Fillmore High Alumni Association

WOW!! Talk about a great response from the latest issue of the alumni newsletter, Flashbacks, that was sent out last Saturday. Not only are we getting many renewals for subscriptions to Flashbacks, but we received two offers for copies of the 1944 Copa de Oro, which has been absent from our library of high school annuals for many years. Bill Stocker, class of '44, came by with one of the two copies that that he has, and Harold Southwick, class of '45 called from Orem, UT, with an offer of his copy. Since we already have one on hand from Bill, Harold was told to hold on to his copy as they are very rare. Harold's offer is very much appreciated. This means that the alumni office now has at least one copy of a Copa de Oro from every year that a yearbook was printed. The exceptions are 1918 and 1919 when an annual was not printed due to World War I.
The November meeting of the Alumni Board of Directors was held last Monday at the home of Marla and Bill DeZavala, with all but two members present. The first item of business was to elect a new Secretary to fill the position previously held by Margaret Hackney Haskell for so many years. Glenda Gregory DeJarnette, class of '59, volunteered to fill in until we could find someone permanent, but later decided that she could do the job and would be our Secretary. For this, we are very appreciative.
The alumni dinner was discussed, and more emphasis was placed on encouraging classes who will be celebrating class reunions to do so at the alumni dinner on June 6 at the Memorial Building. Areas for meeting and visiting will be provided before and after the dinner, and special tables will be set up for each honored class during the dinner. The classes of 1959 and 1979 are already in their planning stages, and the classes of 1949 and 1954 are putting out the word that they want their reunions to be held at the alumni dinner. Class lists and mailing labels can be obtained from the alumni office for a deposit of $25, which will be returned if an up to date list of class members and addresses are returned to the alumni office. Troop 406 will again handle the flag salute ceremonies and the Bardsdale 4-H will help with the serving of the dinner.
Comments were made on the revisions in the scoring procedure for the alumni scholarships to help attract more applicants, and also to notify everyone that the Continuation Grants for graduates who are already attending colleges and universities will be available again this year. These applications may be obtained from the alumni office anytime after the first of the year and must be returned to the alumni office prior to July 1, 2009. Scholarship applications for high school seniors will be available January 21, 2009.
A reminder was made of the Shasta Daisy project being handled by Kirk Richter, class of '77 and his Horticulture class at the high school, and that anyone who has rooted cuttings to donate, flowers to donate for graduation, or who wish to donate money for this project, should contact Kirk at the high school or the alumni office.
The November issue of Flashbacks was handed out to all board members present, with the thanks to Kathleen Penrod McCreary, class of '66 for another great job of editing this important newsletter. We get lots of comments on how fortunate our alumni are to have such a newsletter.
Several Flashbacks have been returned due to lost mailing labels or stamps, so if you have not received your copy of the November issue, please call the alumni office, 524-0416, and a copy will be sent to you.
The next alumni board meeting will be held February 23, 2009. Be sure to check the alumni website at www.fillmorehighalumni.com for additional alumni news.

Fillmore High Alumni Association

Several issues ago, in the alumni newsletter, The Flashbacks, an article explained how the Junior Arches came into being at the graduation ceremonies at Fillmore High School. Prior to 1940, graduation ceremonies were held in the high school auditorium, but in 1940, lights were installed at the football field, so that year the ceremonies were held outdoors. To enhance the proceedings, Ms. Alice Hansen and Ms. Bea Albright came up with the idea of having junior class members hold arches, under which the seniors would walk. It was decided that Shasta Daisies would make great adornments for the arches, and the juniors who were honored to carry the arches had the responsibility to scout around to find enough flowers to cover the wooden frames. This was the plan, until the daisies became hard to find locally, so in 1977, Shasta Daisies were planted at the school farm for use as arch material, as well as providing flowers for weddings, funerals, and other such events. In 1989 the daisies were plowed under, and since then, the junior arches have been covered with balloons, artificial flowers and crepe paper, which were not nearly as attractice as the daisies. This year, under the direction of Kirk Richter, class of '77 and his horticulture students at the high school, it is hoped to have Shasta Daisies again for the arches. Kirk and his class have planted 400 square feet of area at the high school, with plant material donated by Conway Spitler. Kirk doesn't think this will be enough material for all the arches, so he is requesting that anyone who has Shasta Daisies and would be willing to donate rooted cuttings to plant another 400 square feet of area, to please contact him at 524-8423, or call Dick Mosbarger at the alumni office, 524-0416. If you do not want to give up some of your plants, but would be willing to donate the flowers next June 4 for the 2009 graduation ceremonies, please call these same people. Many graduates of Fillmore High would be very pleased to once again see the Junior Arches as part of graduation.

Susan Steppler Adams receiving the Toolie Palmer bark art as first prize in drawing. For more photos, visit http://www.fillmorehighalumni.com/alumnidinner
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2008 Scholarship Recipients: Laura Orozco, Julio Cesar Chavez, Ashley Grande, Christina Amezcua, Briana Rojo, Angelica Serna, Luis Munoz, Kassaundra Sandoval. For more photos, visit http://www.fillmorehighalumni.com/alumnidinner
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im Wilson with the second award in the drawing, Donated by Calvin and Lavonne Deeter. For more photos, visit http://www.fillmorehighalumni.com/alumnidinner
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If you haven't already found it, Scott Duckett, our alumni webmaster has put 31 pictures from the 2008 alumni dinner on the Alumni Dinner page of the alumni website. We thank Bob Cox for supplying us with all the pictures. If you have already checked on this page of our website, you saw some errors in some of the names, and for this we apologize, but they have all been corrected, so we hope there weren't too many people upset over this.

