Updated 1964-65 Class Photo

We have, through much help from the Russell County Vo-Tech Staff & Alumni, identified additional classmates in the 1964-65 Class Photo taken at the old Cleveland High School/1964-71 Russell County Vo-Tech.  Below is an updated list of those that have already been identified or tentatively identified.

We still need your help identifying and confirming everyone in the photo.  Please email any names to russell.co.vo.tech@gmail.com.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Class of 1964-65

Charlotte Ann Taylor Ferguson - Obituary

It is with great sorrow that we post the obituary of one of our fellow classmates, Charlotte Ann Taylor Ferguson of Lebanon, VA.  Please visit the Bristol Herald Courier link at the bottom of the post to leave an offering of condolence for Charlotte's family.

Charlotte Ann Taylor Ferguson, 64, of Green Valley Road, passed away, Friday, March 25, 2011, in the Johnson City Medical Center. She was born Jan. 13, 1947 in Honaker, Va., a daughter of the late, Lewis Taylor and the late, Audrey McGlothlin Taylor Price.

She was the wife of the late, Bobby Joe Ferguson. Charlotte was a member of the Lebanon Memorial United Methodist Church, and was a troop leader of the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts in Lebanon for many years. Her love was to take care of children she baby-sat starting in the 1980's and continued through 2004, and her family.

Survivors include her daughter, Jennifer Woodlief and her husband, Ernie Woodlief, Lebanon; her son, Bobby Joe Ferguson II and his wife, Tammie Ferguson, Chuckey, Tenn.; two grandchildren, Jonathan Woodlief and Taylor Woodlief; a sister, Yvonne Dye and her husband, Tom Dye, Honaker, Va.; her mother-in-law, Edna Kyle Ferguson, Lebanon; several nieces and nephews and several children that she cared for that meant as much as grandchildren.

A visitation for family and friends will be from 6 until 8 pm Monday, March 28, 2011, at the funeral home. Burial will be at a later date in Ketron Memorial Gardens in Lebanon. Combs Funeral Service, 291 Fincastle Road, Lebanon, VA 24266, (276)889-4444 is serving the family of Mrs. Ferguson.

Click Here For Guest Book

2010 2nd Biannual Russell County Vo-Tech 1964-1971 Reunion

Our 2nd Vo-tech reunion was held at the Lebanon Conference Center May 15, 2010 and was deemed a great success by all. In attendance were former instructors, principals and classmates representing all trades during the Cleveland years.  Much fun was had preparing for it, and those classmates who attended enjoyed a great evening of good food, music, and tables decorated with picture cutouts from school yearbooks and other memorabilia.

Special thanks to Mr. Larry Wysor for bringing a real school bus and to Carlton Hubble for providing toy ones. Also to Beverly Elswick whose PowerPoint presentation of yearbook pictures on large screens, made it seem as though everyone was present at the reunion with us. We truly missed those who couldn’t attend.

Plans to have another reunion in 2012 are ongoing. We have located a list of the 1964-65 classmates and are currently trying to contact them. We don’t have a yearbook or very much info for this school year. Anyone with information on this group is encouraged to contact us.

If you have any suggestions or special stories, or want to help with the reunion, please feel free to contact us at russell.co.vo.tech@gmail.com. Visit our blog at http://russell-co-vo-tech-64-71.blogspot.com/ site often for photos and meeting updates. 

1964-65 Class Photo

We have located what we believe is a 1964-65 Class Photo taken at the old Cleveland High School/1964-71 Russell County Vo-Tech.

We need your help identifying and confirming everyone in the photo.  Below is a list of those that have already been identified or tentatively identified.

Please use the following link to add or confirm names of individuals in the photo:

Click Here To Add Names to Photo

Or email the names to russell.co.vo.tech@gmail.com.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

Class of 1964-65

Gary Wayne Proffitt Obituary

It is with great sorrow that we post the obituary of one of our fellow classmates, Gary Wayne Proffitt. Please visit the Bristol Herald Courier link at the bottom of this post to leave an offering of condolence for Gary's Family.  Gary took electricity and graduated from the Russell County Vo-Tech in 1969.

