Keeping the Memories Alive
Lyons High School was an important part of the Lyons community from 1902 until 1970. I was fortunate to be one of its graduates, a member of the Class of 1966.
Four years after I graduated, Lyons High School and Lyons Industrial High School were consolidated to form Lyons Senior High School. A few years later, another consolidation brought Lyons Senior High School and Toombs Central High School together as Toombs County High School.
When I decided many years ago to create a website devoted to our school, I deliberately limited its historical scope to the years when it was known as Lyons High School. That was the school I knew, and those were the memories I felt qualified to help preserve.
I don’t remember the exact date the first website went online, but I know it was at least as early as 2005. About that time, my classmate Ann Gordy was helping me scan old annuals for the project. That makes this website more than 20 years old.
From the beginning, its purpose was simple: to give the alumni of Lyons High School a place to remember their school days and to keep up with one another.
In those early years, I spent countless hours gathering material. Classmates loaned me annuals to scan. We searched for the names of students from years when no annual was published. We collected photographs and stories, documented the history of the school, and publicized upcoming class reunions.
I also began recording the deaths of former classmates. What started simply as an effort to remember those we had lost eventually became our In Memoriam section, one of the most frequently visited parts of the website.
Billy Joins the Project
Some years later, Billy Yarbrough, Class of 1965, volunteered to develop the sports section of the website. Billy also wanted to include news about the present-day Toombs County Bulldogs. I liked the idea. It gave us a way to remain connected to what came after Lyons High School and to keep the website from becoming only a look into the past.
In September 2026, Billy and I undertook a major renovation of the website, modernizing its appearance, reorganizing and expanding its historical content, and adding more current information.
The result is the website you are visiting today. Its appearance may have changed, but its purpose hasn’t.
More Than a Website
Over the years, our online community has expanded beyond this website. Our Facebook group, Lyons High School of Lyons, GA, began primarily as a gathering place for former students. Eventually we opened it to descendants and then to anyone with a genuine interest in Lyons High School and its history.
Today I think of the Facebook group and this website as companions.
The Facebook group is where people talk. This website is where we preserve.
One provides a place for conversation, photographs, questions, discoveries and renewed friendships. The other gives us a permanent home for the annuals, Lyons Roars, photographs, sports history, reunion memories, recollections and memorials that tell the story of our school and its people.
Why We Do It
Those of us who attended Lyons High School remember much more than a building.
We remember teachers and coaches. Football games and pep rallies. Classrooms and hallways. Friends we haven’t seen in years and friends who are no longer with us. We remember reunions, funny stories, school traditions and things that probably wouldn’t mean much to anyone who wasn’t there.
But they mean something to us.
That’s what this website is for.
To remember what it was like to go to Lyons High School, to preserve the history and memories of the people who were there, and to help the Lyons High School family keep up with one another today.
As long as those memories are being shared, a little bit of Lyons High School is still with us.
We hope you enjoy visiting the website, whether you’re remembering your own days at Lyons High School, looking for an old friend, or simply learning more about the school and the people who were part of it. We welcome your comments, corrections, suggestions and, especially, your memories. Please use our Contact page to get in touch with us.
About the Editors
Larry M. Griggers, Class of 1966
Webmaster
Billy Yarbrough, Class of 1965
Sports Editor