To the Editor:

The Willow Springs 2024 Alumni Celebration has come and gone.  We had the highest attendance so far with three hundred plus enjoying their time together.  Lots of high school stories were heard and much reminiscing was going on.  It was great to see alumni from Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia.  Those attending ranged from the Class of 1950, 51, 53, 55 to the 1990s.  
 
We were blessed with perfect weather and had efficient volunteers. There were youth and adult members from our home church, Immanuel Southern Baptist, Pomona. Thank you to all that lent a hand including the Community Foundation staff at the Ferguson Building, our organization members of EAA, Amanda Mendez with The Howell County News, Mitchell Harris, G & W Foods, Willow Springs Chamber of Commerce, and Pat Stuart for keeping the grounds always looking like a well-manicured park. Thank you, James at South Central Golf Equipment, West Plains for lending us the multi seat golf car for parking shuttle service. There were so many more that I have not listed but know that you were so appreciated.
 
We are fortunate to be members of an organization with a facility that lends itself to such large gatherings.  Thank you EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association, Chapter 1218 for the support.  Ron White would have loved seeing so many alumni in the building/grounds of the hangar he was so instrumental in making a reality.
 
Why do we do it? Seeing all the alumni able to mingle, chat with folks they have not seen since the 2023 gathering, watching the attendance grow each year, is a large part of why. We admit it requires an exhausting amount of preparation beginning the first of the year but we get to see so many smiling faces remembering the many good days at Willow Springs High School. Who knows where they will be in the future…….
 
The donations this year exceeded the expenses so, guess what:  we will see you Saturday, May 24, 2025!!!  Thank you everyone that donated.
 
Thank you again,
Tom & Phyllis (Oliver) White
Class of 1963 & 1967
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Howell County News

110 W. Main St.,
Willow Springs, MO 65793
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