𝗠𝗔𝗬 𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟲
Scott's Branch High School, Summerton, SC
What a wonderful and exciting time that month was for me. My senior year in high school was almost over, college was on the horizon, and I would be leaving home in a matter of three months. High School Prom was in early May, and towards the end of the month, our senior class would go to Six Flags Over Georgia.
I was no longer a school bus driver because of something I had done, but that did not matter, because in a matter of weeks, it would all be over. One day that month, I recall some of my classmates driving to Santee State Park for a day out of school. I was driving our burgundy 1973 Grand Prix, which was the coolest car around.
One Monday morning, members of our Senior Social Studies class, taught by Mr Gary, visited a mental institution in Columbia, South Carolina. That was part of the class, which included gaining an understanding of social institutions. That was a fun day away from school.
One day after school that month, my friend Clarence Hilton came by and had something to show me. In the trunk of his car was a rattlesnake he had killed shortly after returning home from school. It was a huge snake, and we drove over to Summerton to show it off. We eventually wound up at the School’s District office in Summerton.
A former Teacher and Coach named Mr. Hunter worked there. He asked whether we wanted the snake preserved, and he put up a plaque in the district office showing a snake caught by Clarence Hilton and Jerome Pearson on May 8, 1976. Clarence insisted that my name be placed there, too, despite my reluctance. I was always afraid of snakes, including the one in his trunk.
But the highlight of that month just had to be our trip to Six Flags. We left Summerton on chartered buses on a beautiful, grey Friday morning. It was the first time our specific class (1976) had done anything together. Although the day was grey, it seemed as if the sun was shining in hearts, if not in reality.
We stopped at one of the rest stops along the way, and everyone was as joyful as they could be, knowing that even greater excitement was just around the corner. It was a bit windy, but it was pretty because the trees had blossomed, even without sunshine.
Upon arriving in Atlanta, we descended into the downtown area. I recall the bus providing us with a guided tour of the historic HBCUs, including Morehouse, Morris Brown, Clark, and Spelman. At the time, my decision about colleges was already made. Strangely, I had never even considered any of those wonderful institutions which were much closer to home for me. Today, I wish I had done so, but they were never presented to me by our School’s guidance counselor at the time.
In the afternoon, the real fun began at the Amusement Park in Six Flags. From the moment we got off the bus, excitement was nonstop. It eventually began to rain, and we were given rain ponchos, but regardless, it did not matter. No rain stopped our show.
We got on every ride we could. Eventually, we separated into small groups, and for me, spending time with someone I met in the first grade was the ultimate culmination of a twelve-year adventure. A first-grade wish turned into a 12th-grade gift. Oh, the subtlety with which that one was slipped in.
I recall the first adventure I participated in. Someone must have tricked me into that one. I don’t recall the name, but it was in this tent where the floor dropped away beneath our feet, as if we were suspended in a space shuttle without our suits. We were all so young and filled with energy, and there was no slowing down.
Eventually, we had the long bus ride back home, which did not arrive until around 6 am the next morning.
We were tired and sleepy, and I don’t recall much about the return trip home.
It would only be another week before our graduation. Our graduation Sunday was cloudy and perhaps a little rainy. I had a small part in the ceremony, where I read a scripture designated for me by the teachers. I was nervous and only wished I had the courage that I have now.
Later that evening, I went to the Skating Rink in Sumter with some friends. It was an innocent event that later sparked some mild romantic controversies in some circles, or perhaps I should say a circle, of which no one other than me remembers to this day.
And then we were graduates, and I am sure most of my classmates never thought about what we would say 50 years later.
Neither did I, until I woke up this morning, and began to reflect on May 1976 and decided to open my mental files to some of my reminiscences from 50 years ago.
