The Valley Line: Reunions draw faraway classmates to town
Molly (Busch) Brockmeyer and her husband Neal Brockmeyer, both of whom grew up in La Cañada and continue to call it home, coordinated the 60th reunion for the John Muir High School Class of 1956 that took place on Oct. 6 to 8.
The weekend-long reunion consisted of a golf outing at Brookside, a reception at El Cholo in Paseo Colorado, a lunch and tour of the Huntington Library, Art Collection and Botanical Gardens and a Sunday picnic on the Muir campus, located on Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena.
The picnic included a performance by the John Muir High School drum section and tours of Muir Ranch and the John Muir Historical Museum.
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The 1956 class was the first to go through the new four-year La Cañada Junior High School on Cornishon Avenue before finishing at John Muir High School.
At that time, La Cañada Junior High School was part of the Pasadena Unified School District and was fed by La Cañada Elementary School and Linda Vista Elementary School in Pasadena. This all changed when La Cañada High School opened in the fall of 1963.
Class of ’56 grads returning to La Cañada and enjoying the reunion along with the Brockmeyers were Lee Brown, Kaye Crawford, Sally Croft, Susan Dien, Jeanne Gemmill, Michael Harryman, Betsy Howlett, Phyllis Jones, Janice Jones, John Kerr, David Mitchell, Steve Nourse, Bruce Rognlien, Shirley Siegfus and Carolyn Weber.
Taking the prize for “Traveling the farthest” went to Shirley Siegfus, who lives in Istanbul, Turkey. Shirley moved to Istanbul shortly after her college graduation.
Sending his best wishes to his classmates, but unable to attend, was François Carrard, or “Frank” as he was known to his classmates. He attended Muir as a foreign exchange student from Switzerland and graduated with the 1956 class.
Carrard lives and practices law in Lusanne, Switzerland. He is a past director general of the International Olympic Committee and was asked by the organization to lead a task force that will make recommendations about how the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) can address widespread corruption within its leadership. In a recent email to Neal, he also referred to an overload of professional work relating to various matters such as the Rio Games and doping scandals.
According to Neal, the reunion went on without a hitch and it was so much fun to reconnect with classmates. He said it was a very busy time and that he and Molly are now enjoying putting their feet up and relaxing after the memorable event.
Joani Bartoli-Porto, a driving force behind the La Cañada High School Class of 1966 reunion, recounted the event, which took place the same weekend as the Muir High Class of 1956 reunion, for the Valley Line.
Bartoli-Porto reports, “Several classmates drove past their childhood homes only to find them torn down, remodeled, or lots subdivided, a few classmates knocked on the door, met the new owners and were given a tour down memory lane.
“This class is a close-knit group with many students starting kindergarten in 1953 at Oak Grove, Paradise Canyon, La Cañada and Palm Crest elementary schools and then bonding again at La Cañada Junior High for grades seven through nine.
“This was the first class to go straight from kindergarten through 12th grade at the newly opened high school. Prior to building LCHS, students went to John Muir High in Pasadena, however, the class of ’65 returned to LC to finish their junior and senior years.
“These students were able to vote on La Cañada High’s school colors and mascot. Classmate Dean Wullenwaber wrote the alma mater. The class of ’66 started 10th grade as construction was still underway and were allowed to write their names in wet cement between the library and gym, which sadly has now been removed. There was a dress code that required girls’ skirts to hit below the knee and boys were not allowed to have any hair length touching their collar.
“One of the poignant memories shared during the reunion was hearing on the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot and students were escorted to the football bleachers to pray and wait for updated news from radio and TV. After learning that the president had died, students were sent home to watch the news and funeral on our small black-and-white TVs.
“La Cañada was a very small town in the ‘50s and ‘60s, everyone knew their neighbors, walked to school, played in the street, went to Devil’s Gate Dam to collect pollywogs and frogs, had homemade skateboards that they rode down the hilly streets, and returned home at dusk.
“In truth, most would say they enjoyed a pretty idyllic childhood, keeping an eye out for one another, the original neighborhood watch.
“Their parents had a landline telephone with the prefix of Sylvan-0 (years later translated to 790), and some had to share that line with a neighbor. Carpools consisted of how many kids you could fit in a station wagon. No helmets, no car seats, no fear. Our children and grandchildren have no idea how great the simple life was when kids just got to be kids with little or no academic or peer pressure.”
In addition to Bartoli-Porto, Susan Gregory-Nuveman and Bill Chapman also led the reunion’s organization. Committee members included Craig Beardsley, Bill Boelter, Kathy Casey, Kris Goodrich, Teri Hill, Jim Nunn, Chris Rowe and John Williams.
Donations were made by classmates to help make the event a success. Jon Amundson, who lives in Canada, was unable to attend, but donated an additional 10-year subscription for the class website so all can keep in touch.