Gary Wayne Proffitt CASTLEWOOD, Va. Gary Wayne Proffitt, 60, died Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2010, at Russell County Medical Center, Lebanon, Va. He was born in Raysel, W.Va., son of the late Curtis Proffitt. He is survived by one daughter, Crystal Baker and husband, Jeremy of Bluff City, Tenn.; one son, Dwayne Proffitt and wife, Gina of Lebanon; mother, Katherine Proffitt of Dante, Va.; one sister, Lisa Proffitt Kennedy of Dante; former wife, Joetta Fleming Proffitt of Castlewood; five grandchildren, Jaymee Woodmore, Ethan Baker, Avery Baker, Macie Proffitt, and Gracie Proffitt; several nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Funeral services for Gary Wayne Proffitt will be conducted at 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, in Castlewood Funeral Home Chapel, Castlewood, with Rev. Nathaniel Maggard officiating. Interment will follow in Temple Hill Memorial Park, Castlewood. Pallbearers will be Tony Bush, Randy Fleming, Skipper Proffitt, Jeff Summers, David Smith, and Delmer Lynn Vencill. Honorary pallbearers will be Bill Higgins, Jeremy Baker, Alger Mullins, and Tim Lovelace. The family will receive friends from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29, 2010, in Castlewood Funeral Home, Castlewood, and anytime at the home of Dwayne and Gina Proffitt in Lebanon. Online condolences may be sent to the Proffitt family through our Web site and a video tribute may be viewed at www.castlewoodfuneralhome.com Castlewood Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements.

Published in Bristol Herald Courier on October 29, 2010

Russell County Vo-Tech "The Cleveland Years" Memorabilia

The following Russell County Vo-Tech "The Cleveland Years" memorabilia is still available for purchase (See Item Details Below). 


-Russell County Year Book Photo CD         $10.00  (Plus Shipping & Handling)
-Commemorative Vo-Tech Ornament        $10.00  (Plus Shipping & Handling)

-2009 Memory Book                                      $10.00  (Plus Shipping & Handling)

To purchase memorabilia, please contact Pauline Salyers at vpsaly@naxs.net or call her at 276.889.0055.  

If you order all three items, shipping and handling is free.

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1966 - 1971 Yearbook Photo CD

A Photo CD containing all of the staff and student portraits taken from the 1966 thru 1971 Russell County Vo-Tech Yearbooks is available for purchase.  All photos are JPG format.

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Commemorative Vo-Tech Ornament

The Ornament is a 3 1/4 inch golden globe highlighted with black lettering, and features the 1964-1971 Cleveland Vo-Tech Emblem. 

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2009 Reunion

Souvenir Memory Book

In preparation for our first Reunion, held May 2, 2009, the Reunion Committee assembled a Souvenir Memory Book. This Memory Book includes pictures and/or information of Administration; Faculty; Class Officers; Deceased Classmates and personal quotes sent in by fellow classmates and administrators. 

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To purchase memorabilia (Details Below), please contact Pauline Salyers at vpsaly@naxs.net or call her at 276.889.0055.  
If you order all three items, shipping and handling is free.

The History of the Russell County Vo-Tech Emblem

by

Loretta Johnson

  

The history of the original emblem began in 1966.   As we were working on the Annual for the school year of 1966-67 and trying to decide what to put on the cover, the words FAMILY kept coming up in the conservation.  I suggested that we do something to indicate that we were a family since that was what we kept talking about.   A family crest emblem was mentioned and then the decision of what the family crest should look like became the focus of the group.  It was finally decided that all the trades being taught in the school would be somehow placed in the emblem.  This idea was taken to the drafting instructor, Harold Owens, and his class of students to design our FAMILY CREST.  The results were amazing and that became the cover for our annual.

In 1981-82 school year my daughter, Starr, a drafting student at the “new” vocational school in Lebanon wanted an idea for a bulletin board to enter into the VICA competition.  After much discussion, I got out my old school annual and suggested that the FAMILY CREST might be a good thing to do.  She did that as a bulletin board and won the local and regional competition and took it to state.  Starr gave up attending her Senior Prom to go to the state competition.

The FAMILY CREST is still a part of the vocational school.  Some time after the vocational school moved to Lebanon, the emblem with all the trades was replaced with a Blue Devil, a Tiger and a Pioneer representing the three schools in the county that feed students to the vocational school. This is the new FAMILY CREST for the “new” vocational school.

If you look closely at the cover of the 1966-67 annual, you will see the initials of one of the students who worked on the design and her then boyfriend.  The student was the late Joyce Wallace and her boyfriend Jeter Austin who became her husband.

My challenge to you is to find the initials and enjoy our Family Crest as much as we have.  If you find them, let us know, or if you can’t and would like to know where they are, just ask one of the committee people.