First Hardaway High School class celebrates 50th anniversary

Some of the first students to graduate from Hardaway High School returned to the Columbus campus Saturday to celebrate their 50th anniversary.

About 40 former students gathered in the cafeteria to recall the days when they selected the name of the mascot, the Hardaway Hawks, and the red and gold colors.

Jerry Adams, 68, said the students spent two years at the new school in the 11th and 12th grades before graduating as the first class of 1967. “We were upper classmen for two years,” said Adams, a semi-retired dentist and president of the graduating class. “We didn’t have a senior class before us. We weren’t exactly sure what was required of us, but we blazed the trail as the first seniors and graduates at Hardaway.”

Adams and others said the gathering brought back a flood of memories. Adams said his wife attended the school, as well as his three sons. “As a 50-year graduate, it brings back emotions of growing up, making friends and having teachers who were good mentors and leaders to teach us what it’s like to be an adult,” he said.

For Ned Powell, he said the students enjoyed their time on campus for two years. “We kind of enjoyed it,” he said. “We set the tone for those who went after us.”

Powell, 67, of San Diego, said he played tackle on the football team that won one game over two years. After graduation, Powell said he spent the next 26 years in the U.S. Navy, where he served tours in Vietnam and during the Gulf War.

Sinnie Payne Borel, 67, came to Hardaway from Baker High School. She recalled having dreams about the long hallways at her new school. “When you came here, you walked in and it was the longest halls I’d ever seen in my life,” she said. “I used to dream about the halls. I said ‘mama, I don’t want to go to school,’ and I was in high school. Other than that, I loved this school.”

Borel said she didn’t like college after graduating from Hardaway. After one semester at Columbus College, she decided to quit and go to work at Fort Benning. She worked 37 years in the Criminal Investigation Division and retired.

Matthew Bell, the current principal of the school, told the first graduates a lot has changed since they were on campus. Students come to school now with holes in their pants, and they were bought that way. He said there were some desks at the school from their era with some anti-Vietnam graffiti on them. “Some of those desks are still here,” he said. “They just don’t build things the way they used to.”

Superior Court Judge Bobby Peters, who also served as mayor and city councilor, is a member of the first class at Hardaway. He was unable to attend the gathering.

This story was originally published June 3, 2017 at 4:53 PM with the headline "First Hardaway High School class celebrates 50th anniversary."