Around 100 Panther alumni from good old Kyle High met April 28 at the Kimbro Building at Kyle Elementary for their bi-annual homecoming reunion.
The ex-Panthers gathered in the original Kyle High gym early Saturday morning to thumb through old year books, catch up with classmates, eat barbecue, and reminisce over the good ol’ days.
In 1967, the schools in Kyle and Buda consolidated into a single district – Hays CISD. Kyle High School’s last graduating class graduated in 1968, the same year that Hays High School was built. The Kyle school was later turned into Kyle Elementary School.
As 20 years worth of alumni entered the gym, they hugged old classmates, took photos, and sang their old alma mater. The words, “Remembering until the end, Panthers fight, never die!” rang through the old gym and seemed to hold appropriate symbolism.
Some travelled all the way from Alabama and Louisiana for the occasion. Not only was this a special occasion for many attending, but a historical one too. These people grew up in a Kyle that was very different from what it is today, and they hold important stories and memories of the city’s history.
“Everybody always looks forward to [the reunion],” Secretary of the Kyle High Reunion Committee Kay Hauptrief Guenther said. “Having a small school means you got to know everybody. You made close relationships with all the teachers and the students. It wasn’t like the big schools nowadays where you don’t know anybody.”
Three members of one of the oldest classes, Nancy Kercheville Thomas, Buster Evans and Jean Bales, sat together reminiscing about their old school days. They graduated in 1948, 72 years ago this May. Thomas is about to turn 90.
The trio talked about when the gym was first built for the high school and they had to take their shoes off to protect the new wood floor.
“When we were in high school, they wouldn’t let us walk on this floor with our shoes on. Now I feel guilty, like I shouldn’t be walking on this floor,” Thomas laughed.
They all have fond memories from school and of their classmates, although Thomas said she was ready to get out and graduate. Her favorite memory from high school was after graduation when her class and teachers took a bus trip to Carlsbad Caverns.
Just looking around the gym, it’s not hard to tell that this is a close-knit community. Just about everyone’s family knew each other growing up and when names were read off to pay respects to those who had passed, anecdotes and memories were shared around the room.
Each ex-Panther still maintains a strong passion and loyalty to their alma mater even though it is long gone. They still sing their old fight song with gusto and remember the school they love so dear.
“It’s nice to know that all of this is still going on and we can still get together. It’s a little sad that there are not any more graduates that will be joining and we lose so many. But it’s just great that everyone can get together,” Guenther said.
