The Party's Over....

...but the fun continues on!

As I write, the reunion website counter shows 54 days since our 50th reunion. After all the anticipation and preparation, it was over much too soon.  100 classmates, 7 teachers, and our party-loving "dates" (totaling 171) gathered at Rainier Golf & CC to commemorate 50 years since graduation.

It was all the committee hoped for and more with the best turnout ever and a room full of smiles, laughter and hugs -- a true class reunion with each person in the room adding to the joy of the occasion.  We enjoyed the perfect location, the wonderful food, the decorations and memorabilia, the music (singing some of it ourselves to Ralph Metcalfe's piano playing), the weather, the teachers, the memories -- but most of all we enjoyed the company and visiting with those we hadn't connected with for 50 years!

And the fun goes on -- nearly two months later the committee is still receiving happy responses from everyone there as we all continue the celebration curled up with our wonderful Memory Books and visiting the Facebook page and reunion website, with the postings of photos and comments from our special evening.  It was a night to remember--a night when everyone there seemed proud of our class and proud to be a Glacier Grizzly. The Grizzly spirit seemed to grow with the years!

Thank you all for helping to make it worthy of fifty years and for looking forward to more good times to come!


Following are a few highlights of the evening and the transcript of the tribute to our class delivered during the dinner program by Reunion Chair, Diana (Stillwell) Carew:

Senior Photo -- June, 1964

Click on photos to enlarge

Senior "Citizen" Photo -- September, 2014

Good evening, everyone.  I'll interrupt the visiting briefly, if I may, to present a short program, introduce your reunion committee, and to say a few words about our class and our wonderful time together this evening.  You get just one 50th reunion in life and the evening is moving quickly and tomorrow this will all be a memory...and we want it to be a memory worthy of 50 years.  So just a few minutes from our visiting to maybe gather our thoughts and reflect upon 50 years.

Fifty years...wow! Half a Century!  That's such a long time! It's an unimaginable length of time when you're 17 or 18 looking forward.  It's an instant when you're standing at your 50th reunion surrounded by old classmates and suddenly it's like you're 17 again and no time has passed at all.

Nathan Scott wrote:  "It's the oldest story in the world.  One day you're 17 and planning for some day, and then quietly, without you ever really noticing, some day is today, and that some day is yesterday, and this is your life."  

So it's no small occasion--this 50th reunion--and we're glad so many members of our class  have come from far and near to celebrate together.  101 members of our class are here, coincidentally just one less than the 102 classmates on the "lost" list when Wanda (Swansby Jones--co-chair) and I began to update the roster five years past.  So we are gratified so many are here to make the most of this occasion to celebrate fifty years and remember old times.

We are joined tonight by seven of our teachers, our honored guests, whom I'll introduce in a bit, and by our spouses and family members whom we thank for coming along and for supporting and tolerating all this.  171 of us are here in the room to mark this occasion -- some coming from across the street and some from across the country.  It's a small miracle and a grand occasion to have us all here!

I've been studying our class picture, (at top here) and maybe you have too -- the Glacier High School Class of 1964.  I'm struck by the image of that young class looking back at us through the divide of our adult lives.  High school seniors looking back at seniors of another kind -- the kind that gets senior discounts, AARP membership and all that!  236 of us are in the picture, the first of the "Baby Boomers".  Not a nose ring or a "tatt" to be seen (though we may have some now).  The guys with their crew cuts and some wearing ties.  Us gals with our "big hair" and wearing skirts.  And if that skirt was above the knees it meant being sent to the office to go home and change!

We thought we looked "cool"!  But we thought that in the 10-year reunion photo too!  (We look back now at the wide lapels and sideburns and wonder "what were we thinking"?)

10-year reunion (1974)

In our senior photo, how young and eager we look, ready to take on life.  Some of the guys look like they're afraid Mr. Gordon is going to nab them when they get off the bleachers.  Mr Gordon.  I never knew his first name ("Flash!" remarked Jerry Thornton.  "You teachers called him that too?" remarks Diana).  Yes, Flash!  Flash Gordon.  I'm sure you guys called him a few other choice names too!

