How our 40th class reunion, a dedicated committee, and one simple idea became something much bigger.

Forty years. It’s hard to believe that much time has passed since we graduated from McAlester High School in 1986. Back then, most of us were probably more concerned about what we were doing that weekend than where life would take us over the next four decades. Yet here we are, a little older, hopefully a little wiser, and still finding reasons to get together with people who knew us long before careers, marriages, children, and grandchildren became part of our lives.

I’ve had the privilege of serving on our class reunion planning committee since our 20th reunion. Over those years, I’ve hosted many of our meetings, participated in the planning, and worked alongside classmates who have consistently given their time to make these gatherings possible. I’ve always enjoyed that part of the process. There’s something special about sitting around a table with people you’ve known since your teenage years, discussing how to bring everyone together again. Of course, anyone who has ever served on a reunion committee knows that organizing one isn’t quite as simple as picking a date, renting a venue, and sending out invitations. There are countless decisions to make, arrangements to coordinate, people to contact, and occasionally a few opinions to navigate. Getting a group of former high school students to agree on everything can sometimes be about as challenging as it was in 1986!

For our 40th reunion, my participation was considerably different from years past. Other commitments prevented me from attending more than a handful of meetings, which meant my fellow committee members had to carry most of the workload. They spent their time making arrangements, coordinating events, working through the details, and handling all those little things that most people never see. While I remained a member of the committee, I can’t take much credit for the work that went into making this reunion happen. That credit belongs to the classmates who showed up, put in the hours, and made sure everything came together.

I think that’s worth emphasizing because reunion committees seldom receive the recognition they deserve. When everything goes smoothly, people naturally enjoy themselves without giving much thought to what it took to make the event possible. When something doesn’t go according to plan, however, the committee is usually the first to hear about it. These are volunteers with families, careers, and responsibilities of their own, yet they continue giving their time because they believe keeping our class connected is important. Having served alongside many of them for two decades, I know how much effort goes into that commitment, and I’m grateful for what they accomplished this year.

As it turned out, our committee didn’t have to wait long before being reminded that even the best plans sometimes need adjusting.

A Reunion Weekend That Reminded Me What Matters

Friday evening was supposed to begin with a tailgate gathering before the McAlester football game. It was a great idea and a fitting way to kick off our 40th reunion weekend. Unfortunately, anyone who has lived in Oklahoma for very long knows that the weather doesn’t always cooperate with your plans. With rain in the forecast, cloudy skies overhead, and a few sprinkles already falling, the committee made a quick decision to move the gathering to Larry Taylor’s church.

Rather than cancel the opportunity for everyone to get together, they arranged for classmates to meet under shelter at the church and visit before the game. Some people went on to watch the Buffs play, while others decided to skip the game altogether. As the evening progressed and the football game neared its conclusion, many classmates made their way over to BierKraft, where the conversations continued over a beer or two. It wasn’t exactly the Friday evening originally planned, but it worked, and I think that’s a pretty good example of what our committee does. When circumstances change, they find a way to make things happen.

Friday night also gave me one of my favorite personal memories of the weekend. Earlier that evening, I’d reached out to my longtime friend Mike McFarland to see whether he planned to join us. Now, anyone who knows Mike knows he’s never been much for reunions. I told him that with the weather, I wasn’t going to the football game, but I was heading to BierKraft and would be happy to swing by and pick him up if he wanted to go. His response was something along the lines of, “Well, I guess I’d better get in the shower.”

That was all I needed to hear. I picked him up, and we spent the evening visiting with classmates and catching up with old friends. Afterward, I dropped him back off at home, and the next day our good friend Larry Glover picked him up for Saturday’s gathering. Between Larry and me, I suppose Mike didn’t stand much of a chance of avoiding this reunion! But that’s one of the things I appreciate about friendships that have lasted most of our lives. We don’t have to see each other every day, and we certainly don’t have to enjoy all the same things. Sometimes it’s just a matter of picking up the phone, sharing a few laughs, and spending an evening together. Forty years later, that’s what friendship is really about.

Saturday morning brought an entirely new experience to our reunion weekend. For the first time, the committee organized an informal coffee gathering at Harbor Mountain, a local McAlester establishment. Unlike the larger reunion activities, this was intentionally relaxed. There was no elaborate program, no assigned seating, and no particular agenda. Classmates could simply stop by, grab a cup of coffee, and spend some time visiting.

