What if….Arrowstock?
By Guest Columnist Nash Nunnery
Pictured (l to r) are 2024 Arrowstock organizers Gary Weatherly, co-founder of the Clinton High School Alumni Association; Janna Dale, president of the Clinton High School Alumni Association and Arrowstock organizer; and Nash Nunnery, co-founder of Arrowstock.
Like most novel, over-the-top ideas, it started with a question.
“What if?”
What if some particularly loyal Clinton High School alums put on a multi-class reunion? What if they held this multi-class reunion street party on a grand scale in downtown Clinton? And, what if they called it “Arrowstock,” a name borrowed from the iconic 1969 Woodstock music festival (“three days of peace and love”)?
What if, indeed.
Arrowstock, the “granddaddy of all class reunions,” has emerged four years later as the largest multi-class high school reunion held in the state of Mississippi. The growth has been phenomenal and the response by Arrow Nation unbelievable.
Credit James Ray Savage (CHS class of 1978) for planting the seed in my head and begging the question “what if?” in May 2021. Fellow CHS alum Cindy Cobb and yours truly answered James Ray with a resounding, “Why not?”
Cindy and I went to work and found sponsors, a band, vendors and a very cooperative Main Street Clinton. We marketed the event to the hilt on various social media platforms and The Clinton Courier.
Word spread like wildfire.
On September 25, 2021, the very first Arrowstock was launched on the historic brick streets in Olde Towne Clinton, and the event was an immediate hit with Arrow Nation. The photographs shared on social media in the days following Arrowstock ‘21 numbered in the hundreds.
Class members from the 1950s, ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s, ‘90s and ‘00s showed up and showed out at the first Arrowstock. I met CHS alums from all of those decades and confirmed what I already knew – growing up in our town and attending Clinton High School was an unforgettably special experience.
Arrowstock ‘21 drew approximately eight hundred CHS alums, and it’s continued to grow under the vibrant leadership of Janna Anderson Dale. Today, the event serves as a dedicated fund-raiser for the Clinton High School Alumni Association’s scholarship program that benefits deserving CHS seniors.
Yes, it’s still a giant party that features wonderful food offerings, great drink, cool tunes and that awesome Arrow Nation spirit. But I’m also extremely proud that Arrowstock has evolved into doing great things for deserving CHS students of today.
Arrowstock ’24 is slated for Saturday, October 5 at 5:30 p.m. on those same historic Brick Streets in Olde Towne Clinton. For the fourth consecutive year, there is no admission charge.
“What if” you’ve never attended?
As co-founder of Arrowstock, I wish to extend a personal invitation – I’ll guarantee that you’ll never regret the decision to join us for Arrowstock ’24.
As always, Go Arrows!
EDITOR’S NOTE: A 1973 graduate of Clinton High School, Nash Nunnery is a co-founder of Arrowstock, the largest annual multi-class high school reunion in the state of Mississippi.
