At last, we were to graduate from Russellville High School. On May 18, 1958 there was a Sunday evening Baccalaureate Service for the graduates, held in the Gymnasium (see program below). The graduation itself was on May 27. That afternoon, we donned our caps and gowns, assembling on the steps of the Auditorium building for a group photo (below). And that evening, the graduation ceremony itself began promptly at 8:00 p.m. at the Gymnasium, under the watchful eye of Superintendent R. E. Stevenson, Principal Joseph Chaney, Mrs. Geneva Helm and Mrs. Hazel Carver. We processed down the aisle to Mendelssohn's "War March of the Priests," a musical standard slow march almost universally used for high school graduation processionals. Class President Andy Mac Rector introduced our speaker, the Honorable John B. Rodes, Judge of the Eighth Judicial District from Bowling Green. Judge Rodes intoned an extremely lengthy address to the graduates, admonishing us to beware of the pitfalls of life, to strive for the stars, to be frugal, and to understand others including our families who were there assembled and by then quite drowsy. Awards and diplomas were then presented to us all, a moment that we had begun to think might never arrive. There were musical interludes after this, then at long last we recessed out of the Gymnasium to Elgar's "Pomp and Circumstance" played expertly by Mrs. Hazel Carver.

Then, suddenly, it was over. We were officially graduates of Russellville High School!