CONWAY — The year was 1979. Margaret Thatcher was elected the first female prime minister in the United Kingdom and the Sony Walkman hit the market for the first time.

Jacqueline Hough | The Daily Herald Rudy Salas looks through a book of memories about the class of 1979 from W.S. Creecy/Northampton County High School-East during their 30th reunion Saturday night. Salas’ wife, Julia Hamilton Salas, was a graduate of the school. Advertisement

For the seniors of W.S. Creecy High School, it was the year they were consolidated with students at Northampton County High School-East (NCHS-East).

The students came together for their 30th class reunion Saturday evening. There was a dinner, special presentations and chances for classmates to reminisce.

NCHS-East was built in 1964 to replace Conway, Jackson, Seaboard, Rich Square and Woodland High Schools. In 1979, W. S. Creecy High School was added.

Sheila Moses said the class of 1979 at Creecy was to be the last class to graduate from the school, but before their senior year they were moved to NCHS-East and became the first Creecy class to graduate from NCHS-East.

Moses, now a prolific author, said her classmates Thomas Curry inspired her to be a writer.

“He was a great writer and director in the fifth grade,” she remembered. “He would write the plays and I starred in them. He has a brilliant mind.”

She said the reunion was bittersweet because even though she saw her classmates, a lot of their teachers were deceased.

Jenice Pellam had fond memories of her experience at NCHS-East. “I am blessed because I had the best of both worlds,” she said.

Her dad taught at Creecy and at NCHS-East and later become principal at Gaston Junior High School. Pellam came to NCHS-East in the ninth grade.

Her mom, Janet, used to work at the cafeteria at Creecy and became a teacher assistant at NCHS-East.

Pellam, now an assistant principal at Largo High School in Prince George County, Md., said her dad wanted to be here. “He is not in the best of health these days,” Pellam said.

Walking through the hallways brought back many memories for her. She pointed in the direction of where her dad’s classroom use to be.

“I went and looked through the window,” she said. “It just brought back memories of Daddy teaching. My daddy taught me. He didn’t treat me any different than any of the other students in the class.”

Brenda Roberts Anderson said she enjoyed seeing many of her former classmates. During high school, she was a cheerleader, tennis player and a member of the science club. “I just wanted to be a student,” she said.

Her mother was La Dale Taylor a teacher at the school and Anderson said she was one of her students. One of her three sons, James, is a Carolina Panther. He donated $1,000 to the school and autographed a football to the class of 1979.

Her second mother, Brenda Taylor, was a principal at Rich Square Creechy for 2004-05 and is currently the elementary education director for Northampton County Schools.

Taylor said Creecy School has been around a longtime and closed at the end of last school year due to dropping enrollment.

“It has served the community well,” she said. “It has been the heart of that community. We hated to see it closed.”

Henry J. Campbell was principal at NCHS-East from 1969 until he retired in 1993. He said the class of 1979 was halfway through his years as principal.

“The 70s were good years for us,” he said. “We fully integrated without problems. They were special years and years with fond memories.”

Campbell admits he is not a person who likes to attend reunions. “This class was one of the better classes. I hope to enjoy myself,” he said.

Bobby Drewette pointed to the hallway and said, “We walked these hallways to death.”

A memory which stood out for him was lunchroom. “It was where we all got together and cut up,” he said. “We were having a good time and being young kids.”

He admitted he wasn’t the best student but did well enough to graduate.

Classmate Cynthia Daye Ervin, of Raleigh, added, “He was an integral part of the class.”

Ervin said when she left home earlier, she had a lot of anxiety. “Once, I got here, it was wonderful,” she said.

Patti Bazemore Outlaw said she had good feelings about being back and reuniting with old friends. There are many I hadn’t seen since high school. She said she always imagined being back at her 30th reunion.

“When I walk through the halls, I can just hear the tardy bells,” she said. “I remember just trying to get to class before the last tardy bell.”