1943 Dowling Junior High graduates, from left, Dorothy Calvert Rivers Atkins, Dewel Lott and Mildred Eady Edmondson at Saturday’s Dowling Junior High School reunion (Maggie Darnell for The Cullman Tribune)
CRANE HILL – “There’s a lot of good memories here,” 1946 Dowling Junior High graduate, Dolores Williams Lott, said with a smile Saturday, when former students gathered at Dowling Memorial Park for a reunion in the former school’s cafeteria.
The cafeteria survived the fire that destroyed the school in 1996 and has been restored to be used for school reunions and other events. It also houses a small museum exhibit of memorabilia from the school. The site of the old school is now known as Dowling Memorial Park.
Graduates from as far back as 1943 came to catch up with old classmates. A lot of fun memories of ball games, bus rides and instances of “playing hooky” were shared. Graduates reminisced about good times and enjoyed a pot luck lunch.
Lott shared one of her stories of a bus ride, referring to “the muddy curve.” Back then, she said, many roads in Cullman County were not paved, they were mostly just dusty or muddy, few even had gravel. One morning, the bus she was riding was taking its usual route. On that route, there was a sharp curve, and on that particular morning, the road on the sharp curve was muddy. “The students riding the bus at the time decided to throw off the bus from its original course and jumped from one side of the bus to the other, throwing the bus’ balance off and causing it to land in the ditch!”
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