On the evening of Oct. 7 more than 100 of the classmates attended a mixer at Bar Celona Restaurant. The next day, a casual barbecue was hosted by Peggy and John Williams and held at his childhood home. That evening, the reunion dinner was held at the Thursday Club, where many members of the class had taken cotillion lessons in their youth. The dinner attracted more than 150 guests. During dinner, guests of honor were announced, the Foreign Exchange students, Rolf Gliesch from Brazil and Marc Honinickx from Belgium. They were presented with engraved commemorative gifts honoring them for 50 years of friendship with their class.
On the morning of Oct. 9, classmates gathered at LC Memorial Park where they enjoyed coffee and pastries.
Classmates came from all over the globe including Barry Hagerman from Australia and Ellie Annin-van Delden from Germany.
Those who still call La Cañada home are Bartoli-Porto, Bill Chapman, Rich DeGrey, Hilary Haycox-McMahon, Marsha Kettle-Boal, Mike Murphy, Craig Taylor, John Williams and Gordon Wulke.
Other 1966 LCHS grads attending the reunion were Christie Anawalt-Moore, Galvin Bartlett, Vicki Bertagnolli-O’Gara, Wally Bond, Ernie Branch, Stan Brinkman, Bob Brown, Deloma Brown-Rodriguez, Nancy Butler-Francis, George Castaño, Jim Castro, Nancy Coffman-Ferruzzo,Vicki Colella, Ken Collins, Judy Conrow-Lindley, Doug Cooper, Carol Curnutt-Burt, Bob Daniels, Bob Davison, Mike Donnell, Nancy Fisher, Cindy Ford-Perkin, Bruce Fraser, Mike Fuller, Ayne Gage-Baker, Janine George-Livingston, Doug Gilmour, Kris Gunderson-Westland, John Haglund, Linda Hammond-Russell, Mark Hollowell, Linda Hammond-Russell, Ross Heaton, Alan Herendich, Sue Hurst-Christensen, Bob Jenner, Stan Kaull and Rosie Kidushim-Ingber.
More were Annie Knight-Krensle, John Knight, Jale Kutay, Cory La Bianca-Mitchell, Aric Leavitt, Robert LoGreco, Dave Lovejoy, Garie Manley-Zordich, Candace Marshall, Jim Mathewson, Paul McElherne, Lynn McAlexander-Brennan, Nancy “Queenie” McLain-Taylor, Debbie Meena-Charlup, Rich Merrill, Lee Meyer, Greg Millikan, Linda Montgomery, Tim Mulcahy, Karen Muller-Henderson, Vard Nelson, Chris Norrbom-Berk, Nancy Oechsle-Starmer, Drew Olsen, Dave Oseguera, Hilary Parsons-Hickman, Rick Phetteplace, Patti Potter-Bosworth, Phil Ramsey, Karen Richardson-Nicklas, Ruth-Ann Rohman, Brian Rood, Chip Rubsamen, Teri Sandison-Carpenter, Sue Schmidt-Johnson, Gary Schultz, Steve Schultze, Barry Smith, Mike Stevens, Elaine Stewart-Thomson, Charlene Strother-Ebright, Jim Storms, Craig Taylor, Teri Tobey, Dale Tullio, Linda Wallin-Church, Steve Westland, Janis Weyrauch-Beltz, Marian Williams-Gracis, Bruce Wilson, Patty Wilson-LaChapelle, Nanci Wright-Sheppard, Judy Wyckoff-Heagstedt, Steve Young and Valerie Ziesman-Orduna.
It was a night for citified cowboy and cowgirl clothes, as well more formal “black-tie” attire for the 29th annual Autry Museum of the American West gala held at the museum.
The lively event honored “Spirit of the West” award recipient Ken Burns, Emmy Award-winning documentary filmmaker.
This year’s gala also celebrated the grand unveiling of “California Continued,” a 20,000-square-foot exhibition spanning two new galleries and an ethnobotanical garden.
The museum honored Burns for his ability to reach people across the globe with his documentaries that explore many of the core moments and themes that have come to define the American West, the Civil War, the Dust Bowl and America’s national parks.
Burns is now working on a documentary about country music, with a close look at artists such as Gene Autry, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Emmylou Harris, Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams.
“While we at the Autry are proud of all that we do to educate and inspire the students and visitors who walk through our doors, we know that Ken Burns is among the most influential in this regard,” said the Autry’s president and chief executive W. Richard “Rick” West Jr. while presenting the award to Burns. The honoree said he was “deeply humbled” and “so grateful” for the award.
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JANE NAPIER NEELY covers the La Cañada Flintridge social scene. Email her at jnvalleysun@aol.com with news of your special event.