Alliance High School’s Class of 1961 didn’t have a planned 65th reunion this summer, but that didn’t keep Senior Class Secretary Sharon Phillip Singleton from having mini reunions with 24 classmates.
Traveling by herself in her motorhome, Singleton, 83, visited nearly 40 per cent of the 61 living members of the 131-member class, 12 of which still live in Nebraska.
AHS Class of 1961 classmates still living in Alliance are Cheryl Edwards Harris, Linda Iverson Ferguson, Ron Mischnick, Janice Phillip Lawrence, and Connie Sherlock Ackerman.
Singleton also visited 155 family members and friends during her 12-week trip. She started from her home in Moscow, Idaho, and traveled through 20 states during her 8,336-mile trip.
“The trip was better than I imagined it could be,” Singleton said. “Renewing old friendships and adding new memories were the best part of the trip.” The emphasis of the trip was on seeing people, she said, not on seeing sites.
Classmates she visited lived in Nebraska (12), Tennessee (1), Colorado (4), Kansas (3), Texas (2), Missouri (1), and one from Thailand who was visiting relatives and friends in Nebraska.
Singleton said other classmates invited her to visit them on her next trip — if there is another one. She said the timing was perfect this past summer: excellent health, and wanting to do a road trip similar to the motorhome vacations she and her deceased husband Tony used to enjoy.
“I never wondered, ‘What am I doing,’ but there were so many people who did worry, so I just let them do the worrying,” she said. “I admit that most people my age (83) wouldn’t do it, but I felt very comfortable.”
Trip planning started in March when Singleton researched where the cheapest diesel fuel was located and called classmates to check on their availability. She said diesel was already more than $6 when she drove through Nebraska and Wyoming, which surprised her.
The average nationwide price did not hit the national record high of more than $6 until later in September.
The only mechanical problem during the three-month trip was a diesel leak in Tennessee which a mechanic fixed in an hour.
People writing on her Facebook page described Singleton as “courageous,” “amazing,” “wonderful,” “strong,” “admirable,” “awesome” and “fierce.” Others wrote they were proud of her, she was their hero, and “I want to be like you when I grow up,” which was written by a 52-year-old female. But the adjective that came up the most was “CRAZY,” Singleton said.
Singleton’s next major trip will not be in her motorhome. She will be joining another member of the Alliance High Class of 1961 on a 129-day World Cruise. It will be the Holland America officers and crew who will be searching for the best fuel prices.
FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS, PLEASE CONTACT SHARON SINGLETON, 208-301-2060.
Photo 1 – Sharon Phillip Singleton spent three days visiting Penny Wright Wika in Wamego, Kansas.
Photo 2 – The Atlantic Ocean near Charleston, South Carolina, was the farthest east Sharon Phillip Singleton traveled on her 8,336-mile journey.
Photo 3
Sharon Phillip Singleton and Janice Phillip Lawrence, members of the Alliance High School Class of 1961 joined other cousins in a mini family reunion in South Dakota. Cousins are (front row) Roberta, Janice, Mary, Sharon, Judy, Julie (back row) Bill, Jim, Dick, Lynelle, Dean, and Ray.