A group of cheerleaders gathered at Ace’s Steakhouse last week to reminisce about old times and meet with lifelong friends. The group were DCHS cheerleaders before there was a DCHS, and their time on the squad bonded then into lifetime friends.
Class of 1960 DeKalb High School Cheerleaders consisted of Polly Ann Payne, Cheryl Evins Foster, June Williams Vaughn, Lynn Calhoun Rooker, Jackie Hendrixson Slaten, and Katherine Knowles Glass. The squad meets four times a year at different locations around Middle Tennessee, but this time they made their way back to their old stomping grounds.
According to June Vaughn, the cheer squad decided to reunite several years ago and have been doing it ever since. “We like to stay close. Since we were cheerleaders we became so close. One year, my class was having a reunion and decided to get together. We’ve been doing this for 12 years now.”
“Polly and I have been friends since we were four years old,” added Lynn Rooker. “Jackie and I have been friends since birth because our parents were good friends with each other.”
The group cheered for both football and basketball back in the day for what was once known as Pure Fountain College. The school was later known as Smithville High School or DeKalb County High School depending on who you asked.
“We didn’t wear skirts like they do today,” Vaughn explained. “Our skirts came down halfway between our knees and our ankles. If we twirled around they would come up in a solid circle. We also wore these V-neck long sleeved wool sweaters with a big “S” which stood for Smithville.”
“We couldn’t decide if we were Smithville or DCHS back then,” Cheryl Foster added.
The school was located on South College Street in Smithville where the current ballpark is located and later burned in 1962. That left some of the group to have to graduate in the building’s surviving gym, just before today’s DCHS began construction.
“We meet four times a year, and have lunch together,” Vaughn said. “It was Polly’s time to host and she decided we would meet here in Smithville. Polly is the only one that still lives in Smithville.”
The cheer squad had a great meal and spent the day together just like in their high school days. We tried, but they refused to do a build during the interview.
