Twenty years ago, a group of graduates from Clark County High School gathered monthly to plan for their 50th class reunion.

That group of Class of 1948 grads enjoyed the time together so much they decided to continue meeting even after celebrating their milestone anniversary.

Two decades later, about a dozen members of the CCHS Class of 1948 continue to meet monthly, remaining intentional about staying connected even 70 years after they received their diplomas.

The group gathered most recently for their monthly luncheon at Blue Isle Restaurant at the Winchester Country Club.

Taking up two tables at the back of the restaurant, the group’s laughter could be heard from the door.

They giggled as they passed around photos taken on the front steps of their former school at the start of their freshman year and another in their caps and gowns during their senior year, pointing out classmates they loved and lost.

They talk like they’ve known each other all their lives, and really, they have.

“Some of us grew up together in the same areas of town,” Eunice Yarber said. “We rode the bus together. Some of us were in grade school together. Some of us worked together at our first jobs at restaurants in town that no longer exist. We were a really close class.”

Their high school, which was located on Lexington Avenue on the site of the current AT&T building, closed in 1963 and was eventually torn down. A monument was placed at the site in 2008, but has since fallen over. The group is raising money to replace the marker, making it their mission to keep the memory of their high school alive.

Yarber said at least a dozen of her former classmates and their spouses gather on the first Wednesday of each month to keep that connection alive.

Each member of the lunch club is at least 88 years old, Yarber said, and most of their classmates have passed away at this point.

According to a count from Betty Berryman, who married Class of 1948 graduate Bob Berryman, there were 58 students in the Class of 1948, and 21 are still living.

In addition to periodic transfers from St. Agatha Academy, the class also merged with Trapp school in 1946.

They would go on to be educators, principals, accountants, journalists, ministers, engineers, telephone technicians, government employees and more. Some moved away to surrounding communities and others left the state to start their careers and raise their families.

“Education was important to all of us back then,” Yarber said. “We’ve all gone on to do pretty well for ourselves. We’ve had all types of careers and it’s a great blessing to be able to keep in touch.”

For the dozen who still keep in touch and meet monthly, it just seems like the right thing to do.

Yarber said the meetings offer fellowship and something to look forward to.

“From month to month it’s an exciting outing for each of us to look forward to,” she said. “I think a lot of it is our age. We came up in a time when we didn’t have all this technology to keep up with each other.”

They had to be intentional about cultivating and maintaining connections with one another.

Yarber calls each member once a month to remind them of the meetings and gauge where the group wants to gather for lunch. Some regulars travel from other cities to keep up the tradition. They frequent various restaurants in Winchester, Lexington, surrounding towns and even travel to Red River Gorge at times.

“God has given us a long life,” Yarber said. “And at 88, we feel like we just had to do this — to keep meeting together.” §