Alumni Mix, Mingle, Reminisce,
Cheer Bulldog Homecoming Victory

Sisters Edith Oldham '50, Margie Wallace '48 and Dorothy Edgar '48 get together for a family reunion at Homecoming.	Homecoming Queen Keiran Walsh and Honor Escort Brad McPherson enjoy the moment.

Alumni from eight decades spanning two millennia mixed and mingled, laughed and reminisced during a weekend filled with Homecoming activities.

Ellostein Wright of Vestavia Hills, Class of 1934, won the award as the alumna representing the earliest class at Saturday's breakfast for Class of 1951 and earlier alumni. Dr. August Lovegren of Cedartown, Ga., Class of 1942, took the male award.

Beth Gresham, a member of the Class of 2001, came from Lexington, Ky., for her first Homecoming as a graduate. "I thought that I might not get to attend for a while, and I could this time, so why not?" she said during a Missionary Kid reunion following the football game.

She met MKs Nathan '88 and Liesl Yoars Varner '88, M.S.Ed. '89, who brought their four children to experience Homecoming. "This football game outcome was far better than that of my first Homecoming here as a student," recalled Nathan, contrasting a lopsided defeat during the early days of football's return in the 1980s with this year's 31-8 success against UT-Martin.

The reunion for MKs was one of several designed to allow former members of organizations to meet, regardless of class year. Graduates of Samford's Metro College evening program enjoyed their first reunion, as did former members of the Student Recruitment Team and the 1991 football team that went 12-2 and finished third in the nation.

A trio of sisters and their husbands formed a happy family unit. Enjoying the breakfast were: Dorothy Perkinson Edgar '48 and her husband, Deric Edgar '48, of Dallas, Texas; Margie Perkinson Wallace '48 and her husband, Dick Wallace '48, of Birmingham; and Edith Perkinson Oldham '50 and her husband, Gene Oldham '50, of Carthage, Tenn.

The sisters, who lived in Acipco in west Birmingham, rode the streetcar to the campus, located then in East Lake. Dorothy, the elder of the three, recalled dropping out of school to work during World War II, putting her in the same graduation class as Margie. "Tuition was just $100 a semester then, but that was a lot at that time," she remembered.

	The newly renovated cafeteria was a popular place for reconnecting with old friends. During the barbecue lunch, Jay '90 and Hope Haslam Straughan '89 (see photo) won the Odyssey Award for having traveled the farthest to attend Homecoming. The couple lives in Brighton, Mass., near Boston, some 1,170 miles from Birmingham. During football halftime activity, Howard G. Clark '47, Ph.D., professor emeritus at Duke University, Durham, N.C., and Francois J. Coutu '81, president and chief operating officer of the Jean Coutu Group of pharmacies, Montreal, Quebec, were named Alumni of the Year (see article). Samford held its first Homecoming parade through downtown Homewood since 1963 on Thursday of Homecoming week. The event celebrated Samford's 160th anniversary and Homewood's 75th. Samford President Thomas E. Corts was grand marshal.
Samford quarterback Ramon Nelson gains ground in the 31-8 win over UT-Martin.		Kevin Griffin, lead singer in the group Better Than Ezra, performs for a Homecoming audience.