Re-printed form the LIGHT and CHAMPION, Friday, October 11, 1996.

By MATTHEW POSTINS, EDITOR.

    To hear John Reagan Harris tell it, Saturday morning will be much ado about nothing.  On Saturday during the Alumni Association meeting at the Center High School cafetorium, beginning at 10 a.m., Mr. Harris will become the latest inductee in the CHS Alumni Hall of Honor.  Unbeknownst to him, Mr. Harris was nominated for the award, selected by the CHS Alumni Board and notified last week of the honor.  He will be on hand Saturday morning to receive the award.   But, Mr. Harris, who graduated from Center High School in 1946 and spent 14 years at CHS as a teacher, says the award just doesn't feel right.   "It's a little bit embarrassing," he said during a visit to his home last week, the home he grew up in.  " There are so many others that I can think of that deserve it.  I don't know that I do at all."  A quick look at Mr. Harris' life shows why someone took the time to put his name in the pot for consideration.  A resident of Center all his life, he went to Baylor University and graduated with bachelor's degrees in business, English and music.   He returned home to help his father with his hardware business in Center.  Mr. Harris thought the business would be something  he would inherit, until health problems intervened.  "I grew up in my father's hardware business, and I went into school as a business major, because it was just natural," said Mr. Harris.   "When  his health got bad, the business was too big for us to handle an we thought it best I not try that much responsibility on my own."  That led him to teaching.  He said he enjoyed school as a teenager and liked the classroom environment, so in 1957 he began a 14 year stint as an English and Spanish teacher at CHS.   During the summers, Mr. Harris would indulge in travel, something he would continue after he left the profession in 1971.  He spent summers taking students on filed trips to Mexico.  He left for a summer in Spain to learn Spanish.  He has spent time in much of Europe, and has visited every state in the union except Alaska, and he plans to do that next year.  All along, though he has been a very active member of the community.  He is a long-time member of First Baptist Church in Center, as a member of the choir and the F.L. Moffett Sunday School class.  He was also responsible for the design of the church's Sanctuary about 20 years ago, even though he had no experience in that field.  He has been a member of the Rotary Club for 13 years and currently serves as secretary-treasurer.  He was named to the District Roll Hall of Fame in 1979 an is a former Paul Harris Fellow.   He has also volunteered for the American Cancer Society for the last 24 years, serving locally and on the state board of directors, including a term as state director.  He was also county chairman of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission, and served as president   of the historical society and the county historical commission, which helped oversee the exterior restoration of the historical 1885 Shelby County Courthouse.  He is a member of the Sons of the Republic of Texas, and he also coordinated the production of the Shelby County History Book, which includes historical information on Shelby County and its people.   "We worked four years on it, and we had a lot of help form everyone in the county," said Mr. Harris.  In between all that, Mr. Harris got back in the hardware business, forming East Tex Builders' Warehouse, which lasted about 10 years in Shelby County.  That list makes it apparent why the committee chose Mr. Harris.  He says his contribution to the area come from his upbringing, basically.  "I guess it's my heritage and background.  And a love for people I guess," he said. "It's one reason you teach school.  It's a lasting contribution."  The Class of '46 celebrated its graduation in conjunction with the Class of '45 last year, since the two classes were closely knit.   Harris is looking forward to seeing some of his old classmates again and reminiscing about the past, which lends some insight into the changes in the world--and Center--in the last 50 years.  "We graduated during the war years, and times were different then, and it's always interesting to remember the conditions we lived in back then---gas and tire rationing---which people don't know anything about nowadays." he said.  "There were no cars on campus except for a few faculty members who had cars.  Most of them walked to school.  Today, the parking lot is jammed.  "I think we've been fortunate in that we've kept up.  We don't look like a small town that hasn't kept up.  I think we have a very active business climate here. I'm proud of Center, and I don't feel I missed anything here."   It's doubtful many classmates will miss him being honored Saturday morning, though he says he's been promised it will be brief.  Mr. Harris also says he doesn't plan to say much on his behalf.  Fortunately, his life speaks volumes about the man who lived it.  " It's very humbling."  he said.  "I still don't feel that I belong in that group.

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