Dedicating sacred grounds important to Cannon classes of 1941, 1942

By Joanie Morris
Kannapolis Citizen
R.C. Cannon was the first principal of J.W. Cannon High School when it opened in 1924. The 1927 annual was dedicated to him, the year that H.D. Walters took over the reins.
That was just one of the facts that local historian and member of the class of 1941 Norris Dearmon gave to the crowd gathered at A.L. Brown High School on a breezy Saturday morning as the classes of 1941 and 1942 gathered to dedicate a marker on the grounds of the former high school.
He also gave a quick accounting of the number of students who graduated each year, as well as when principals left and new ones were hired, changing of superintendents and fires at the school.
It was all part of the dedication ceremony, in which about 25 people took part.
Sarah Weaver, president of the class of 1942, gave an invocation, in which she called those years at J.W. Cannon High School some of the most joyful of the student’s lives.
“We remember the hallowed halls of the school that was here,” Weaver said. She spoke of the giggles and belly laughs, memories and friends at the school. “It was one of the most joyous times of our lives.”
Not everyone who attended the event was a graduate of the school. Kannapolis Mayor Bob
Misenheimer, who grew up in Concord, remembered looking forward to the J.W. Cannon Band.
In 1957, Misenheimer started his student teaching at Cannon Junior High School, which was what the school became when A.L. Brown was built.
“This place brings back a lot of memories,” said Misenheimer.
At the end of the ceremony, the classes gathered for a class picture.
Contact Joanie Morris at jmorris@kannapoliscitizen.com.