Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Full slate on tap for McRae Reunion

Independence Day will take on a new meaning this year, as it kicks off the 6th Annual McRae Reunion.

The opening session for the reunion will be held at 10 a.m. at the McRae Middle School cafetorium with the McRae alma mater played by Mattie Tidwell.

Following scripture and more music, the alumnus will be welcomed by Prescott Superintendent Hyacinth Deon, Prescott Mayor Howard Taylor and Hope Mayor Dennis Ramsey.

They will also receive greetings from Mary Godwin, executive director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce.

The session includes a roll call of classes, recognition of past teachers and principals, a registration report, introduction of the reunion committee, announcements an a second playing of the alma mater.

While the dinner has been sold out, tickets for the picnic are still available, according to Rev. Ivory Curry, a member of the reunion committee.

"This is one of the biggest ones we've ever had," Curry said of the response to the reunion this year. "We've gotten more support from the community than ever and we're excited."

The reunion actually begins Thursday, July 3, with registration and hospitality hour in the MMS gym lobby, with a full day of activities planned for July 4.

The picnic will be held t 12:30 p.m., with tickets being required, followed by a basketball shoot-around in the MMS gym at 2:30. At 5 o'clock, the individual classes will meet, with the locations to be announced, followed by the reunion dance at MMS, which also requires tickets.

On Saturday, the events kick off with a parade through downtown Prescott at 10 a.m., with a tour of the new Prescott Sports Arena and Depot Museum scheduled for noon.

The reunion banquet and talent show is set for 8 p.m. Saturday night.

The talent show will feature a couple of high school sweethearts as entertainment.

On Saturday night, July 5, Chuck and Tena Miller, who were sweethearts in high school at McRae, will be performing in the talent show.

They have been solo acts at past reunions, but this year the duo entered as a family.

In addition to preparing for the reunion, the Millers have been working on their soon to be released CD project, entitled "Changes for Tena".

The inspiration for the CD was inspired by her confidence in Chuck to record music people would consider a pleasure to listen to, he added.

The title track of the album is dedicated to her and to highlight the hard time she endured when the couple left Omaha, Neb. to attend Rutgers University in New Jersey.

A television documentary about the Millers is being prepared from Omaha. It will commemorate their lives and contributions to the musical arts in Omaha.

The program opens and closes with Rev. George Easter providing the invocation and benediction.

Following dinner will be entertainment, greetings from former MHS Principal Dr. Joseph Hale, a tribute to Mae Hamilton, induction into the McRae Hall of Fame, followed by the talent show, introduction of the reunion committee, announcements and the alma mater (performed by Charles Miller on piano).

On Sunday, July 6, services will be held at the Prescott High School auditorium, with Rev. C.D. Stuart delivering the message.

Stuart, the pastor of Antioch Missionary Baptist Church in Decatur, Illinois, has written about his experiences throughout his life and brings them to the pulpit.

He is the product of Munn's Chapel Baptist Church in Prescott, where he was first introduced to religion.

Stuart has been the pastor at New Life, Hermitage, Calvary, Ivan, Macedonia, Sparkman and First Baptist churches across southwest Arkansas.

The services will begin at 11 a.m. with a song by the McRae Reunion Choir. This will be followed by a prayer by Rev. Willie Flowers and scripture by Rev. Robert McCoy.

Olen Johnson Jr. will be the master of ceremonies for the service.

Other events during the reunion include the Marching Cobra Band from Kansas City, Mo.

The Cobras are led by Willie Smith, who is an ISS teacher in the Kansas City School District. Smith graduated from McRae High School in 1963 and founded the Cobras in 1969.

The band is a nationally and internationally known performing unit known for dynamic and colorful routines.

It was created in 69 when Smith was hired by the KCMO Board of Education as a seventh and eighth grade social studies teacher at Lincoln Jr. High.

In the early years, the group was simply known as the Lincoln Jr. High Boys Drill Team. The school's librarian, Leacy Hollingsworth, jokingly said the group should be called the Cobras while watching them perform one day, because they were "swift as a snake."

The name stuck and the Cobras were officially born.

It has been said, Smith said, instead of it being simply a "drill team" the Cobras are also dancers because of the routines performed.

While volunteers have come and gone with the Cobras, Smith has been a constant since day one throughout its 34-year existence.

For 17 years, the Cobras were sponsored by the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Kansas City, with the help of a grant from the United Way. The "merger" of the Cobras and Boys and Girls Clubs have been a benefit to all involved.

However, on March 27, 2003, Smith decided the Cobras should "spread their wings" and stand on their own.

Other events scheduled for the reunion include registration and a hospitality hour at the MMS gym at 6 p.m. July 3.