John Shearer: Looking Forward To Bright School Alumni Picnic

I tend to get quite nostalgic when thinking of my childhood, particularly my elementary school years at Bright School.
 
That includes memories of my classmates, the fun classes with the teachers, the great meals, the interesting films and class plays in the auditorium, and the sports activities.
 
I love to visit the school on occasion to help those memories come to the forefront even more. While I must admit that I wish for selfish reasons every square inch of the original part of the early 1960s-era school looked exactly like it did when I was in school, even though it has only been minimally changed, returning is still quite a pleasure.
 
Another one of my happy and sentimental Bright School memories is of the school picnic, which was held at Warner Park on a Friday in early May during my era as a student from the mid-1960s to 1972.
 
From getting nervous before the dash races to trying to keep from laughing too much during the less serious other contests – like the wheelbarrow and three-legged races – I always enjoyed a variety of fun experiences at it.
 
After the races and picnic lunch food like chicken, sandwiches and desserts, it was really time for fun, including riding the rides like the circular swings and the miniature train, which once existed at Warner Park.
 
There was also baseball between the fifth- and sixth-grade boys before America as a whole realized the value of competitive girls sports, too. Time also existed just to walk around and buy those cheap arcade gifts like pepper gum and try to get an unsuspecting fellow student to taste it.
 
To my great pleasure, Bright School has decided to start holding a regular picnic for alumni. The first one was held in 2013 during the school’s centennial anniversary, and then another one was held in 2014. It is called a picnic to recall memories of the popular old picnics, but it is also just a general school reunion and is held at the school, not at Warner Park by where the Frost softball stadium now stands.
 
The school and its alumni association hope to have the picnics on a biannual basis, and the next one will be Saturday, May 14, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the school. It is free, and all alumni 21 years and older are invited to attend with their family and friends.
 
I went to the first two alumni picnics, which were held on Friday evenings, and hope to be at this upcoming one. During the event, the new athletic complex featuring a track and artificial surface playing field will also be dedicated in memory of Bright alumnus Augustus “Gus” McCravey from the class of 2001. In 2011, Mr. McCravey, who was then 21 years old, died in a fall while visiting friends in Spain.
 
At the previous two picnics, I enjoyed visiting with several dozen other alumni as we socialized in the covered concourse that looks almost like it did the last time I waited there for my mother, Velma Shearer, to pick me up from school in 1972. A neat and casual dinner in the spirit of the old picnics was also served, and people sat and conversed at tables in the adjacent quadrangle area.
 
While I enjoyed saying hello to former acquaintances from other ventures in my life at the previous picnics and meeting new people who are also alumni, I would have loved to see even more people closer to my age.
 
I did get to enjoy seeing my former Bright classmate Herndon Elliott at the picnic two years ago. He had gone to McCallie and I to Baylor, so we had experienced only minimal contact in the more than 40 years since we both left Bright as good friends.
 
During that picnic, we both took a tour around the inside of the school – which was the perfect emotional dessert for me -- and it was neat hearing him reminisce about his own nostalgic memories of attending Bright, too, and his dreams at the time. One of his favorite teachers who had influenced him greatly, he said, was former shop teacher Aaron Lowe.
 
As it turned out, the late Mr. Lowe’s granddaughter, Rachel Fisher, attended that picnic, and Herndon was able to pass on those fond memories of her late grandfather.
 
My sister, Cathy Morris, who was four years ahead of me at Bright, has also attended the previous two picnics and enjoyed them.
 
Bright head of school O.J. Morgan calls the annual picnic for students and staff and their families one of the school’s greatest and most beloved traditions, and he enjoys hearing alumni reminisce about it. He is also encouraging any and all alumni to return for this year’s alumni event.
 
“By inviting alumni to come back to the school for a picnic, we hope to rekindle that same spirit of fun, competition and camaraderie,” he said.
 
Austin Center, a member of the class of 1985 and president of the Bright Alumni Association, said he has his own fond memories of the picnic during his era as a student, including winning the three-legged and sack races.
 
He also welcomes back alumni to the event on May 14.
 
“The alumni picnic is a great way to reconnect with alumni and bring them together for an event that celebrates that time in their lives,” he said.
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net