Approximately 25 to 30 people attended, and the gathering turned out to be one of the weekend’s most successful additions. I learned just how successful it had been when I later reviewed the reunion survey results. Every respondent who attended the coffee gathering and rated the experience gave it five stars. Now, getting a group of people who graduated together 40 years ago to agree unanimously on anything is an accomplishment in itself! Those ratings certainly suggest that an informal coffee gathering is something future reunion committees should seriously consider including again.

The weekend also gave classmates opportunities to revisit our old and new high school buildings, another meaningful experience for people who hadn’t walked those halls in decades. Saturday’s main gathering brought everyone together for the larger reunion celebration, but I think some of the smaller moments throughout the weekend were every bit as important. The conversations at BierKraft, a cup of coffee on Saturday morning, revisiting familiar places, and making sure an old friend didn’t miss the festivities all reminded me that reunions aren’t necessarily about how elaborate the events are. They’re about the people who attend and the friendships that have survived the passage of time.

When the weekend ended, I felt the committee had given our class something special. I also found myself reflecting on how little I had personally contributed to the planning compared with previous reunions. I knew how much work the others had done, and I wanted to find some meaningful way to give something back, not only to the committee but to our classmates as well.

Giving Back in a Different Way

My first idea was relatively simple. I decided to create a digital survey that would allow classmates to share their thoughts about the reunion. I wanted to know what people enjoyed, which activities were most successful, and what we might consider doing differently next time. Just as importantly, I wanted to hear from classmates who hadn’t attended. Were the dates inconvenient? Was travel an issue? Did the expense play a role? Were there family commitments or other circumstances that kept them away?

I wasn’t looking for compliments or criticism simply for the sake of collecting opinions. My goal was to give the committee something useful. After spending so many years planning reunions, I knew that decisions were often made based on what we thought classmates might enjoy. A survey could provide actual feedback, helping future committees understand what worked, what didn’t, and why some classmates chose not to participate. We might never be able to please everyone, but having that information would give us a better foundation for planning the next gathering.

The survey also offered an opportunity to make the planning process a little easier for the people who would be doing the work. Rather than asking future committees to rely entirely on memories of previous reunions, we could begin collecting information and preserving it for the next group of volunteers. That appealed to me because it was something I could contribute using my own time and skills, without adding another responsibility to an already busy committee.

As I began working on the survey, however, I started thinking about the larger problem we had faced for years. Every time another reunion approached, the committee had to work to reconnect with classmates, update information, share announcements, and encourage participation. Once the reunion was over, much of that activity would naturally slow down until it was time to begin planning the next one.

It occurred to me that there might be a better way to approach this. Instead of starting over every five or ten years, why couldn’t we create something permanent that would serve the class between reunions as well?

That was my lightbulb moment.

Why not build a website for the McAlester High School Class of 1986?

Anyone who knows me probably won’t be surprised by what happened next. Once I get an idea in my head and begin seeing the possibilities, I have a tendency to run with it. What started as a relatively small project to collect reunion feedback quickly became something considerably larger. Before long, I was building an entire website.

And that’s how McAlesterBuffs1986.com came to life.

Building Something That Will Last

Initially, I envisioned a fairly straightforward website where classmates could complete the reunion survey, find information about future gatherings, and keep up with committee announcements. But as I began putting it together, I realized we had an opportunity to do much more than simply improve communication.

One of the first things that came to mind was our old yearbooks. Most of us probably have them stored somewhere around the house, perhaps on a bookshelf or tucked away in a closet or box. Some have survived the past 40 years in excellent condition, while others show the effects of time, moves, storage, and years of being handled. I began thinking about how valuable it would be to make those memories available digitally, where classmates could revisit them without having to search through the attic.

That idea eventually became our digital yearbook project. I’ve spent a considerable amount of time going through those old books, page by page, and it’s amazing what you discover when you start looking closely. There are photographs of classmates you haven’t thought about in years, familiar faces from clubs and sports teams, and reminders of events that had almost disappeared from memory. Some photographs bring back wonderful memories, others make you laugh, and a few leave you wondering how we ever thought those hairstyles and clothes looked good. But every one of them is part of our shared history.

