This evening, people will be gathering at a fancy country club to enjoy a (catered) dinner AND to celebrate a milestone for students in San Juan High School’s “Class of 1976”: Our 50th high school class reunion. Sadly, I’ll be with them in spirit only, but I’ll be celebrating (at my holler in Kentucky) with a fancy (home-cooked) dinner of my own.
In a recent San Juan Alumni Association newsletter, I found the following article that I thought was interesting (and, of course, brought back memories), so I thought I’d share it with y’all. Here goes…
“Fifty Years Ago At San Juan High School
Spartans celebrate the Bicentennial of the USA. Two new companies are incorporated — Apple and Microsoft, maybe they will do well. Jimmy Carter defeats Gerald Ford for the US Presidency.
The musical group ABBA has a breakout hit with “Dancing Queen”. Men and boys sport long hair and polyester bell-bottoms.
The Greenback Notes for ’76 is dedicated to Mr. George Sakamoto. George had been forcibly interned at a camp for Japanese Americans at Heart Mountain, Wyoming, with his mother, father, brother, and two sisters from 1942 to 1945.
The Wrestling Team are CVC Champions. Don Phipps and Glen Cooper are stars.
A foreign exchange student from Costa Rica, Orlando Pacheco attends San Juan as does Eva Renning from Norway.
Sports teams include water polo and women’s gymnastics, bowling, and badminton.
San Juan activities include the Cadet Corps and a Black Student Union. The marching band has fancy uniforms; the drum major is David Haigh.”
So, there you have it: some information about what was happening in my high school way back when!
Note: I highlighted “bowling” above because I was actually on San Juan High School’s bowling team, and I’ve even still got a miniature wooden bowling pin with my high score (of 123, if I remember correctly) on it! Finding that relic from my past in the reliquary really brought back memories — as did finding this article from the alumni association’s recent newsletter.