It must have been tough to keep our class in line.  They must have coined the phrase "like herding cats" to describe us and our generation (witness a few minutes ago trying to get us all rounded up for our group photo in the next room!).  We were the first of the Baby Boomers and we wanted to do things our own way -- still do!

It was a time of change we came out of, a time of moving on from the carefree days of the 50's with English Racers, hula hoops, and B&W television--with no remotes.  (Anyone under 50 says, "What?! They had t.v.'s with no remote?!") Do you sometimes feel like a dinosaur?  

It was a time of cool music, cooler cars, the Seattle World's Fair and the sophisticated style of the 60's.  And our lives were touched with the insecurity of the "cold war", air raid drills, racial conflict and Sputnik circling overhead.  All magnified with violence by the assassination of President Kennedy in our junior year.  And then, his brother, Bobby, and Martin Luther King.  

We were hearing about Vietnam (where some of our boys went, and thankfully they all came home), and we were hearing about space exploration, and a new computerized world and we weren't sure what all that would mean.  

We lived in the time of being asked what we could do for our country and seeing the first man walk on the moon.  We followed the rules -- mostly -- but our generation began to question authority and the status quo.  Even the music signaled change in the new sound of rock and roll from a new British group with weird haircuts -- the British invasion.  Remember all that?  So that's where we were when our senior picture was taken and it's been a lifetime since then.  

Our Senior Song, we sang moments ago, mentions that "some go east and some go west" and that we sure did.  About 10 went east to Idaho, the mid-west and east coast; 3 went north to Alaska; and one went waaaay south to Putre, Chile (Barb Knapton); 12 now live in Arizona.  But most stayed on the west coast in California, Oregon or Washington.  Some moved away and came back.  149 of us are now living here in the state of Washington -- 7 in the same zip code as Glacier.  Sadly, 48 of us have passed away* and are recognized on the memorial board in the next room.  

And 101 of us came back together this day to remember our old school, our era, old friends, and celebrate this golden reunion for our class.  I salute us all for the good fortune to be able to be here to celebrate together.  To the future before us, to the present around us, and to the past -- the 17-year-old's in all of us!  To our Glacier High School Class of '64 -- let's give ourselves a hand!  

* Two more classmates were added to the memorial wall by 10/26/14 for a total of 50 of our classmates now deceased.  

Teacher Recognition

And now, I'd like to introduce our guests of honor, seven of our teachers who are here to celebrate with us tonight.  We're happy to have them here to give us the chance to do what we probably never thought to do as students, thank them for the skills and life lessons we carried with us into life.  In school we took them for granted, like young people do so many things and people, and we're pleased to thank them now for their contributions to our lives and to mark and celebrate the passage of fifty years in their lives too.

I'd like to introduce:

Lindy Aliment and his wife, Marlys.  Lindy taught algebra, distributive education and was junior counselor.

Jamel (Hassen) Barden and her husband, Paul.  Mrs. Barden taught typing, shorthand, and was the advisor to the cheerleading staff.

Howard Hubbard and his wife, Barbara.  Mr. Hubbard taught mathematics.

Bernie Johnston who taught history and contemporary problems.

Fred Minahan who taught p.e., math, and coached basketball and j.v. baseball.

Jerry Thornton who taught biology and p.e. and coached baseball.

Joyce Williams who taught English, was a counselor, GHS '64 Class Advisor and Tri-Hi-Y Advisor.

Thank you for being with us here tonight and for making a difference in every day of our lives! 

ROLL CALL 

Wanda (Swansby) Jones and Alex Thole introduce all the classmates in the room A through Z.

MEMORIAL TRIBUTE

Judy (Huntington) Jewell led the memorial tribute to our deceased classmates with a moment of silence intoned by a chime.  

SUNRISE, SUNSET

Ralph Metcalfe played "Sunrise, Sunset" from Fiddler on the Roof, a musical tribute to the passing of time.  And who can forget our "Flash Mob" sing-along ahead of our group photo singing The Senior Song again that we sang at our Class Day?! 

