Martinsville will always be home to me because my family moved often as my dad taught, coached , and was an administrator and college admissions officer. I lived longer in Martinsville than any community as a student.

My dad was only in his mid thirties when he became principal at the high school , but he always felt in his long career that he never enjoyed or loved classes of students and a high school as much as he did leading Martinsville High School. He had a special affection for the class of 1964 not because I was in the class (although he knew how much I loved our class and the experiences I was having being one of your fellow classmates.)

The main reason he loved the class, and honestly all the classes he had at MHS, was because all of the students were good people, well intentioned, active, we had good families in the community, and Martinsville and all of our county classmates gave us the best student body that any school could ever have. He felt honored to know all of you , and I will say I was very honored and privileged to be in the class of 64 and will forever be appreciative of all of you and your skills, intelligence, your talents, and the quality of people you were and still are. May you and your loved one's always be blessed and for those we have lost over the years, my heart and thoughts will always be with them in memory . I hope at this time all of you and your loved ones are happy and well.

First, let me say to any of you who might read this that I really appreciate our reunion committee for doing such a great job providing a wonderful weekend of activities and, food, music, honoring our wonderful veterans , honoring all those we have lost,, and allowing all of us to enjoy chatting and enjoying each other's presence and company this last fall. It was fantastic to see so many classmates attend and your spouses/partners/friends. I loved our class so much that it was a big thrill to be able to reunite another time and especially on our 50th anniversary.

Our class was blessed with so many talented students from the fine arts, the technical fields, the athletes, drama. orchestra, band, choir, the clubs, etc., and we had some of the best teachers that any school could ever have, I was so impressed by the skills, personalities, all the physical and mental talents that all of you had, and more than anything I will always appreciate how nicely all of you treated me considering the tenuous position I was in with Dad being our principal. If any of you ever felt that I was aloof or unfriendly or disrespectful to you, I am forever apologetic because I would never have done that to you on purpose. In fact , if anything, there was a shy side of my personality that kept me from being as outgoing , funny, gregarious, and dynamic as many of you were with your natural personality traits. I know some of you might feel I am being very introspective and deep in this section, but I am a very, very emotional and caring person at heart and I have missed those years even though some of you may have not enjoyed high school at all.

Lastly let me say that I will always cherish the basketball players (10-12) in, especially ours, that allowed us to have a run through the season and tournament that very few teams have ever had in the history of the school. Having said that, I would be remiss to not thank our managers, our pep band, our great student support including the approximately 300 members of the cheer block, our wonderful cheerleaders, and any of you who supported the team on our magic ride. if I have accidently forgotten anyone, I am sorry. As I write this if I sound emotional , I am, because all of you played an important role in my developmental years and I will always cherish and adore all of you for that gift. God willing, I hope all of us will be able to gather again in five more years. Take care and be safe!! Barry Kennedy