Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.  This time 20 years ago, 38 seniors had just graduated from Nederland Middle Senior High School. The world spread out before them, filled with promise, with blank pages ready to be filled with new history. Joni Beall was principal, Boyd Brown was assistant principal and the school motto was “You were once wild here. Don’t let them tame you.”

Last weekend, members of the class of 1998 gathered at the Nederland Community Center for their 20th Reunion. Friday night, the alumni met at the Century Casino entrance, all dressed up and immediately recognized people they had spent their teen years with. Hugs and tears, “I remember the first kiss together”. What they did for a living, who was married, had kids, pulling out the phones to show the pictures. Drinks, socializing, dancing. The group migrated to three different casinos, cavorting down the middle of Central City. Jewell and the Rough Band played a few oldies.

Next day was the family day at the NCC. Ashley Laudenslager drove 10 and a half hours from Oklahoma to join the party. She has three children and says she remembers that everyone knew everybody else’s business. “It was like fighting with siblings and then we became peers. We all came from very different backgrounds. I would say the academics taught at Nederland are awesome. We all went to different schools after graduation and our education was equal to any other school’s. Nederland fosters an accepting atmosphere, which as an adult is very welcoming.”

(Originally published in the August 9, 2018, print edition of The Mountain-Ear.)