NATCHEZ — Thirty years later the campus looks a little different to members of the South Natchez High School class of 1979, but many memories from their high school years are still fresh.

And on Saturday several members of that class gathered at the former South Natchez High School campus, now Natchez High School, for a tour of the school and a little reminiscing as part of their 30-year class reunion

Some members have remained in Natchez since graduating from high school or returned to town years ago, but at least one member of the class of 1979 crossed state lines to see old friends.

Rachel Stroud drove 10 hours with her 3-year-old son Ian from her Austin, Texas home to be at the reunion.

“I have not set foot in this town since the 20-year reunion,” she said. “It was time to get back and see friends.”

Stroud said that since she had been gone from Natchez for so long she didn’t know what to expect, but once entering the city limits, she was proud of what she saw.

“The town looks better than it has in a long time,” she said. “Coming back now I can really understand the decisions my parents made about raising children here.”

And though she hasn’t been in town in 10 years, Stroud said she is able to keep up with her former classmates on a Web site dedicated to students from the school, www.snhscolonels.ning.com.

Some classmates only had a 10-minute drive to the reunion site. Denise Seale of Natchez said coming back to the campus with several of her classmates brought back memories from her high school years that she hadn’t thought about is many years.

“The classes and the teachers are the two things I’m remembering the most,” she said. “Its nice to get back here and see everyone, too.”

Faye Williams of Natchez brought her daughter Sarah with her to the reunion and was happy other members of the class brought their children and grandchildren as well.

“We want to see our classmates, but we also want to see their children and grandchildren,” she said. “Today, we have kids from 3 all the way up to 25, and we want to know what’s going on with everyone.”