From there, the ideas continued to develop. Why not have a photo gallery where classmates could contribute their own pictures from school, reunions, and other memorable occasions? What about preserving some of the history of McAlester High School itself? After all, our class is part of a much larger story that includes the generations who attended before us and those who followed. I also wanted a way for classmates to share their opinions about future reunions, which led to a poll where everyone can participate in discussing when we should gather again.

Today, the website includes our digital yearbook, school history, photo galleries, reunion information, a poll for future gatherings, and opportunities for classmates to contribute their own memories. The original reunion survey remains an important part of the project, but the website has developed into something much broader than I initially imagined. And I fully expect it to continue evolving as new ideas emerge and more classmates become involved.

What makes this project especially meaningful to me is the opportunity to preserve information and memories that might otherwise be lost. Think about how much has happened since 1986. We’ve gone in different directions, built careers, raised families, celebrated accomplishments, and faced challenges none of us could have imagined when we were teenagers. Some classmates stayed close to McAlester, while others moved across Oklahoma, across the country, or around the world. We’ve also lost classmates along the way, making the memories and photographs we still have all the more valuable.

I don’t want the website to be something classmates visit only when another reunion approaches. I’d like it to become a place where someone can occasionally stop by, look through old photographs, discover something about our school, remember a friend, or reconnect with someone they haven’t heard from in years. If a classmate finds an old photograph tucked away in a drawer, I’d love for them to have a place to share it. If someone remembers a story that deserves to be preserved, I’d like for us to have somewhere it can become part of our class history.

Although I’m the one building the website, I don’t consider it mine. It belongs to the McAlester High School Class of 1986. I’m simply using the skills and resources available to me to help create something our class can enjoy and future committees can build upon. The memories, photographs, friendships, and history belong to all of us, and the website will only become more valuable as classmates contribute to it.

I also hope the digital resources we’ve started developing will make things easier for the people who continue volunteering their time to organize our reunions. Having a permanent website, a place to collect feedback, and a way to communicate with classmates should provide future committees with tools we didn’t have when we started planning our 20th reunion. If we can reduce some of the repetitive work and preserve useful information from one reunion to the next, that’s a contribution I’m particularly pleased to make.

A Thank-You to the People Who Made It Possible

When I think back on our 40th reunion, I keep coming back to the people who made the weekend happen. Our committee members gave their time, worked through the challenges, adjusted plans when the weather didn’t cooperate, and created opportunities for classmates to spend time together. I was fortunate to be part of that group, even though my contribution to this particular reunion was smaller than I would have liked.

I hope the website becomes my way of giving something back to them and to the class we’ve all worked to keep connected. It doesn’t replace the countless hours they’ve spent planning reunions, and it certainly doesn’t diminish the importance of the personal relationships they’ve maintained over the years. Instead, I see it as a continuation of that effort, using technology to support something that began long before we had websites, digital surveys, or online photo galleries.

I have no idea what McAlesterBuffs1986.com will look like a year from now, much less five or ten years down the road. I’d rather allow it to grow naturally as classmates contribute photographs, stories, suggestions, and ideas. Some of those ideas will probably work better than others, but that’s part of building something together. The important thing is that we’ve created a place where our class can continue sharing its history and staying in touch.

Looking back, I have to laugh at how this whole thing developed. I started out thinking a digital survey would be a nice way to thank the committee for carrying so much of the workload. A few weeks later, I found myself building a website, organizing yearbook pages, collecting photographs, researching school history, and thinking about what we might add next. Apparently, my idea of a small project and everyone else’s might be a little different!

But if this effort helps even a handful of classmates reconnect, preserves photographs that might otherwise disappear, or makes the next reunion a little easier for the people responsible for planning it, I’ll consider the time well spent.

Forty years ago, we left McAlester High School and began building our own lives. We’ve each traveled different roads since then, but we still share a history that began long before any of us knew where life would take us. Our reunions give us an opportunity to revisit that history, and now, hopefully, our website will help us preserve it between gatherings.

I invite my fellow classmates to visit McAlesterBuffs1986.com, browse through the yearbooks, explore the photographs, participate in the poll, and share something of their own. Whether it’s a photograph, a memory, or an idea for the future, every contribution helps make the website a little more complete.

What began as a way to thank a hardworking reunion committee has become an opportunity to give something lasting to our entire class. I can’t think of a better reason to keep working on it.

Once a Buffalo, Always a Buffalo.

Donnie Weddle
McAlester High School — Class of 1986