Heading Home for 45th Class Reunion

I hadn’t planned to post about my trip to Greensboro, North Carolina, to celebrate my 45th class reunion at Bennett College since it was a driving trip to my hometown. However, I recently saw a post on Facebook that brought back memories of my days as a student, and I decided that sharing those memories, combined with my return 45 years later as an alumna, made sense.

First, the now,…

Graduation and class unions at Bennett College tend to occur during Mother’s Day weekend, sometimes with Commencement scheduled on that Sunday. This year, events for returning alumnae attending Reunion Weekend began Thursday before Mother’s Day. Not surprisingly, I chose to drive down because I wanted to be able to have transportation throughout the weekend.  I drove through Greensboro’s downtown and the college campus, taking advantage of quiet grounds to get pictures of the classroom buildings, student union, administration and dormitories before registering and getting a lovely gift box.

There are a variety of food spots that are part of my upraising in Greensboro, and I was determined to visit as many of them as I could. That Thursday night, I made it to Stamey’s Barbeque and to my first trip to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, cheering as I saw the HOT sign lit, indicating warm, freshly cooked glazed doughnuts were available.

Friday began with the traditional White Breakfast, where we are asked to wear, you guessed it, all white. I posted a picture here because seeing me in all white is a rare event, indeed. I’m too self-conscious to feel comfortable doing so if I don’t have to. Immediately after the breakfast, members of the Class of 1980 who attended gathered for a class picture. I then headed back to the hotel where I stayed (I still am not used to being able to go home to my parents’ house whenever I visit Greensboro) and got comfortable before meeting my classmates and spouses at the Green Valley Grill for lunch. 

I spent a quiet Friday evening driving around town–glad to see that Moore Music, the store where I had spent many hours over the years purchasing flute and vocal music was still there when so many other brick-and-mortar stores have closed, got dinner and made another doughnut run.  The next morning, I attended the Commencement exercises held in front of Bennett’s Chapel. The speaker was Tammi Mac ’94, acclaimed broadcaster, actress, and playwright.

Saturday evening and Sunday were spent with family. Lee and Mia, my elder brother and sister-in-law, invited me for dinner at the Red Crab on High Point Road. The restaurant offered self-customized seafood boils served with plastic bib and gloves. The need for the covering was immediately apparent because, while incredibly delicious, the food created quite a juicy mess. On Sunday, I went to morning worship at my home church, Grace Lutheran, sitting with my cousin Leno and husband, Sherman. Finally, I got to spend some time with my aunt, who is a very spry 89, and a couple of her kids (my cousins).

Of course, on my way out of town, I got some bottles of Cheerwine soda as well as filling my cooler with bricks of Neese’s Country Sausage for my DMV siblings and myself.

Some of the pictures from this very full weekend are below:

All of the pictures are available at https://www.singin1.pics/piwigo/index.php?/category/Bennett-College-45th-Class-Reunion-May-2025.

And now, drifting to the past…

There was a post today on Facebook referencing a three-volume set entitled, Tell Me Why Dear Bennett, made up of series of memories by Bennett College alumnae compiled by Belle Juanita Patience Moss. When I saw the post, I was reminded that I had contributed to the memoir. Below, I’ve reprinted that excerpt:

Each year I was a student the Bennett College Choir alternated its Christmas program between “The Living Madonnas” and a concert that featured the opening scene from Menotti’s opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors. “The Living Madonnas” involved members of the Art Department who created life-sized backdrops replicating different famous paintings of the Virgin Mary and Baby Jesus, costumes designed by home economics students and faculty, actors and narrators from the Theater Department, and, of course, music provided by the choir under the direction of Dr. Charlotte Alston.

All of the music had to be memorized and everything perfectly coordinated so that we sang exactly when and where we were supposed to and to give the audience the impression that the sound was coming from some ethereal place, setting the mood for the Black Madonnas who had to pose motionlessly throughout the performance of the musical selection.

“The Living Madonnas” programs played to full houses of students, faculty, staff, and the community, as did the Christmas concerts. I never got to see the “Madonnas,” however, because the choir was sequestered in a location that—I hope to this day—has never been disclosed.

For the Christmas concerts, the members of the choir wore gowns in jewel tones. Pfeiffer Chapel was darkened, lit only by the candles we held, and we processed singing a cappella, “Oh Come, All Ye Faithful.”

For that year’s performance of “Amahl,” Dr. Alston asked me to sing the role of the Mother. I had been one of the Three Kings in the previous performance. Amahl was played by Angela Bynum. Angela and I were both voice majors, so this was a very special opportunity for us. Dr. Alston worked with us for many hours in preparation for the performance. The music was challenging and very different from anything I’d worked on before, and we had to work out many details regarding our movements on the specially built stage.

Angela was a natural in the role. It took little imagination to see her as a young mischievous boy. I can still see her hobbling on that makeshift crutch, dressed in ragged pants and shirt, and charming the audience with her acting and singing. She made playing opposite her, stepping into the role of stern but loving mother, so easy. We all—the young ladies who played the kings, Angela, I, and even Dr. Alston at the piano—were caught up in a magical moment that evening. And the audience… I can not ever remember being so warmly received, even these many years and many performances later.

After the scene was over, we had to hurry and change back into our gowns, so we didn’t have a chance to savor the moment. At least not then. Dr. Alston waited patiently (patiently for her, anyway) for us to return, and then the concert continued.

For the concert’s end, we processed down the steps in pairs (and if you think it’s easy to walk down steps in a gown while holding a lighted candle, you try it), and walked up the aisle of the chapel until we shared the flame from our candles with each member of the audience who had been given small candles when they arrived. Once the Sanctuary was filled with flickering lights, we all sang “Silent Night,” raising our unaccompanied voices to the heavens in praise.

There were so many wonderful memories from my four years at Bennett College, but this one’s my favorite. And it still makes me smile.

“Alma Mater, now we sing, Hail the light that thou dost bring.”

Excerpt by Randye Jones, Bennett College Class of 1980, pp. 315-316.

Tell Me Why Dear Bennett, compiled by Juanita Patience Moss, Heritage Books, 2010.

As always, I thank the Lord for granting me the stamina to make the trip, the damn good reflexes to steer the Silver Bullet (SB) as she needed to be guided, and the ability to enjoy His handiwork as it whizzes by my windshield.

SB had a maintenance check–including an oil change and tire rotation–before this trip. I’m a firm believer in the old care repair commercial saying “You pay me now, or you pay me later.”

The trip was pretty straightforward and one I’ve driven many times from the DMV to Greensboro. As always, the trick is avoiding the heavy traffic especially around the DC area. There nothing particularly noteworthy other than seeing a lot of renovation and new scenery, such as the statue of (I’m guessing) General Nathaniel Greene that now graces the downtown area.

I haven’t lived in Greensboro in decades. It’s so different than it was when I did, yet there’s enough of the old than I feel like I’ve come home when I visit.