Longtime Brandon Area Residents Gather

People with deep roots in Brandon and Brandon High graduates created some new memories as old friends and school chums gathered for the Greater Brandon Area Community Picnic.

The Greater Brandon Area Old Timers Association and the Brandon High School Alumni Association - two groups with enough collective memory to write an  Encyclopedia Brandonica – broke bread together at the First Baptist Church of Brandon for the April 30 event.

Usually two separate soirees, the groups decided to share the fun this year.

It was all down to the calendar said Karen Rodriguez, president of the alumni association. “Because of Easter this year, it would have meant the old timers’ event and our gathering would have happened one weekend after the other, so we decided to combine the events this year.”

Introductions were unnecessary for most of the more than 100 people who turned out for the function; many of the attendees are members of both groups, Rodriguez said.

“It’s a great feeling when you get to catch up on old friends and get in touch with everyone,” said Rodriguez who has attended every Brandon High reunion. The alumni group was founded in 1993 by a handful of Brandon High grads. It has more than 200 members spread across the U.S.

With guests asked to bring a covered dish for the party, there was no shortage of food for the affair. Fried chicken and chocolate cake were on the menu but memories were the main course here as old friends shared stories of school days and a bygone era.

Pat and Bob Strickland heard about the picnic while visiting family in Brandon. The North Carolina couple were scheduled to fly home Wednesday.

“But when we heard about this we decided to stay.”

It was the first reunion for the 1965 graduates of Brandon High.

“It was great seeing old friends again,” said Pat Strickland. “We’ve already run into several people we haven’t seen since we graduated.”

Gene Wolf’s family moved to Brandon in 1945. He graduated from Brandon High in 1950. He has attended every reunion since 1978, the inaugural year of the event. The unofficial photograpgher for the alumni group, Wolf has collected almost 1,000 photos of the affair over the years. Jerry Rodriguez, publicity officer for the association and husband of alumni president Karen Rodriguez, compiled a video photo essay of Wolf’s photos. The video was on display at the gathering.

Wolf recalls a much different Brandon from his school days.

“There was pasture land and orange groves were most of the apartment buildings are now and we didn’t have a regular traffic light in town. There was just one blinking light at Parson Avenue and State Road 60 and even that was only a two-lane road.”

With no video games or TV, Wolf spent his summer playing baseball at the American Legion, swimming at Lithia Springs or camping.

Wolf married into one of Brandon’s pioneer families when he tied the knot with his high school sweetheart, Barbara Hiller, in 1954. Barbara’s great grandfather, John R. King, settled a farm in Brandon in the late 1800s. Kings Avenue is named after him but with an erroneous ‘s’ at the end, according to Barbara Wolf.

She lives with her husband in Plant City today but her roots will always be in Brandon.

“This will always be home to me,” said King, a1951 grad of Brandon High.

Pat Jaudon was on hand for the first Old Timers Association party in 1978.

“I made the mistake of volunteering to help and I have been here ever since.

Originally a get together for those with more than 20 years in Brandon, the club is open to everyone, Jaudon said. “We never turn anyone away.

The group also handed out several awards at the end of the ceremony. Special recognition went to Dick Stowers and Buck Scoggin for their help with the event.

Other awards went to:

• Marsha Stowers Riddle and Cindi Stowers of North Carolina for traveling the greatest distance for the event.

• Iva Bell who at 99 was the oldest woman at the gathering. Her family opened one of Brandon’s first grocery stores – Bell’s Grocery - at State Road 60 and Lithia Pinecrest Road.

• Emmet Sumner, at 88 the oldest man at the event.

• Donald and Vera Empie, who were the longest-married couple at the event. Their secret? “Patience and love,” said Vera.

• Keith and Kristen Westbrook, the couple at the event married for the shortest amount of time. They’ve been married 20 months.

• Hazel Henderson, who, with 95 years living in Brandon, has lived in the area longer than any attendee.

• Lentz family for having the most family members at the party with seven. The Lentz’ donated their cash award to Mount Mission School, a West Virginia orphanage where their mom, Mickey, grew up.

For more information on either group, call 813-651-3261.