Co-Chairs' introduction of the Reunion Committee & presentation of orchids (our class Flower) to the Sub-Committee Chairs.  Orchids to this wonderful committee!

We sang our Alma Mater led by our cheerleaders:

Glacier gals wore our Glacier blue & gold scarves handmade and presented by Hugh More:

We enjoyed all the collected memorabilia and beautiful decorations by Val Magee and the Decorations Team:

After the dinner program we enjoyed the Dessert Bistro, more visiting & picked up our Memory Books:

Beth (Strauss) Julicher holding copy of Memory Book, with editor Vicki (Hostetler) Jackson

Recognize the cover replicating that of our Senior Annual? 

Thank you to Vicki Hostetler Jackson and her Memory Book Committee for our awesome memento!!

And What a Sweet Ending to our Evening!

Did you try the chocolate cupcake with peanut butter frosting and a garnish of a Reece's piece? OMG!

Thank you to Chris Parkinson Nasinec for the beautiful and delicious Dessert Bistro!  So many beautiful choices -- most handmade by Chris.  Talk about a labor of love!  Thank you Anita Sollie Schenk for the yummy cookies too!  

Most of all we enjoyed the company of our classmates and marking this milestone  reunion -- GHS '64 together again in one room!  

What a wonderful night!  For more photos and reflections, visit the websites below.  Add your photos too!  And be sure to notify your co-chairs if you change your email address or move so you're in the loop for the next gathering of your Glacier Family. 

Thank you to the members of the committee for the beautiful and generous gift baskets for your chair and co-chair.  Such a surprise--so thoughtful and heartfelt. Thank you for making the journey so special!

Click on the links below to visit our websites:

Reunion Website and Memorial Wall

GHS '64 Private Facebook Site (Class of '64 roster only)

https://ghs6450threunion.shutterfly.com/   (To order prints of candid and group photos from our reunion)

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Submitted October 31, 2014
Diana (Stillwell) Carew

GHS '64

To Our Alma Mater

Alma Mater:

1) A school, college or university one has attended or from which one has graduated
2) The song or hymn of a school, college or university
3) Latin:  bounteous or fostering mother

I visited our old school not long ago, not knowing what to expect, and was surprised at what I found.  At the time it was an alternative high school and the grass areas had been mowed and trimmed.  I only looked through the windows of the 100 building, the cafeteria, and the entrance to the gym, but, for a campus that had been in such limbo since it closed in 1980, it looked pretty good!

Recent photos posted on the GHS alum Facebook site show the sum of its years on other parts of campus with broken and boarded up windows and other signs of decline.  I felt an affinity with our old campus clearly showing its age after 53 years. But the old buildings are still standing (except for the 200 building demolished because of mold).  Our school may not have been a "bounteous or fostering mother" to many of us but the buildings served our needs and, for most of us, our entire high school experience--an important phase of our lives--was shared in that space.

We've read, if a school levy passes this fall, that Glacier will be razed and a new Middle School will be built in its place.  Our alma mater will be no more.  If we feel "orphaned" by losing the remnant of memory the buildings represent in that place, at least we can know that it will be vibrant again with young lives -- some perhaps the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Glacier alums.  And we won't have to see it decline further if we have courage to visit at all. But it's a sad day to think of the walls of our school coming down, as it must have been sad in June, 1980, when Glacier closed its doors for the last time.

Click on photos to enlarge
Thank you to Wanda (Swansby) Jones for providing this article.

Whether its buildings exist or not, Glacier, its students, and teachers are part of the fabric of our lives, and, looking back, we see that our school was more than bricks and mortar--an important piece of our life cycle and formative memory.  Our "alma mater" will exist in our memories for all time.

Say the words "alma mater", though, and most of us think of our school song.  In tribute to our school and its spirit we sang our Alma Mater together after every assembly.  At athletic events, the team would line up facing us all after a hard fought game, and, with our song and yell staff leading us, we would sing together.  In my view, bonding experiences weren't abundant at Glacier but I found this to be one--the words of the Alma Mater bringing our voices together as classmates, making us aware that we were only there for a short time before moving on.

