The Halls High School Alumni Association’s scholarship dinner (alumni banquet) will be held Saturday, April 29, at the high school cafeteria. Dinner starts at 6 p.m. (doors open at 5 p.m.) All are welcomed.
The dinner is a “covered dish” format and drinks are provided. Dinner is free, but attendees should bring a big donation for the scholarship fund. The fund dipped when dinners were restricted during the Covid pandemic.
This year’s $2,000 scholarship will be given in honor of Millie Bledsoe Vandergriff Norris, Halls High Class of 1953. Millie was a tremendous booster of Halls High School and its graduates. In addition, she was Halls Woman of the Year (2006), Halls High Alumni Hall of Fame (2018) and Volunteer of the Year, Halls Crossroads Women’s League (2008).
She passed away on March 22, 2023, at age 88. Her husband, Ed Norris, passed away on Dec. 22, 2022, at age 89.
Two join Halls High School Hall of Fame
D. Allen Butcher, Halls High Class of 1957. He completed a 30-year career as a pilot for Delta Airlines, after service in Vietnam as a pilot for the U.S. Air Force. Service recognition includes the Vietnam Campaign Service ribbon; the Air Medal with silver & bronze clusters representing the combat support missions he flew; and the Outstanding Achievement Award for a special “Rescue Mission.”
At Halls High, Butcher was an honor student and participated in many sports and activities: band, cheerleading, glee club, beta club, science club, football, basketball and delegate to Boys State.
He graduated from the University of Tennessee, finishing first in his class in the Air Force ROTC program. He was trained to fly in the Air Force and also received his private pilot’s license. His last professional flight was September 25, 1998. After he retired, he wrote a book, Sixty Years in the 20th Century: A Pilot’s Memoir.
Harold Carter, Halls High Class of 1982. As a civilian engineer, Carter has held leadership positions in the aerospace industry. Most recently he was engineering director and interim vice president engineering of Lockheed Martin’s Skunk Works, the world leader in stealth technology.
At Halls High, Carter was a four-year letterman in baseball and football. He was football captain, Key Club president, Mr. Halls High School and class president. He graduated from University of the Cumberlands in 1986 with a double major in chemistry and mathematics.
He began his career with General Dynamics (now Lockheed Martin) in Fort Worth, Texas, as a research and development engineer. He completed a master’s in engineering at the University of Texas-Arlington in 1992 and an MBA at Texas Christian University in 2001.
He has developed and integrated technologies to advance capabilities on the F-111, F-16, F-22, F-35, F-117 and other classified programs. He holds two classified patents. He represents Lockheed Martin Aeronautics to Purdue University and is involved in regional, state and national STEM initiatives.