Back in 1882 Parmer County was a part of the XIT Ranch. In 1902 Mr. A. Laird bought 10,240 acres of the XIT land that became known as the Star Ranch. In 1924 Andrew “Buddy” Sherley purchased eight sections of land that included the Star Ranch and its headquarters. Some of this land, and later more, was shared by the Sherley family to the community for a school. After about six moves and changes, by 1925, the Lazbuddie school now still stands on Sherley land.

It also happens that the community came to be known as Lazbuddie, combining the nicknames of friends Buddy Sherley and  Lazzereth Green, whose real name was D. Luther, both of whom were instrumental in the early days of the town. And the spelling originally was Lazbuddy, but after a misspelling at the post office that was not corrected, over time the name Lazbuddie stuck.

So, now a hundred years have passed, and Lazbuddie is still going strong. Lazbuddie alumni Scott Miller, Carolyn Scott, Dana Rempe, Terrie Smith, Vicki Morris, Susan Kerby, Pat Randolph, Debbie Weir, Jacob Schacher, and current school superintendent Brad Jones knew a hundred years was something that needed to be celebrated and acknowledged, so they made the 100 Year Lazbuddie Reunion a reality. The community celebrated this milestone August 2, 2025, at the home of the Lazbuddie Longhorns on FM 1172.

The parking lot was overflowing and the happy visiting in the high school hallway was deafening as I walked in the main entrance to the building.  I saw some familiar faces of friends who had grown up in Lazbuddie, but had businesses in Muleshoe as I checked out the displays provided by present and former residents of the town documenting the history of the community. Many three, four, and five generation families still live here.

Dana McDonald Rempe and others gathered up old yearbooks to be looked through for memories.

Dana and her sister Connie and brothers Donnie and Johnny gathered mementoes from the McDonald family’s school days.

Then there was the Glenn Scott  family display. put together by Carolyn Nail Scott  and Terrie Smith.

One of the familiar faces i saw was Stevie Foster, talking here to Scott Miller. I had not run into Stevie in a long time.

Dana had come across boxes of pictures her recently deceased mother Marlene Cargil McDonald had stored away and brought them for people to take home if they wanted them. I was impressed with the pictures in their frames, something my high school did not do. One of the perks of a small school.

Many pictures, articles, and information had been taped to the hall walls for people to read. Several were pages from a 1933 school newsletter that even had a paragraph about when David Gallman’s parents were married!

Harrol Redwine was featured, too. I had written a blog story about him and recognized him as I looked at all the pictures.

Debbie Weir, a retired science teacher was there. She had taken the first robotics team to contest where they  had done quite well, placing eighth against many larger schools in the state. You will also notice the t-shirt she is wearing, which many of the attendees were wearing, and are still for sale if you are interested in getting one.

Jacob Schacher, a current coach, told me about the golf scramble they had Friday at Dimmitt. They would have had it at Muleshoe, but it conflicted with the Muleskinner tournament thad was already scheduled for the same weekend. You will recognize many Lazbuddie family names who participated and won something. First place went to Jacob Schacher, Kayle Jesko, Colton Weaver. Todd Nichols. Second place was won by Dennis Steinbock, Kyler Steinock, Amberlee Altman, Cody Altman.3rd was Terry Jeski, Janene Jesko, Lacey Lennon, Dustin Lennon. The longest drive was hit by Lacey Lennon, and the closest to the pin as hit by Terry Jesko.

I caught Paul Wilbanks in a contemplative moment listening to stories shared by some of his classmates.

Scott Miller, MC for the evening, got things rolling.

Superintendent Brad Jones welcomed everyone to the event.

Becky Schacher’s daughter Sava was persuaded to lead everyone in singing “God Bless America.”

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Former band director John Hudspeth then played the school song and everyone joined in singing. They had not forgotten the lyrics.

Reggie Treider and Cara Smith King gave out a few special awards to honor people who had gone above and beyond to help the school over the years.

Mr. Hudspeth, the first band director who started the music program, was honored.

Donna Glover was recognized for her tireless years as band booster president.

Two women who always seem to be there when needed for things school-related and otherwise were also awarded- Betty Smith and Shirley Steinbock Smith.

Scott then wanted to recognize groups of people who had been busy through the years doing things for the school. He asked former cheerleaders, board members, past teachers, present teachers, to all stand. Many were there and stood to applause. He asked all veterans or families with someone in the military to stand. Then he took the time to go through the years and asked graduates all the way back to the beginning to stand. I don’t think anyone from the 30s and 40s were still around to share the spotlight, but I was told that Joy Daniels Wilterding, 99, is the oldest living graduate of Lazbuddie High School, class of 1947. When Scott called out the 50s, some graduates stood, and then when he got to the 60s, a bunch of them were happy to stand and make some noise! The 70s and 80s were well represented, but when it got to the 90s, 2000s, and up, well, not many had showed up. You know how the world is changing, and the young ones don’t seem to see the importance of events like this anymore and tend not to come. Scott admonished the crowd-“These are your kids, get them here!” he said.

The Mason family was recognized as the family with the longest history in the community, with five generations of the family still living here with kids going to Lazbuddie schools: Ryan Mason and his sons, Rannen, Riker, River, along with Ryan’s grandmother, Billie were there to represent the family.

Scott had more fun than anyone else when he played trivia with the audience asking questions relating to Lazbuddie school history. He asked all kinds of questions, like who came the farthest, who was the first school superintendent, who was the co-captain of the ’53 girls basketball team, who were the class officers for class of ’57, who was on the ’61 track team that won state, who placed at the Houston stock show, who threw the shot put the farthest, and all kinds of obscure questions. But when he asked what did Lanelle Skaggs teach, the whole group, including me, hollered out, “English!”

Scott ended by asking people to share their thoughts on what growing up in Lazbuddie meant to them. Reggie Treider talked about how glad he was to have grown up in Lazbuddie, and Carl Bodiford, who didn’t grow up in Lazbuddie but had his first teaching job here, shared the impact that first job had on his life.

Superintendent Jones gave an update on upgrades to the school facilities, faculty, the staff nursery for employee’s’ children, student achievements, and the results of the district’s recent move to four-day weeks.

Scott then asked Mr. Hudspeth to end the program with “Taps,” Brad Treider blessed the meal to come, and the crowd made their way to the food catered by Darin McKenzie of  McKenzie’s BBQ in Conroe, Texas, quite a drive! Katherine Smith was his mom, so he was familiar with the community. Long drive or not, he has catered other reunions in Lazbuddie before and enjoys the visits.

By this time, I was freezing like hanging meat-the superintendent had mentioned an upgrade in the air conditioning somewhere in the building! So, I left, saying goodbye to the Longhorn I had missed on my way in.

Stories had been told about vehicles used when they were students, and some had been brought to the reunion, so I went to the end of the parking lot, and sure enough, there they were-except the one Jerry Gleason was bringing, which only made it as far Ted Treider’s store.

More than once during the night Scott extolled the merits of growing up in a small community like Lazbuddie. it was apparent that the rest of the audience felt the same way and valued the lives they had made, and are still making, in that little piece of the XIT.

Go Longhorns.