And move on we did for fifty amazing years!  We've gathered together a few times but our largest reunion yet is on the near horizon and we've found the words of the Alma Mater to be true.  The memories really did linger on and on and now it's time to "celebrate & remember" them all! We'll be gathering in a few short weeks to do just that!  And we'll be singing our Alma Mater as we did back then.  So refresh yourself on the words and maybe the melody will come back too. Our class of '64 is something to celebrate!  Fifty years is something more!  How meaningful at our age to stand together again and sing loud and proud for the spirit of Glacier--our Alma Mater!  Can't wait to see you there!

To our Alma Mater

We give our hearts to thee

Forever to the Blue & Gold

We pledge our loyalty

Through halls that ring our echo

We march to goals unknown

With courage and with leadership

And spirit proudly shown

Glacier we will cherish

Through all the years to come

And when we're gone

The memories will linger on and on...

FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  

JULY/AUGUST, 1964

Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past: world news headlines, cultural trends, and Glacier happenings from our senior year.

We began our summer perhaps with a new sense of freedom and contemplating our future after graduation in June.  Some of us began jobs or tours of duty in the service, others enjoyed what may have been their last carefree days of summer and summer jobs before heading off to college.  We likely stayed in touch with a few of our classmates, enjoyed summer and perhaps a last vacation with our families before beginning the next stage of our lives. By summer's end our high school days were put firmly in the past and the class of '64 had moved on. 

 In the rest of the world...

NEWS HEADLINES

(Click on photos to enlarge)

JULY

--President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law abolishing racial segregation in the U.S.

--Alabama Governor, George Wallace, makes a speech condemning the Civil Rights Act claiming it will threaten individual liberty, free enterprise and property rights.

--The 35th Major League Baseball All-Star Game is held at Shea Stadium; won by the National League.

--U.S. Casualties in Vietnam rose to 1,387, including 399 dead and 17 MIA.

--At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khahn calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

--Viet Cong forces attack a provincial capital killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians, 30 of which are children.

--The Beatles return to Liverpool in triumph following their first international tour and just in time for the premiere of their movie "A Hard Day's Night".  More than 300 people are injured when a crowd of more than 150,000 welcome them home.

--At the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, U.S. Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, declares that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice", and "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue".  

--Six days of race riots begin in Harlem

--President Johnson announces the commissioning of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

--The U.S. sends 5,000 more military advisors to South Vietnam bringing the total U.S. forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

--Former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill retires from the House of Commons at the age of 89.

--Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photos of the moon.  Images are 1,000 times clearer than anything ever before seen from Earth-bound telescopes.

AUGUST

--The final Looney Tune, "Senorella and the Glass Huarache", is released before the Warner Bros. Cartoon Division is shut down by Jack Warner.  

--U.S. destroyers, USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy, are attacked in the Gulf of Tomkin. The next day "Operation Pierce Arrow" had aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bombing North Vietnam in retaliation.

--U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tomkin Resolution giving President Johnson broad war powers to combat North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

--In a coup Nguyen Khanh replaces Durong Van Minh as South Vietnam's Chief of State and establishes a new Constitution drafted partly by the U.S. Embassy.

--A Rolling Stones gig in Scheveningen gets out of control and riot police shut it down after 15 minutes, upon which spectators start to fight the riot police.

--The International Olympics Committee bans South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics on the grounds that its teams are racially segregated.

--The Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City nominates encumbent Lyndon B. Johnson for a full term and U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.

--Philadelphia 1964 Race Riot:  Tensions between African-American residents and police result in 341 injuries and 774 arrests spanning three days.  

--Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" has its world premiere in Los Angeles.  It will go on to become Disney's biggest money maker and winner of 5 Academy Awards, including a Best Actress award for Julie Andrews.  "Mary Poppins" is the first Disney movie to be nominated for Best Picture.  

