Good ol’ Lone Star School reunion

Billie Cooper played a believable Minnie Pearl. Memory Lane was the avenue of choice at the Lone Star Community Center on Saturday, April 24, 2010. Members of the Center had been working for months to have the old school spic and span for the big day.

Reunions, especially school reunions, are funny things. For a few minutes, possibly even an hour or so, bodies are stealth and youthful, hair is full with no grey, and there does not appear to be one single line or wrinkle. Little girls giggle and little boys talk about the big game or how they outsmarted the teacher.

The day at Lone Star always kicks off very early some ex-students getting there as soon as the doors opened. Earl Hill Moore welcomed the group and Harvey Williams led in prayer remembering those who have passed away. Minnie Pearl, in the shape and form of Billy Cooper, paid a visit all the way from Nashville and the Barnett Sisters, Trudy and Sherry, sang a couple 1950s tune. Nick Watson entertained with two of his very own songs, recounting happenings and mis-haps from his days at Good Ole Lone Star School.

Linda and Joe Cadle were greeted by Norma Moore. Following the program guests were treated to a chicken fried steak lunch by Don Lathrop and crew.

New Hope School History

The Flo School, held in the Woodman Hall building, had closed by the early 1920s and school children went to Boykin Chapel School, located near where Boykin Chapel Cemetery is today. Boykin Chapel was named after Mr. Will Boykin’s father, who donated the land.

Mr. Verna Loyd Bain was the principal when Flo and Boykin Chapel Consolidated. It was agreed that a new school would be built, located between the two farthest houses in the Flo and Boykin Chapel communities. These two houses belonged to Mr. Will Barnett to the north and Jasper and Nanny Barnett to the south. The way the location for the new school building was determined, some men tied a rag on a wagon wheel, sat in back of the wagon and counted the turns of the wheels between the two houses. The halfway point was at Bert and Gertie Pate’s house, so the new school was located across the road from their place. The new school was built in 1928-29 and was named “New Hope”. The first principal was Verna Loyd Bain.

Glenda Williams Moreland and Yvonne Waters Woodard had some catching up to do. The first girl’s volleyball team was Lois Hill Moore, Vergie Parrish Williams, Leila Parrish Dorman, Lydia Pearl Hill Gresham, Lorene Summeral Hood, Ola Fay Timmons Moore, Ruby Lee Moore Raines.

School trustees were: Oss Hill, Arthur Timmons, Ben Pate, Jack Barnett, Ellie Jones, Dean Summeral, Bill Lee.

Lone Star School History

In January 1940 the New Hope School was destroyed by fire. In November 1940, work was begun on a new structure which would become the first Lone Star School. In the original application the school board asked for a WPA grant of $60,000 but was awarded $52,694. The Lone Star School district was composed of Flo, Round Rock, Russell and Sand Lake districts.

The project took about 11 months and ended with a one-story natural stone building with precast stone Of the $52,694, the WPA spent $27,802 and the school district, as sponsors, spent $24,893. The building has nine classrooms and a gymnasium. At the time the building opened, there were approximately 200 students with two buses serving the school.

The school did not provide hot lunches and Superintendent Hibbits felt that cold lunches handicapped the children. Mr. Hibbits and some ladies of Flo met with the Board of Trustees to request that a “Lunch Room” serving hot lunches be provided. The group was told that there was no money for a lunch room so Colonel and Lois Moore, along with others in the community, negotiated a loan and borrowed enough money to begin a School Lunch Room.