About 250 people gathered in the Eva school gym to share memories and catch up during their Eva High reunion. The reunion welcomed about 25 classes from the high school and offered the chance for class photos and fellowship. 

Jo Anne Lindley, a 1972 graduate of Eva High School, helps plan the event every other year. She said the reunion is an opportunity to meet with friends and share memories of their former high school. 

Lindley said alumni drove great distances to come to the reunion, from as far as California as well as from Texas and North Carolina. She said people are drawn to the memories they hold with each other. “I think it is the bond and the connection. I had a gentleman stop me and thank me for keeping this alive while we are all alive,” Lindley said. 

The reunion welcomed members from classes 1947-1972 as well as honorary members who did not graduate from the school before it closed but attended Eva High as underclassmen. Lindley said this year’s reunion, the largest they have had so far, welcomed five 90-year-olds among the attendees. “This year there were so many people that have never attended before. The enthusiasm has caught on,” Lindley said. “Last year we had 198, and this year we had 257.”

Class of 1959 graduate Martin Nelson was presented with the Outstanding Alumni Award. There was also a competition to see which class brought in the most alumni. 

Lindley said she has been working especially hard in the previous years to grow the Alumni Association membership, to keep the history alive a little longer. “My whole goal is the community. I have this little saying – that’s ‘Connecting the past with the present for the future,’” Lindley said. 

The Eva High Alumni Association holds the reunions every two years. Eva High School graduated the first class in 1930 and the last class in 1972.