Born in the shadow of the Great Depression, members of the Red Bank High School class of 1955 remember simpler days.
They are part of the so-called Silent Generation, born from 1928-1945, although this group is anything but silent.
The gregarious group of octogenarians meets once a month to renew friendships over barbecue sandwiches and fried okra, and to recall their high school days during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
“We lived in a blessed time,” said Sara Jo Malone, one of more than a dozen 1955 classmates gathered for lunch one day last week at the Rib & Loin restaurant on Highway 153.
They came together from a cluster of elementary schools – Red Bank, White Oak, G. Russell Brown – to attend junior high and high school at the former Dayton Boulevard school, which has since been torn down and relocated to Morrison Springs Road. They take pride in the fact they were the first Red Bank High School class to top 100 members – they were 101 strong at graduation, although fewer than 50 are still alive.