Darrell and Sherry Curtis.

Darrel "Shotty" Curtis married Sherry Kirk in 1971 and they settled in Echols to raise their family. Sherry was a Centertown native, but readily adapted to the Echols community. This marriage produced two children, a son and a daughter. At last count, there are five grandchildren, three boys and two girls.

Shotty and Sherry are presently retired and living their dream life in Echols. A few acres of land and a pet or two keep them busy. Their retirement hobby is attending "Antique Steam Engines and Tractor shows". They have a small vending operation and present antique tractor memorabilia and other odds and ends. Life is good on the "Curtis Spread" in Echols, Kentucky.

Tootsie and Bobby Morris

After high school, Tootsie Curtis went to work in Central City. After a year or so of work, she met a local young man that would soon be her husband. Bobby Morris and Tootsie married and settled down in Central City. A daughter was born later and ended Tootsie's working career with Lawton Insurance Company. A few years later, a son was added to the family. Bobby applied for work at the Louisville Gas and Electric Power Generating Plant in Louisville and was offered a good job with a training program that he accepted. He then worked for Louisville Gas and Electric until retirement.

After a few moves in and around Louisville, Bobby and Tootsie found that ideal place to raise a family and made their final move to Brandenburg, Kentucky. Retirement life is good for the Morris' in "Small Town America" and being close to grandchildren makes life more meaningful. The grandchildren now number five that includes a set of twins.

Hilma and Jim Stewart with Hilma's Grandmother.

Hilma Lou Ashton graduated from Rockport High School in 1950. Jim Stewart had graduated a year earlier in 1949. Hilma went to work for the South Central Bell Telephone Company as a switchboard Operator. Jim joined the Navy and was injured from a fall. He returned home and became a construction electrician. During this time frame Jim and Hilma were married and they followed the construction trail until Jim went to work for Peabody Coal Company, Sinclair Mine. Jim stayed with Peabody Coal Company, Sinclair Mine for about twenty-two years and retired when the Sinclair Mine shut down in 1986. Twenty years of retirement life has been a joy for this couple. They still reside in Rockport and enjoy their hobbies.

Betty And L H Harper.

Betty Barnard graduated from RHS in 1954. L H Harper had graduated a few years earlier in 1952. Betty knew what she wanted to do with her life prior to graduation and entered Murray State University for a nursing degree. She completed the requirements for her degree and became a Registered Nurse. She was able to find work locally and spent most of her nursing career at the Ohio County Hospital. In the meantime, she had married L H Harper and their combined desire was to raise a family in Ohio County. L H, like a lot of us was undecided on his vocation. He tried a few jobs including some in the manufacturing process. He did no like the larger cities nor the work process at the larger plants and returned to Rockport. L H had done some carpentry work most of his life and decided to make a career working with wood and building materials.

The young couple bought some land in the Echols Community and started building a house. As time and money permitted, they built on their house and soon was able to start a family. Their family was raised in this house and since, the children have flown the nest and L H and Betty have retired. They enjoy their retirement dream in the country.

Claudis and Shirley Alexander with their two children.

Shirley Danks graduated from RHS in 1951 and entered Western Kentucky State Teachers College the following year. After the first year, she accumulated enough college credits to teach on a part time basis and as long as she was working on her degree in education, she was allowed to teach. She continued this process until she graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. After marriage to Claudis Alexander, they moved to Louisville where Claudis continued his education.

Claudis Alexander was another of the students from the Martwick/Nelson communities that decided to attend high school at Rockport. He went to Martwick Elementary School during his younger years and started his high school education at Rockport High School. He graduated in 1954 and moved to Louisville to earn a living. Like a lot of other Rockport High School Graduates in those years, the big General Electric Appliance Park had work to offer and Claudis started his working career. He married Shirley Danks and they decided that Louisville was a good place to raise a family. Their family consisted of one boy and one girl.

After Claudis and Shirley retired, they elected for a retirement that included a lot of traveling. They bought a motor home and have continued to move from place to place as they so desire. Whether they want a change in weather, a change in scenery or just a change, they have the energy and the ability to move on to another dream place. Life is good for the Alexander's.

James Baker and his wife, Becky.

Picture of James and Becky Baker taken by jrd at the Rockport School Reunion of 2006.

James and Becky Baker make their home in Owensboro after James retired from Alcoa Aluminum. He now has time to act the retiree and enjoys working with wood.

James has three children, two boys and a girl. At this writing there are eight grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. For fun, James likes to remodel and build anything that pertains to a home. To some, James is considered a cabinet maker.

