Although it has been three months since Homecoming we are still reminiscing about the great time, the fun and the wonderful fellowship we all had at our reunion.  Thanks to all of you who have shared your pictures and memories on site with us.  If there is anyone else who has Homecoming pictures to share and does not have a scanner, please send them to Susan or myself and we will post and return to you.  Susan and I have some more Homecoming pictures yet to post.

We have added several new members since Homecoming.  Please join me in welcoming back into our family the following:

And we can’t forget our youngsters, those kids from 1960:

Welcome, all of you, to our “Circle of Love”.

We hope you have enjoyed the RGNS site, walking down Memory Lane and renewing friendships with fellow schoolmates.

I would be remiss in my duties if I did not take time to say thank you to Harold for all the beautiful poetry he has shared with us on site.  Through his poetry we have all been able to look back and remember the days that we now find to be among our happiest.  Thank you, Harold. You are our official "poet laureate". We look forward to your sharing more of your poems with us in the future. 

And, to my friend Beverly: Thank you for the wonderful profile of your life.  We all enjoyed reading about you and your family. You did a beautiful presentation.  I know the courage it took to be the first member to do a profile.  Thank you again for paving the way.  We will be presenting another profile in the near future. 

Randy, my dear “cousin”, I can never thank you enough.  Without you we wouldn’t have web pages for Dale’s Tales, Harold’s poems, Beverly’s profile and all the other wonderful features you have on the Main Menu. We are very fortunate that you share your talent to create these beautiful web pages.
 

RABUN COUNTY – GOD’S COUNTRY
July 28th-30th 

It’s been six weeks since Homecoming and we can’t stay away any longer.  Susan, Beverly and myself returned for a visit. 

Saturday, July 28, 2001

We had rented the “Girls Dorm” for our stay this weekend.  The three of us arrived within one hour of each other. 

After getting settled we headed to Carolyn’s for lunch.  When we arrived we found Carolyn in the kitchen frying squash cakes.  As you can see, Susan and I couldn’t wait to dig in.

As usual, Carolyn had a feast prepared for us.   The menu was fried wild turkey cutlets (something new to us – but very good), green beans and silver queen corn on the cob, tomatoes, cucumbers  (all from Dick’s garden – yum yum), squash cakes (like hush puppies but with squash added – more yum yum), fresh wild blackberry cobbler and sweet iced tea. 

We had a wonderful lunch and visit with Carolyn.  Dick is so nice to put up with us “girls”.  We also were able to meet two of their grandchildren who were visiting from Texas, Anthony and Natalie, teenagers we found to be delightful as well as polite. Carolyn, we love you and thank you for taking us to “raise” every time we come to Rabun County.  This was Beverly’s first visit to Carolyn’s, but you can be sure it won’t be her last now that she has experienced Carolyn’s “fixings” first hand. 

After we had eaten Carolyn out of house and home we left to visit with Miss Frances Fabrick, our former mentor at RGNS, at her “Hilltop” home in Tallulah Falls.  As we entered the long driveway to Miss Fabrick’s house there was a sign that read “Please Blow Horn”.  And Susan did.  As the car approached the house Miss Fabrick and her travel companion, Florence, were at the front door to meet us.

It was wonderful seeing and visiting with Miss Fabrick. 

Her mind is fantastic and filled with many memories of her years at RGNS.  (And yes, she is still very opinionated about certain things.)  She told us about her life after leaving RGNS and mentioned several inspiring book titles for us to investigate.  After being treated to a bowl of ice cream served with fresh blueberries from Miss Fabrick’s blueberry bushes, Susan decided to pick a bucket full.

While Susan picked berries Beverly was taking pictures.  Isn’t this picture of the berries a prize-winning photo?

We presented Miss Fabrick with a small gift to show our love and appreciation of her dedication to us as a teacher both then and now.  She continues to let others know that if you put faith in the Lord, He will watch over you and that all things are possible through Him.

We ended our visit with prayers.  This was a visit that we would not soon forget.
 

