I would like to share two stories that I remember from my school days at UHS.

During one of my underclass years, we were all herded to the gym to hear a motivational speaker. It must have been a male, because there were no female motivational speakers in those days….anyway, we were all excited, not to hear the speaker, but were excited to get out of class, for whatever reason, and sit on the bleachers with our friends and maybe a sweetie.

The speaker must have talked about enthusiasm…maybe we needed it and maybe not. The climax (and the only part that I remember) was when we were all told to stand and shout “Boy, am I enthusiastic”!!!! We also were instructed to wave our fist in the air while shouting. Were we anymore enthusiastic after listening for an hour?? Probably not. We were certainly not enthusiastic about returning to class.

The other story is about a fun trip we made in 1973 to the State Beta Club Convention that was held at the Hotel Frederick in Huntington, WV. Thirty senior and junior Beta members attended. We traveled on a bus driven by Marvin Dixon.

Sara Hill served as State Secretary. Connie Martin was a candidate for State Secretary for the following year. Miss Jeanette Sparks, our sponsor, was elected to the Council of the State Beta Club and would help plan future conventions and activities. James Frazier, also from Monroe County, was a member of the Six-person Council.

UHS captured first place in the talent division with a short skit entitled “Won’t You Try to Understand”, written by Beta member Jayne Mitchell. We received a check for $15.00.

That evening we had dinner at Shoney’s, where I had my first slice of strawberry pie. Have I continued to order strawberry pie when I am in a Shoney’s Restaurant? NO! however, my kitchen is full of strawberries!! Could this be because of the Beta Convention?? It was a fun trip!

Also traveling with us was our principal, Bob Via, and our assistant principal, Kyle Baker.

Libby Roles Kowalsky
Class of 1973