Bobby and Betty Maddox Sublett.

Bobby is a 1955 Rockport Graduate. He lived in Martwick during his high school years, and like several others from the Martwick-Nelson communities, he decided to attend and graduate from Rockport High School. After graduation, Bobby married Betty J. Maddox. Their combined dreams were to raise a family and to live their retirement years in Rockport. During their early married years, they started building a house and completed it as time and money permitted. Betty graduated from Rockport High School in 1954 and worked at several jobs until she decided that she wanted to be a homemaker. Bobby and Betty are proud parents of a girl. There are not any grandchildren for the time being.

Bobby worked at several jobs until he was able to obtain a job in the coal mining industry. His working career was cut a little short after an "On The Job" injury. After several operation on his back, then a healing process, Bobby is able to work at his hobbies and help Betty care for and tend their lawn and garden. Their church is very important to them as well as their community. Countless work hours are given to each. Betty is also involved in helping the needy and the sick. She is, most likely, the first to be knocking on a neighbor or friend's door when that person or persons need anything. The pair are just "Good Neighbors" to the community and seem to be enjoying retirement living.

Johnny and Margaret Welborn's Sons.

Picture and write-up supplied by Harold Welborn.

This is the three of us at John Ed's house on 11/18/06. We had a reunion of the Oregon Welborn Clan. Five of us moved here in October of 1953. There are now 32 even with Mom and Dad gone. Twenty Nine made it to the shin dig.

HRW

Pictured above is photograph of Rockport High School. The photo was probably taken in the early fifties. In the early nineteen hundreds, there was no school building in Rockport and any teaching was done in public places like church buildings and even a saloon. By 1908, the people of Rockport were beginning to realize that a high school was needed and a two-year high school was established. This new school building was built on Bluff Street. In 1925 a four-year high school was established with the first graduating class in 1926. All went well for a few years and Rockport High School was producing high school graduates. Then in 1933, the nice school on Bluff Street burned and the students were back to attending school in churches and other buildings. A short time later, an entire block of buildings in Rockport caught fire and burned. Some of these buildings were being used as school rooms. The students were moved once again to churches and other buildings. Later in 1933, plans were made to purchase land and build a new school building. This new school was to be built by the WPA (Work Projects Administration-A Federal project created by the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration) and located on highway 62. Several local residents were hired by the WPA to help construct the new school. Two years later and in 1935, Rockport students were moved to the new school building. In 1937 a gymnasium was added and soon afterwards the newly constructed Rockport Water System was tied into the school's water system. During this period to time, the students either ate in local restaurants, went home to eat or brought their lunch. In 1949 a cafeteria was started. The stage was used for the new cafeteria and the kitchen was located just off stage. Mrs. Ida Mae Kennedy and her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Nell Kennedy were hired as the new cooks. In 1954 a new cafeteria was built. By now this new school system had been in use for a little over twenty years and was producing some fine citizens, as well as giving those that wanted a higher education, the background to go on to a higher level of knowledge. Life was good in the fifties and life was even better in small towns like Rockport in those great years of the early fifties.

Changes may be inevitable, but most people over thirty resist changes. In the mid-fifties, changes were occurring in the school system of Ohio County and the small towns were losing their local schools. Consolidation was the new by-word and the new idea for a better education for the students. Maybe so, maybe not, but the people in charge of the paychecks, in their infinite wisdom, made the decision for one large high school in Ohio County instead of the eight small schools. In 1956, the last graduating class of Rockport picked up their diplomas and Rockport High School was no more. In 1957 the high school students went to Beaver Dam and the schooling of grade school students continued at Rockport. After all, Rockport still had a school building with students and all was not lost. Although the older students were being transported to Beaver Dam to continue their education, the younger Rockport students were still able to attend the school of their choice. Conditions were good, but more problems and changes were forthcoming. In September of 1967, Rockport students had registered for another school year and had started the education process of another term when the school building mysteriously caught fire and burned. Another sad period of time existed for the people of Rockport and this time, there would not be another school building built. Again, the people that controlled the monies were adamant in their decision to not build another building in Rockport for the purpose of educating the local youth. Instead, a nice school building was constructed at the intersection of Highways 62 and 85. This school would later be known as Western Elementary and students from Rockport, Centertown and McHenry would be bussed in for their education.

Information from Shirley Smith's book, "History Of Rockport and Echols" was used in the writing of the above two paragraphs. Thanks Shirley.

See you......
jrd