As we left "Hilltop" to return to the Girls Dorm we decided to take the old road towards Clayton, around Tallulah Lake.  The drive was as beautiful as we had remembered it so many years before while traveling to and from the school on the Trailways Bus.  Each of us had fond memories to share about some of those bus trips.  We stopped along the way and Susan and Beverly took pictures.  The following pictures will show some of the beauty we saw along the Tallulah River.

We arrived back at the girl’s dorm late that day.  None of us were hungry so we changed into our pj’s and sat in the living room and talked about our wonderful day.  We read each other’s yearbooks (for the umpteenth time), looked at some old pictures that Beverly had brought, and planned our itinerary. We made the decision to attend church services the following day at the Presbyterian Church.
 

Sunday, July 29th 

When we arrived at church several people greeted us.  As we were seated waiting for services to begin we spotted Billy Joe Stiles entering the sanctuary.  After we said hello to Billy Joe he wanted us to say hello to someone else.  Much to our surprise his sister, Lane Stiles Londo ’59, was home from Florida visiting for the week.  Her daughter and grandchildren from Washington State were also visiting.

While Beverly was capturing this beautiful picture of a Sunflower that was growing in back of the church,  Lane and I were making plans to get together that evening for dinner. 

Susan left right after Church service to visit with her daughter-in-law and three grandsons who had arrived from New Orleans to visit family in Mountain City.

Beverly and I decided to go look around campus.  Hodgson Hall was locked but we did manage to gain access to the Morris Brown Building that houses the labs. 

And how about this GREAT (!)  new building about to be dedicated in October?

Then we went to Bellingrath Hall, which is now a boys dorm.   The dorm was in the process of being renovated, which it badly needed. Of course we couldn’t go to the dorm and not take a picture out on the balcony, so……….

Beverly and I had lunch and later met Susan at Jimmy’s for ice cream.  After our ice cream treat at Spring Ridge Creamery Beverly had to return home.  Susan and I had planned to stay one more night.  We went back to the dorm and tried to catch our breaths!

Later Sunday night Susan and I met Lane in Clayton for dinner.  What a pleasant surprise it was to find Doyle Smith ’59 joining us!

As we were driving home Susan and I decided to take a drive to the top of Black Rock Mountain. (Remember when the ol’ bus would make it almost to the top, had to pull over, and we walked the rest of the way?) We were losing daylight and weren’t sure if we would be able to see anything once we got to the top.  Susan’s pictures proved otherwise.

Susan and I returned to the dorm, sorry that Beverly had had to leave earlier that day and did not get to share in dinner and Black Rock Mountain with us.  Again, we sat in our pj’s and girl-talked, refreshing ourselves for the next day.

Monday, July 30th
 

Susan and I met Carolyn for breakfast at the Dillard house, as usual.  After breakfast Susan and I visited the campus.  In all the years Susan has been back to RGNS she had never gone back to see the girls’ dorm.  And, you guessed it!  Pictures had to be taken on the balcony.  This time we bravely sat on the wall.

With goodbye hugs Susan headed north to Philadelphia, and I headed south to Marietta.  However, I had one more stop to make, and then my trip to Rabun County would be complete.  LaVerne had prepared a wonderful lunch for us and we visited for several hours.  She took me out to Wolffork and drove me around the Valley.  We stopped by their Wolffork property and found Ronald working in his vegetable garden.  I became loaded down with corn and potatoes.  My trip was now complete.  Hugging each other and saying goodbye till next time, I headed home sad, but happy, for I knew I would be back soon. 

As most of you know Susan is planning a move to Otto, NC, from Fayetteville, NC.  While we were in the Rabun/Macon County area in July, Susan rented a very lovely house.  It’s just “up the mountain” a bit from the “girls dorm” in Otto.  Beverly and I will be going up on September 16th to help her move in. (I told you I would be back soon.)

Susan is very happy to be ‘coming home’.  Even though she won’t be living in Rabun County, she’ll be just a few miles away.  Her heart will always be in Rabun County, as mine will be, and yours, too, I’m sure.

Rabun County – God’s Country

Our memories of that time in our lives when we were so young, so innocent, and so happy and close to one another lives on in our RGNS 50’s Alumni Site.  We have created a “Circle of Love”…….may our circle be unbroken.

 That’s all the news that is news for this edition of Dale’s Tales.