I entered paying ten dollars for this alumni dinner. It was run by the school and alumni directors. Jo Ellen Wilson was one and the other lady whose presence was known to me as Dr. something. Older skinny woman with short black hair turned grayish who could spunk up at moments. She did the MC of introducing the alumni awards and others. She also started the tour and did the student center reception by giving out drinks. There was another person who was a bit younger and ahead of the Alumni something. In short, they seemed important but this thought entered my head: "here today, gone tomorrow."
That was the vibe I felt. The dinner was inside this convocation hall in the admissions office. I remember the head of admissions, John Head who would ax workers and some even teachers during the middle of the school year. I remember a student named, Shonte Gulley was so upset in of those ax jobs by Mr. Head. What stood out for me was my first week at Reinhardt, the head of the campus police was let go for reasons unknown. Another campus police officer was fired for bringing search dogs continuously to my room for drugs without success. Man, she had all those children to feed. But let me say this, these administrators made these decisions because they thought about students first and these instructors were held to meet a certain standards for students to respect their Christian authority. With that said, her instincts were correct.
Back to the dinner, I got me a plate of chicken, vegetables, and salad with carrot cake. Of course, tea came with it, unsweetened. Sat across a couple and what appeared to be college-age school girl. They seemed nice and then older gentleman came to the table and sat right next to me. He graduated from Reinhardt in 1948. He told me stories about three jobs in college before the school President told him to work two because they would have to own him money. His name was Alvin McGarrity. He talked about being trained as a bookkeeper and a typist which served him when he later went into the navy. I believe he mentioned about working as court stenographer but I'm not sure. He was animated with alot of spunk. He had those big glasses with a brimmed mustache. He certainly didn't act his age. I felt at home talking to him.
When I was getting food on a table stack, a female alumni from 1964 or 1965 talked about how "everybody knew each other, they were in the same social class, worked while in school, and went to church together on Sunday's." My reaction was "wow, how did you get there without an interstate (it wasn't built till the late 80's) and how did you get to this place" (with admiration). She kind of was taken by surprise when another alumni from 1965, talked about two-lane roads from Marietta (I learned later you came from Ga highway 5, then Ga 140, and maybe one more highway at that time). He mentioned about going to University of Tennessee after Reinhardt. In response, I mouthed off "Richmond Flowers" and he was pleasantly surprised and the lady from '64 was shocked to submission. He asked me how did I know? I told him I watched the 1966 Gator Bowl highlights between Tennessee vs. Syracuse on YouTube. Richmond Flowers was the star player for the Vols in that football game. Everything seemed to loosen up with respect from the elders. I wasn't them but I was alumni. A former president smiled and thanked me for coming.
The award dinner was fun. Moderate intros of the winners. Lot of tears from the recipients. They put a lot heart and work into receiving this award. They thanked the school and their families. After the ceremony, a guy stood out for me. I went up to him and noticed that he was from a Georgia town where a famous ballplayer was from. As I talked to him, his wife introduced herself to me. I was taken back when I noticed a bruise on the side of her face. I don't know, maybe she fell, bruises easily due to a disease, or a bad face lift. I kind of looked away but then she got my attention and thanked me for being there. I don't like to judge since I have been judged on this day but let me tell you "here today, gone tomorrow" came to mind.
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