L to R: Front Row: Mitzi (Inch) Lipscomb, Sharon (Brown) Rickel, Linda (Bryant) Strong, Alice Clay; Class Sponsor: Verlyne (Bartlett) Starr, Ciliciana (DeWitt) Hall, Marilyn (Rendel) Doughty, Susan (Card) Tidwell, Kathleen (Rowbotham) Morse; Back Row: Jeffrey Doll, George Ray, Roger Rickel, Malcolm Phipps, Rick Fuller, Jim Jordan, Molly (McTaggert) Jordan, Ralph Schmoling, David Fernandez, Brent Davidson, Gene Hall, Dwight Hall, Lou Ann (Currier) Kamphues, Greg Fenner, Sheila (Campbell) Palmer. Missing from this picture, but who attended: Jon Beard, Craig Okonski, Barbara (Winslow) Krantz.
Twenty-six persons who had been part of the class were able to attend. Also, in attendance was one of our class sponsors, Verlyne Bartlett Starr, as well as many friends and family joining our celebration. Classmates came from as far away as Nebraska, Arkansas, and Georgia.
On Friday evening, we met at Shadowland Pavilion at Silver Beach in St. Joseph, Michigan for a light supper, songs, and a moving message by George Ray.
On Sabbath, we enjoyed the beautiful venue of Hidden Vineyard Wedding Barn, which was fully donated by classmate, Greg Fenner. Our church service was held under the large, majestic catalpa tree on the property. Roger and Sherry (Brown) Rickel, accompanied on guitar by Kathy (Rowbotham) Morse, led us in a song service which featured our class hymn, Higher Ground. David Fernandez gave us an inspirational sermon, and Gene Hall blessed us with prayer, as we joined hands and closed our service singing, “Side-by-side We Stand.”
A delicious lunch was served, and afterwards Roger Rickel paid tribute to the six individuals from our class who are resting in Jesus. A special tribute to Gay (Young) Hippler, a friend to all of us, was made by her sister, Twyla (Young) Wall. Gay organized our 20-year reunion in 1994, and mailed a group picture to all who attended with an amusing letter telling who each person was. Much laughter was heard as Twyla re-read the letter.
The afternoon was filled with ice-breaker questions, open-mic time, checking up on the Secret Ambitions we had listed in our yearbook, and lots of visiting. Patrick Bruce joined us by Zoom to tell his testimony, “Learning to Walk”, how God miraculously saved and healed him of a traumatic brain injury.
We were treated to a beautiful and tasty light supper and refreshments provided by Kaye Fenner. It was with great reluctance that each attendee slipped away as the evening wore on, with a promise to meet again soon in the New Jerusalem.
Sue Tidwell is a member of the 1974 Adelphian Academy class.
