ALUMNI HAPPENINGS PARKER PERKINS ’84 TO LEAD ALUMNI COUNCIL After years of steadfast leadership, Alumni Leadership Council President Burke Earley ’86 is passing the baton to another devoted Baron, Parker Perkins III ’84 of Raleigh, North Carolina. While at Blue Ridge, Parker was a member of the baseball team, wrestling, and cross
me personally and professionally. It’s an honor for me to be able to give back to Blue Ridge as president of the ALC and to represent the esteemed alumni—my Baron brothers — to the administration and the Board of Trustees.” Following graduation, Parker attended
New Alumni Leadership Council President Parker Perkins ’84 with his predecessor Burke Earley ’86 during Alumni Weekend 2021.
country teams, as well as the Honor Council. Parker says, “Blue Ridge School was a transformational place for me, as it was for so many alumni. I grew up a lot there and gained the self confidence that has served 24
James Madison University where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. Post-college Parker then joined the U.S. Marine Corps where he served as an officer for eight years and two tours. He served in the First Gulf War as a member of First Battalion/First Marines, and was then in
two Western Pacific deployments. During his second tour Parker was stationed at Marine Barracks 8th & I in Washington, DC, where he worked as a Presidential Military Aide at the White House during President Bill Clinton’s administration. He is proud to have escorted Bob Hope during his final White House visit in 1995. Parker left the Marine Corps as a Captain in 1996 when he married his wife Sarah. For nearly 30 years Parker has provided financial services to clients throughout the United States. Having worked at many large and regional investment firms, including A.G. Edwards and UBS, he and his partners began their own firm in 2015. Headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina, Parker’s firm is First Flight Financial. When he is not at the office, you can find him volunteering locally for the Admissions Office at James Madison University at college fairs or enjoying quality time with his wife Sarah and two children, Parker and Chloe. Parker also enjoys spending time at his home in the Outer Banks and bike riding.
FIVE OF A KIND
“I want to encourage all alumni to think about how they can become more engaged in the life of Blue Ridge School. Some of us are fortunate enough to be able to give financially. Others give our time, speaking to classes and students interested in our areas of expertise. Being involved can be as simple as telling a local family about how Blue Ridge can benefit their son. I look forward to seeing you all back at The Ridge!”
That meant that there were four graduating classes (1967, 1968, 1969 and 1970) that contained a group of young men who can proudly claim to have been Barons for 5 years. This year’s 50 year reunion class of 1970, holds the distinction of the last class to claim five-year boys. They are: Halsey Blake-Scott, Tom Bryan, Barry Fifield, John Inman, Peter Layton, Lewis Parker, David Rankin, Robert Whyel and Palmer Young.
The five-year boys of the Class of 1967 (from left): Buz Booker, Tom Bradley, John Blodgett, David Gould, and Jimmy Davis.
by Peter Holland ’66
Today and probably since the 1980’s, Blue Ridge has touted the importance and the significance of Four-Year Boys, and rightly so. These young men have attended Blue Ridge for all four of their high school years. BUT, back when BRS started as the all-boys boarding school in 1962—there was an eighth grade class. This continued until the end of the 1965-1966 school year, when the School decided to cease accepting a class of 13 and 14 year old eighth graders.
Before we celebrate the last group of 5 year boys, let’s give the first 8th grade class a
little mention. A few of them, including Buz Booker ’67, first arrived on the campus on June 25, 1962 for summer school. The summer session was run by Hatcher C. Williams, who six months later would be named headmaster of Blue Ridge. But on that first fateful morning in June, a gigantic torrential cloudburst poured down on the campus. The situation was made worse because the roads on campus were not paved back then. The hill just inside the stone gates and the partially finished road over the new dam were a complete mess. After the first few cars with arriving students had barely made it onto the main campus, the roads at the School were pretty much useless. A line of Ford, Mercury and Chevy station wagons began to form in an attempt to ascend the hill at the front gates. When Hatcher Williams learned of the perilous slippery situation, he telephoned Fred Morris for help. Fred (Leon and Gary Morris’ father) had been head of School maintenance his entire adult life.
He assured a frantic Mr. Williams that he could get the job done. He quickly fired up his biggest tractor, found the heaviest chain he could find and proceeded to pull the waiting cars up the hill. He had to pull the cars with families through the big muddy hole, which would someday be the School’s gorgeous lake, to Battle House where registration took place. It was a rough start beginning, but as always Blue Ridge weathered the storm. The first academic year of 1962-1963 was tenuous at times. Would the new little school with sixty-some boys and dilapidated buildings make it? Mr. Williams and the few teachers asked that question often, almost daily. The following septuagenarians were the first of the Five-Year Boys in the Class of 1967: Buz Booker, Tom Bradley, John Blodgett, Jimmy Davis, and David Gould.
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