms. The "outhouses" were located at an appropriate distance south of the school. A partition separated the teachers' "two-holer" from the pupils "three-holer." The dirt path was well trodden and packed firmly from the sometimes slow and sometimes hurried feet of the pupils of over 50 years ago.

Classes were often interrupted by the whistle of a train as it neared the Shepherdsville Depot. (Several of the class of '26 students used a train as reliable transportation to and from school.)

High school students, on the second floor, did not change rooms for classes. The teacher, instead, came to the room. All day, pupils stayed in he same room. Lucky were the ones who sat nearest the warm stove on a cold windy day.

The Class of '26 was noted for its outstanding basketball players, Charles Shaw, Edgar Stansbury, Wassell Rodgers, "Bill" Griffin, Thomas Conniff, and Ray Binford. These players received much publicity in the newspapers at that time.

Girls' basketball teams were very popular too. The Class of '26 was represented by Mildred (Bergen) Troutman, Etta (Nusz) Shouley, Ophelia (Masden) Carney, Anna Rhea (Combs) Shaw, Thelma (Crenshaw) Bergen, Marjorie (Purcell) Becker, Alice (Rhea) McAfee, Margaret (Sanders) Moran, and Evelyn (Croan) Herron.

Search for the memories on this never-to-be-forgotten 50th anniversary celebration. Looks of awe and admiration were bestowed upon each classmate as a brief account of "my life since 1926" was given.

Tribute was offered to Guy Bergen, Harry Bell, and Thomas Conniff, deceased members of the class.

Absent were Clyde Roby, Lee Logsdon, and Pauline Goodridge.

Others present as yet not mentioned were Arthur Lutes, Carl Shaw, Dolly Stephan, Hazel (Hall) Ratliff, Marie (Lutes) Harvey, and Laura (Frick) Richardson who presented each classmate with a copy of her book, Oops, Teacher, I Goofed!

The Class of '26 will meet again in another five years, June 1981. They all admitted that a representation of twenty-one out of a class of twenty-eight, after an expanse of fifty years, was very commendable. Needless to say, they all felt that "old friendships grew more precious with the years."

Included with Laura's article were the photos taken by her classmate Mildred Bergen while they were still in school. One shows Professor Sanders in his "particular chair" outside the gym; and the other is of the old school building itself.

Three years after their graduation, the 1929 S.H.S. Annual included a section on Alumni, sharing what they were doing then. Here is what was said about the 1926 graduates.

Alice Rhea	Student, Maryville College, Maryville, TN
Anna Rae Combs	Student, Commercial School, Bradenton, FL
Arthur Lutes	Farmer, Shepherdsville
Carl Shaw	Radio Dept., Hunter-Keifer Co., Louisville
Charles Shaw	Employed Kentucky Veneer Works, Louisville
Clyde Roby	Teacher Graded School, Lebanon Junction
Dolly Stephan	Student, Spencerian Commercial School, Louisville
Edgar Stansbury	Student, Western Kentucky Teacher's College, Bowling Green
Etta Nusz	Teaching, Jefferson County Bardstown Junction
Evelyn Croan	Cashier, Boston Bootery, Louisville
Guy Bergen	Clerk, Freight Bureau, Louisville
Harry Bell	State Highway Dept., Leitchfield
Hazel Hall	Teacher, County Schools, Shepherdsville
Laura Frick	Teaching City Schools, Louisville
Lee Logsdon	American Telephone Co., Paducah
Margaret H. Sanders	Graduate Nurse, Norton Hospital, Louisville
Marie Lutes	Teacher, County Schools, Shepherdsville
Marjorie Purcell	Student, Spencerian Commercial School, Louisville
Mildred Bergen	Mrs. Walter Shepherd, Shepherdsville
Ophelia Masden	Bookkeeper, Carter Dry Goods Co., Louisville
Pauline Goodridge	Brooks
Ray Binford	Teaching Graded School, Eminence
Robert H. Simmons	Farmer, Shepherdsville
Roth Ratliff	Clerk L. & N. R. R., Louisville
Thelma Crenshaw	Stenographer, Peaslee-Gaulbert Co., Louisville
Thomas Conniff	L & N. R. R. Office, Louisville
Wassell Rodgers	Student, Western Kentucky Teacher's College, Bowling Green
William Griffin	Gulf Refining Co., Louisville

Much could be written about many of these former students, like Guy Bergen and Thelma Crenshaw who married and were the parents of Penny Bergen Pack; but we will finish by sharing a bit about Laura herself.

The July 4, 1930 paper reported that "the marriage of Miss Laura Elizabeth Frick and Horace G. Richardson was solemnized at St. Rita's Church on the morning of June the 25th." They shared 41 years before Horace's passing in 1971.

Then in October 1997, The Pioneer News shared Laura's obituary, stating "she was a teacher for 41 years." She began her teaching career in the Louisville schools, and later taught at the Shepherdsville school.

As it was with so many of the young teachers of her generation who began teaching right out of high school, "although it took her many years, she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Nazareth College."

A century ago, like the 2026 graduates who are embarking on their life’s adventure today, these 28 were stepping forward into a future of hope; and, by and large, the lives they made and the memories they left us speak well of them.

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Copyright 2026 by Charles Hartley, Shepherdsville KY. All rights are reserved. No part of the content of this page may be included in any format in any place without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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