DALTON, Ga. — Curtis Rivers remembers making the 25-minute trek to the Emery Street School, the first public school for blacks in Dalton, in the late 1950s as if it were yesterday.

He and some fellow students walked from the east side of Dalton to the school at 110 W. Emery St. The school was built in 1886. A fire destroyed the building some years later and it was rebuilt in 1909.

“We walked past two white schools to get to a black school,” Rivers said.

Rivers, who attended the school from third to 12th grade, said students were often late for class because they’d get held up by a train.

“Sometimes we crawled under the train’s (crossing gate) or hitched a ride on the back of someone’s truck,” he recalls.

It’s stories like this that Rivers said people can expect to hear at the Emery Street School reunion June 23-25. Most events are in the school building, which now houses the Emery Center, an African-American heritage and multicultural center. A banquet will be held at the convention center. Rivers is director of the Emery Center.

A package that includes a Friday night Meet and Greet, Saturday morning business meeting and breakfast, the Saturday night banquet, a T-shirt and a group photo costs $95. Or individuals can choose to attend specific events.

Barbara Willis, a member of the class of 1965 that is hosting the reunion, said it’s for anybody who ever went to the school and anyone else who wants to attend.

The reunion “is not just a celebration of the school,” Rivers said. “It will be a reunion for the whole community.”

Reunions are held every two years. The theme this year is “Memories: The Way We Were.”

Willis attended the school from first to 12th grade.

“We’d like to see former students, relatives and friends,” she said. “If you know someone that may be interested in attending, invite them.”

Committee members are looking for pictures of students, past events at the school, the building and activities there. Pictures can be mailed to the Emery Center at P.O. Box 1831, Dalton, GA 30722, or dropped off at Willis Funeral Home to Vonta Macon. Please include a name and return address if you want your picture returned.

In 2013 approximately 130 people attended the reunion; 156 came in 2015.

If you go

Tickets: A $95 package includes the Friday night Meet and Greet, Saturday morning business meeting and breakfast, the Saturday night banquet, a T-shirt and a group photo. The Meet and Greet, a T-shirt and a group photo are all $15 each. The breakfast is $5, and the banquet is $45. The worship service is the only free event. Reunion packages are available at Miller Brothers Rib Shack and Willis Funeral Home. The deadline is May 26.

List of events

• Friday, 7 p.m. Meet and Greet at the Emery Center (dinner and talent show, $15).

• Saturday, 9 a.m. Business meeting and breakfast at the Emery Center ($5). Banquet at 7 p.m. at the Dalton Convention Center ($45).

• Sunday, 10 a.m. Worship service at the Emery Center. The speaker is the Rev. Edward Harvey, an alumnus.

For more information on the reunion, call Curtis Rivers at (706) 277-7633 or Barbara Willis at (706) 226-1780.