MHS 116—The Chain“…I can still hear you sayingYou would never break the chainChain, keep us together…” --Fleetwood Mac,

 

“The Chain”Hello! I’m Brian Lively, MHS Class of 1986 and the vice president of the MHS Alumni Association this year. L. D. Ormand is our president, but he is on the mend from surgery, so I am extending the hand of fellowship (through this letter) to all Mangum Tigers past and present. Since we’re Tigers, should it be the paw of fellowship? Yeah, that’s too silly for an intro. L. D., the rest of the alumni board, and I do want to welcome you to the 116th—yes, the O-N-E H-U-N-D-R-E-D S-I-X-T-E-E-N-T-H—edition of MHS Alumni. Hopefully all of us are looking forward to May 22 and 23, when we can celebrate times spent with classmates and friends from other classes. Currently, we are in the planning stages for our two-day event. Everyone knows there is a basic framework in place for the event schedule, but, as always, we’d like to hear suggestions from you on new experiences you’d like to see and hear. One thought that I usually see in this “welcome back” portion of the invite is a specific request to see more members of recently graduated classes participate in the reunion. I know this because I received invitations for 10 years after my graduation asking for the same thing. Usually I’d come back for a benchmark year, but life always seemed to intrude on the others—marriage, vacation, summer jobs, switching jobs, etc. Now here I am, more than a few decades later—asking for the same thing. So, how do I make my plea? State my case? Die on my hill? It’s a tough thing to do, especially when some of the alumni I’m trying to convince spent time (happily or grudgingly) in my classroom. Well, I’m going to use a couple of methods I use often when I teach—metaphors and music. One of my favorite music groups is Fleetwood Mac. Any fan of the Mac grew up listening to Rumours, and everyone has a favorite song from the album. “Go Your Own Way” is mine, but there are plenty of bangers—“You Make Loving Fun,” “Dreams,” “Don’t Stop,” “Gold Dust Woman,” it’s a roll call. One I keep coming back to, though, is “The Chain.” It’s not a deep cut; everyone knows it, even younger adults who were exposed to it through movie soundtracks or, like me, through my mom’s 8-track player as a nine year-old. But the sentiment behind the song—about struggling to find a connection to people you love—is absolutely appropriate in this context. The song itself is fragmented, consisting of failed attempts by all five members of the band at writing different songs that were ultimately linked together into one composition (hence the title). And we, as Mangum Tigers, despite our differences (age, interests, politics, etc.) find ourselves linked together by graduating from this little school down in the corner of southwest Oklahoma. For us to celebrate those elements that we share—“Tiger Rag”, the tiger in the high school lobby, cafeteria food, the lawn, lunch from The Loop, making the drag, football homecoming, wearing orange and black on Friday, state championships from basketball to band, and a cavalcade of others—is vital and necessary to keep alive and build upon the traditions that Mangum High School has as its foundation. It takes MHS alumni from different generations to sustain what has been built over a century. And the best part about sustaining our organization is simple participation in some way—joining the alumni board or enjoying a meal, sharing the memories from attending a prom or parking at the Sonic, suggesting or helping to implement a change—whatever you have to give, it’s worthy and essential. You already belong. You already matter. Now: participate. Be a part of The Chain that unites Mangum Alumni.

 

 

 

 

 From our President 

My name is L.D. Ormand (1982) and once again I am excited about being the Alumni President this year along with my VP Brian Lively. Me, Brian and the Board of Directors along with many volunteers have been working on putting together a schedule of events for this year’s Alumni gathering. It will still be a two-day event, the details will be announced through the regular channels (FB, Alumni Web site, Individual Class sites, Mangum Star and invitations). This year’s theme will be “The Chain.”I would like to add that we belong to one of the oldest and from what I have heard the largest returning High School Alumni organizations in the US but in order to keep this thing alive we need everyone’s help. If you live out of state and can’t volunteer, then donate. If you live in town, volunteer. If you feel you can’t do either, then participate. Our Alumni Association is struggling to get new members to participate as officers or board members. The Alumni gathering is truly one of the best events Mangum has to offer and it is great being able to catch up with all the people that we went to school with. So come one, come all, I look forward to seeing you there.

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