MOVIES YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE TO SEE: SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA U.S. #1 FILMS BY WEEK

• Circus World, Paramount, John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale, Rita Hayworth

• The Killers, Universal Studios, Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, Ronald Reagan
• The Moon-Spinners, Walt Disney Studios, Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery
• Marnie, Universal Pictures, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery

• The Night of the Iguana, MGM, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

• A Hard Day's Night, United Artists, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
• Mary Poppins, Walt Disney Studios, Julie Andrews, Dick VanDyke, Glynis Johns, David Tomlinson

BOOKS ON THE NY TIMES BEST SELLER LIST:  (top five adult fiction a/o August 1964)

• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre, #1 from February 23 until October 24, 1964
• Armegeddon, by Leon Uris
• Julian, by Gore Vidal
• Candy, by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg
• The Rector of Justin, by Louis Auchincloss

TV EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING:

• British Television showed the first television kiss between white and black actors.
• American Bandstand

• Combat

• The Andy Griffith Show

Music you would have heard (on your transistor radio?): 

(Source: Billboard #1 Singles 1964--click on the title to listen)

• I Get Around, The Beach Boys (Weeks of July 4 & 11)
• Rag Doll, The Four Seasons Featuring Frankie Valli (Weeks of 18 & 25)
• A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles (Weeks of August 1 & 8)
• Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin (Week of August 15)
• Where Did Our Love Go, The Supremes (Weeks of August 22 & 29)

grizzly happenings - BACK TO THE FUTURE

AUGUST 2014

From summer 1964 to summer 2014 we are transported through this blog "time machine" from our high school past through the fifty years to our future present. As Nathan Scott said:  "It's the oldest story in the world.  One day you're seventeen and planning for someday, and then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today, and that someday is yesterday, and this is your life."  We've lived it a day at a time and suddenly we're here, fifty years from graduation.  In many ways it seems only yesterday, and in other ways a lifetime of years.  

The words of another song we sang as a class come to mind as we think about standing on the threshold of our lives back then.  We sang "The Senior Song" together at our graduation and the words of that song mean much more now as we prepare to see one another again.

Senior Song

Performed during our Class Day Program

Sailing on, Sailing on, O'er the sea of life

Sailing, on, Sailing on, Beginning worldly strife.

As we leave, we will grieve, our class of '64

But we'll meet again to greet on that distant shore.

Sailing on, Sailing on, Our true friends of the past

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last.

Sailing on, Sailing on, O'er the sea of life

Sailing on, Sailing on, Beginning worldly strife.

Some go east, some go west, each his task to do,

But we'll meet again to greet Glacier friends so true.

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last,

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last,

Love you to the last....

As the song says, some of us went east and some went west and we've disbursed without much thought of the years that went before.  We've lived through some amazing times and witnessed and participated in a lot of change.  Sometimes we find ourselves reminiscing about how much simpler life was then, looking at the "Back to the 50's and 60's" videos passed around by email, remembering when.  

After all the years, it feels like time to regroup with the people and memories from our past.  Our 50th reunion will be the biggest reunion our class has ever had, with 101 classmates there--add a few teachers, our spouses and companions and we will have a great gathering with 172!  We're looking forward to sharing old memories while making new ones with so many members of our class together once again!  

I hope you've enjoyed this bi-monthly blog counting us down through our senior year to the big day of our 50th reunion.  The research and writing have shown in what a pivotal time we've lived with numerous seeds of things to come planted in our high school years.  Writing this blog provided a means to explore that past in a way I might not have otherwise done so I appreciate that opportunity to reconcile the present with the past.

We're just a few weeks and days away from our milestone reunion, celebrating that past, and then "Sailing On" again.  At almost 70 years of age, it's sweet to see the excitement build as classmates ask about old friends, remember old times, and look forward to connecting again with people we knew as kids. We look forward to seeing those faces and smiles again, and for the few hours we are together, we can remember times when we were young, the era we shared, the silly things we did--and for the span of that time and ever after, the Glacier spirit lives on!  See you then!  

For reunion details and info visit our 50th reunion website: https://sites.google.com/site/glacierhighschoolclassof1964/home

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Submitted August 8, 2014

Diana (Stillwell) Carew

GHS '64