Special to the Enquirer

Graduates of Eva High School will gather Saturday for the first time in three years when the alumni association holds its reunion.

This will be the first time since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that the event will be held, and Jo Anne Lindley, class of 1972, said the event is shaping up to be well attended.

Eva was a high school from 1930-72 when it was converted into a junior high and the senior high students transferred to Albert P. Brewer High School.

Eva School in 2019

Dr. Rolland S. Oden established an alumni association that has continued through the years, hosting an alumni reunion every other year, according to Lindley.

The association continues to be strong with members coming or contributing from all over the nation, she added.

Beginning at 10 a.m. in Eva School gymnasium, the afternoon will include tours of the school hallway that has now been named Alumni Hall with all 43 newly restored graduating class pictures from Eva High School in hanging displays.

Lindley said the restoration project, that in total took seven years to complete, at times, seemed like it would never end. “When it did (end), there was sadness,” she said. “This year, alumni will return to the site where the original school stood that is now Eva Junior High, to reunite with friends and teachers, and to see the restored class pictures. It was a labor of love that required many hours and dollars to complete.”

Lindley said the project would not have been possible without the help of two very special people. Sarah Thomas and Carl McClain helped the alumni association with the calligraphy, framing and matting of the photos.

Registration is required to attend the reunion Saturday. A tour of the hallway where the 43 restored graduating class pictures now hang in Eva School will be a highlight of the day, according to Lindley.

“The students of Eva School can see grandparents, great-grandparents, uncles, and aunts who once attended school in this very special place,” she said.