Saturday, January 14, 2023

SHOW YOUR LOVE FOR MONONGAH HIGH WITH CUPS AND TUMBLERS

 




Want coffee cups that have Monongah Alumni and a Lion on one side and 100th Banquet 1923-2023 on the other side?

Or metal tumblers with the same message?

They are available for $10 for the coffee cup, $25 for the 16-ounce metal tumblers.

But you have to come to Marion County to get them. NO cups or tumblers will be shipped. Shipping cost would mean a loss on the sale.

You can buy them now, even if you live out of state. But you’ll have to make arrangements to come to Monongah or the 2023 Monongah Alumni Banquet to pick them up.

Phone Donna Davis, Class of 1961, at (304) 534-5636 if you’re not living in Marion County to make arrangements to visit Monongah and pick up your purchases. She’ll work something out so your purchases can be handed over to you.

The cup and tumbler lettering will be in red. The Lion will be in black.

If you want cups ($10) or tumblers ($25), make your check out to

Monongah High Alumni Association

and mail it to:

Donna Davis

858 Park Avenue

Monongah, WV 26554-1143

Cups and tumblers will be waiting at the Saturday, May 13 Monongah High Alumni Banquet for those who ordered and paid for them. If you don’t come to the MHS Banquet you’ll have to make arrangements with Donna about when and where you’ll be in Monongah to pick them up from Donna on Park Avenue. Her home is near Mount Calvary Cemetery where I visit long-time Monongah math/algebra/geometry teacher Mary Turkovich’s grave with a rose and a “thank you” to the teacher who taught me the value of math (nice stock portfolio) and discipline (I was so immature at MHS I needed a dose of Miss Turkovich’s firm hand more than anyone else).

The last graduation class at Monongah High was the Class of 1979 before Monongah consolidated into North Marion High. The Lions won state titles in football in 1952, 1955, 1968, 1969 and 1973, baseball in 1925 and 1955 and basketball in 1928. No bad for a school with small enrollment (45 in my Class of 1950 graduation class) in a coal mining town with fewer than 1,000 people.

Among the 3,143 Monongah High School graduates are doctors, nurses, state legislators, prosecuting attorneys, engineers, attorneys, school superintendents, judges, educators, business leaders, military personnel including a general and newspaper editors and reporters.

That includes Dr. Michael Bruce Edmonds, head of WVU Medical Center in Morgantown, a pioneer in the treatment of COVID patients through use of fecal matter. His method is used today throughout the world.

And Nick Saban, Class of 1969, who has won more national college football titles than anyone else in history with 7, including 6 at Alabama and 1 at LSU.

Linda Lopez Gandy, Class of 1965, is president of the Monongah High Alumni Association. She lives in Alachua, Florida with husband Jim Gandy, also on the Alumni Board.

Donna Davis has been Alumni Association treasurer since forever. She is married to Bill Davis, Class of 1958.

The 100th Monongah High Alumni Banquet, the oldest high school reunion in West Virginia history, will be Saturday, May 13 (Memorial Day weekend) in the Knights of Columbus Hall on Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont, as usual. Cost is $30 per person.

Greta Martin Mike, Class of 1922, founded the Monongah Alumni Association in 1922 and came up with the first Monongah High Alumni Reunion that year, which was held in Mannington. Greta was married to Jimmy Mike, of the legendary Monongah Mike family barbers that included Dominic Mike and Mutt Mike. My head of hair got clipped and trimmed into shape throughout my Monongah childhood.

The majority of the banquets were in the Fairmont Hotel.  They switched to Morgantown’s Ramada Inn in 1972. Then the banquet was moved to Westchester Village in Fairmont. When Westchester Village closed, the MHS Banquet switched to the K of C in 2014, where it has remained to this day.

So, purchase your $10 coffee cups and $25 tumblers! They will make great keepsakes to hand down to your children and grandchildren.

I will be purchasing about a half-dozen cups and the same number of tumblers.

It will be proof that, for Lions, our cup runneth over with love.


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