FAIRHOPE, Ala. — More than 150 alumni, faculty, friends and family members gathered June7 at the First Baptist Church of Fairhope to pay tribute to Blanche Simmons, the woman who inspired thousands of music students during her years as band director at Fairhope High School.

Simmons, 79, died Dec. 19 at a Hunstville, Ala. hospital.

Simmons began her tenure in Fairhope in 1955 and retired in 1985.

After they learned of her death, several former students began organizing an annual band alumni reunion. Last Saturday, the first one was held and dedicated to Simmons.

“The response from the alumni and the community was a true tribute to the number of lives Miss Simmons influenced in her career at FHS,” said George Miller, the main organizer of the event. “During the program, we laughed, we cried, and we remembered how Miss Simmons influenced us as students, musicians and now even as adults.”

Alumni from the first year Simmons was at Fairhope attended the event, and those in attendance browsed through yearbooks, photos, news clippings and pages of awards bestowed on the band under her direction, as they shared their favorite “Blanche’s Army” story, he said.

The program included the talent of alumni who are still active musicians today.

Miller said several alumni shared favorite memories with the group, including how Simmons ran the football team off the field when it was time for the band to practice.

The keynote address was delivered by Lacey Powell, a colleague of Simmons, who shared memories of Simmons from other colleagues throughout the area, Miller said.

Wilhelmina Todd, former band club president, read the resolution of special tribute she wrote following Simmons’ retirement, which included a list of awards and honors the band received during Simmons’ career in Fairhope. Todd also presented a framed resolution to be hung in the new band hall at FHS.

Sarah Chaney, Simmons’ niece, spoke on behalf of the Simmons family, expressing her gratitude for the love shown to Simmons during her career at Fairhope. Simmons’ sister, Elizabeth Smith, and sister-in-law, Lenelle Simmons, also attended the event, along with other family members.

A door collection at the event netted $700 to be donated to the FHS Band in memory of Miss Simmons.

The program closed with an arrangement of “Just a Closer Walk with Thee,” performed by Dale Crow and Mickey Megginson. It had the group clapping their hands in tempo, as they remembered their beloved director.

“Miss Simmons was such a wonderful lady,” wrote Lisa Searcy DeMiller in a comment to the story on the Fairhope Courier Web site with the obituary that ran on Jan. 2. “I have thought of her so often over the years, I will not ever forget her and the years I spent in her band. She was tough and she expected a lot from all of us, but she was always there if we needed anything. She was an incredible influence in my life and gave me great encouragement. She gave us such a feeling of pride. It was an honor to have known her. She will be greatly missed.”