RELATED STORY: Wild West Festival 2024: Day 3 Quiet Riot
By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Hays was the site on Saturday of a long-anticipated reunion for two women who grew up in Florida.
Ruth Prince and Gloria Trammell met in junior high in 1969 while growing up in Miami, Florida.
The two were the closest friends until they graduated high school in 1973.
The friends lost track of each other, but recently, Prince and Trammil reconnected through classmates on Facebook.
"I put on our high school site, 'Does anyone know where Geni Trammell is? The same day I put it on, I got a return message. I found her, and I was overcome with joy, believe me," Prince said.
Prince now lives in Blackwell, Oklahoma, and Trammell lives in Denver.
The two decided they would reunite halfway between their two homes last year in Colby.
"It was a little boring," Trammell said, "because you blink your eye and you're already done."
"I searched some more, and I saw they were having a Wild Wild West Festival here in Hays," Trammell said. "I said let's meet there, so I reserved the hotel room right away.
"We bought tickets online, and we are here six hours later each."
The duo went to multiple nights of festival concerts and sat in the front row in the VIP section. They also watched the fireworks on Thursday night and attended the festival parade on Saturday.
"We sat in the parking lot for six hours all by ourselves," Prince said of the two taking time to talk and catch up.
The duo hugged, and Prince was almost brought to tears.
"It's like it never was ever, ever," Trammell said with a huge smile and laugh.
"We're just really happy that we found each other, and we can enjoy each other's company again," Prince said.
The two friends were the special guests of the Wild West Festival on Saturday night and were recognized before the Quiet Riot show.
The friends have been invited to attend the festival next year, and the two women said they are looking forward to coming back to Hays.