Haleyville High School Alumni Association has big plans for its 75th anniversary

HALEYVILLE - Plans are already underway for the 2026 Haleyville High School Alumni festivities on Saturday, June 6, with parade grand marshals honoring coaches of all girls from HHS sports winning state titles, as well as a grand observance of the alumni association’s 75th anniversary.
Those coming home for alumni festivities need to keep in mind that all classes wanting to be in the parade need to meet at the elementary parking lot on 20th Street at 9:30 a.m. on June 6, to decorate their floats, organizers said.
The parade will begin from the school by 9:55 a.m., in order to let the HHS band join the parade from CVS at 10 a.m., according to organizers.
Leading the parade this year as grand marshals will be coaches, or family members of coaches, of girls’ sports teams from HHS, which have won state titles through the years. A more in-depth article will detail this closer to time of event.
The next entry in the parade will be officers past and present of the Haleyville Alumni Association, in celebration of the association’s 75th anniversary, organizers added.

Deadline for senior alumni scholarships nearing

The alumni association will be making presentations of up to four scholarships to deserving HHS 2026 seniors at the HHS graduation ceremony on Friday, May 22, from the Alumni Scholarship Foundation, but deadline for scholarship application is April 15, according to present association members.
“Currently, seniors are completing their scholarship (applications),” stressed Alumni Association member Candy Hicks Garner. 
 Applications can be completed online with the assistance of their school administrators, Garner added.
“Every senior was given the opportunity to apply,” Garner stated. “They get the scholarships at graduation, and then we recognize them again (at the alumni luncheon).”

Applications for Alumnus of Year 
online only this year

There is also an application on the Haleyville Alumni Association Facebook page, as well as on the Haleyville City Schools website, for Alumnus of the Year, which is presented each year at the alumni luncheon, which will be Saturday, June 6, 11:30 a.m. at the elementary cafetorium.
“This year, if people want to nominate somebody, it is an online process, only online,” emphasized Alumni Association member Heidi Mize King. “The links to the application are there.”
Deadline for online submission of an applicant for Alumnus of the Year is May 15, according to the alumni association.

Alumni luncheon tickets $20

Tickets to the alumni luncheon this year will be $20, and can also be purchased online at Haleyville Alumni luncheon tickets on Eventbrite, with printed tickets also available at BankFirst, Pinnacle Bank, First National Bank and Listerhill Credit Union.
Tickets will not be sold at the door, due to the alumni association needing a count before the luncheon on how much food should be catered, alumni association members said.
“For this year, tickets will still be available at the banks,” Garner stated. “However, moving forward, we’re in the process of next year moving into just online sales.”
“Everybody now has to do something online for something,” King added. “People may not know how, but they know somebody who can help them.
“We’re just trying to get them to think about it in that way,” King added. 
Alumni association members urge all classes to be in attendance, from various ages and take part in fellowship and reminiscing about their school years at Haleyville High School.
“As you get older, you start reflecting...and realizing that it’s our time to give back,” King stated. 
“When you’ve been out of school, 20, 30, 40 years, it’s time to look back and say, what am I doing to make a difference to the community that has poured so much into me,” King added.
“To me, the important part of being involved with the alumni association is that I feel like the teachers and the school gave so much to me as a student, that it is my responsibility, and something I feel morally convicted to do, to give back,” King added.
“I just want to welcome everyone back and encourage them to participate in the festivities that weekend,” added Alumni Association member Will Walker.
“As a former student, teacher and retired administrator from Haleyville City Schools, HHS is forever etched as a highlight in my memory,” Garner added.
“I encourage all who can to come join the fun of alumni weekend and join us for lunch, to celebrate where we have come from, where we are and where we’re going,” Garner pointed out.

Alumni luncheon schedule, format

When alumni come into the elementary school, after the parade ends, they will register at their class table and be provided a water and snack as they enter the cafetorium where the luncheon will be held, organizers said.
Catering the luncheon will be Russell’s Rising Smoke, providing plates of barbecue, baked beans, slaw, banana pudding and drink, alumni association members said.
Class years will be marked by signs on tables in the cafeteria, with classes celebrating reunions or anniversaries having more seating, they said.
Alumni going down elementary hallways to the cafeteria for the luncheon will take a trip down memory lane with school pictures and memorabilia on display, Garner stated.
Haleyville City Schools Superintendent Dr. Bill Bishop will give the state of school address at the luncheon.
Awards and recognition given at the luncheon will include Alumnus of the Year, Service and Dedication Award, Haleyville or Bust for the alumnus traveling the farthest distance to attend, as well as recognition of Haleyville Alumni Association scholarship winners.

Program of first 
Haleyville alumni banquet dated 1951

A charter program, of what was stated as the first annual Haleyville alumni banquet, was dated May 19, 1951, at Haleyville High School, listing the committee in charge of arrangements as Mrs. Arthur Dillard Jr., Boyce S. Albright, Opton Kelly, Walter Joe James and F.A. Harvey.
Menu was baked ham with pineapple, snap beans with Harvard beets, cheese-potato casserole, deviled eggs, cole slaw, strawberry shortcake, coffee or tea, according to a program.
Banquet program listed Walter Joe James Jr. as master of ceremonies, as well as musical entertainment provided by Jimmy Moore and Peggy Barber with vocal solos, and a barber shop harmony quartet, including Franklin Posey, Ellis Lovett, Levis Southern, the program showed.
A mixed ensemble of the HHS band accompanied by Martha Whitt, also performed, according to the program
Address at the banquet was given by Clyde Mayhall, the program also stated.