Some classes are already starting their plans for the 2009 alumni dinner that will be held on Saturday, June 6, 2009 at the Memorial Building. So if your class graduation year ends in 4 or 9, and if you are planning a reunion, please let the alumni office know so we can put information in the Flashbacks, in the Gazette and on our website. If any class doesn't want to go to all the effort of planning a class reunion out of town, please plan on attending the alumni dinner as your class reunion. We will have an area for visiting before the dinner, reserved tables for you at the dinner and will provide an area for visiting after the dinner. We hope to have many classes at this year's dinner.

The Scholarship Committee is working to update the scoring system for the alumni scholarships prior to handing out the scholarship applications to this year's seniors in January.

The committee hopes to receive more applications and be able to award more scholarships this year, as well as continue to offer Continuation Grants to those alumni who are already attending colleges and universities. The alumni office greatly appreciates the many donations that come into the office for alumni scholarships.

The next issue of Flashbacks will be coming out in November, thanks to the hard work of Kathleen Penrod McCreary. She has lots of information from alumni members, which is what makes this newsletter so interesting. If we didn't have input from graduates and others, there wouldn't be a whole lot to publish, so we thank you for your input. A notice will come out prior to our mailing the next issue, so be looking for it.

For more Alumni Dinner photos, visit http://www.fillmorehighalumni.com/alumnidinner

Fillmore High Alumni Association

The Fillmore High Alumni newsletter, "Flashbacks" was put in the mail last Friday by the hard working group of volunteers made up of Joyce Basolo, Jane Johnson, Maxine Merry, who brought along her brother, J. C. Taylor, Jolene Stethem and Em Wendel. By the time you read this, hopefully you will have already received your copy of the August issue, but if not, please contact the alumni office at 524-0416 or at staff@FillmoreHighAlumni.com. Kathleen McCreary has done another wonderful job of putting together this issue, which includes letters regarding the Gritz Brothers of the 1960's, a great article from Doug Gibby about his days at Sespe Elementary, class reunion notices from Conway Spitler for the class of '38, Florene Campbell Ernst for the class of '48 and Bob Horn for the class of '58. A recap of the alumni dinner, along with a number of pictures of attendees at the dinner are also included. More pictures from that dinner will be appearing on the alumni website shortly, as well as in the November issue of "Flashbacks". Be sure to look for it, and if your subscription runs out this year, please send in your renewal before December 31.
The quarterly alumni board meeting was held Monday evening, August 18 at Mark Ortega's home with eight members in attendance. Two new members, Glenda DeJarnette and Tricia Urea-Gradias were elected as new members and were welcomed to the board of directors. The 2008 alumni dinner was discussed and all agreed it was a huge success.
The 2009 alumni dinner will be held Saturday, June 6 at the Memorial Building. Plans for this dinner will be discussed at a later meeting, but the dinner will be catered by Gary Laird, class of '76. The alumni scholarships were discussed, and continued discussion will take place at the Scholarship Committee meeting in September. Decisions will be made as to how the scholarships will be distributed and if more emphasis will be placed on the Continuation Grants. Work is progressing on getting the Shasta Daisies growing again on the school farm to be used once again on the Junior arches for graduation. The alumni association will again be present at the home football game between Fillmore and Santa Paula, to hand out information and memberships to alumni. The latest issue of the "Flashbacks" was handed out to each member present. The next board of directors meeting will be held on Monday, November 17.

Fillmore High Alumni Association

Two hundred and fifty Fillmore High alumni members and their guests enjoyed an evening of reminiscing, good food and visiting with friends that had not been seen for many years at the Fillmore City Park last Saturday. The graduating classes of 1933, 1938, 1943, 1948, 1953, and 1958 were well represented as this year's honored classes. A good attendance was had for most of the other classes between 1930 and 1970 and each class was represented by their Copa de Oro pictures that were displayed on the Parade of Classes as a backdrop for the speaker's dais.
The meeting was opened with the posting of the colors by Troop 406 of the Boy Scouts of America, which was followed by the invocation by Manny Martinez, class of '71. The excellent dinner again was catered by Doug Binns of D.J.'s catering. The 2008 John and Nit Lemley scholarships were presented to Laura Orozco and Kassaundra Sandoval by John Lemley, class of '61. Alumni scholarships were presented to Ashley Grande,
Christina Amezcua, Briana Rojo, Julio Cesar Chavez, Angelica Serna and Luis Munoz by Vice President Mark Ortega.
Corinna Mozley presented the Parade of Classes by introducing those honored classes that were in attendance. Door prizes, that were provided by alumni members, Kathleen McCreary, Betty Carpenter, Gertrude Lovelace, Lupe Vasquez, Calvin & Lavonne Deeter and Dick Mosbarger were awarded to sixteen lucky alumni members. The 50-50 drawing was won by Elaine Ipswitch, who, along with her husband, Ron had driven down from South Dakota to attend this year's dinner. Elaine said that the money won just might pay for the gas on their return home. A Toolie Palmer bark art picture that was donated by Kathleen McCreary was won by Susan Adams, and a second picture, donated by Calvin & Lavonne Deeter was won by Bill Wilson.
Bob Horn, class of '58 nominated the alumni officers for the 2008-2009, and they were unanimously elected. All officers who have served this year were re-elected as were the two new board members, Glenda DeJarnette and Tricia Gradias. The alumni association is pleased to have these two ladies added to the board.
The evening program ended with the singing of the alma mater which was lead by Mark Ortega.
A program such as this annual dinner cannot be a success without the help of many people, and most of the work was done by the board of directors who planned, organized and carried out the entire evening. Great help was also provided by Matt Mozley, Bill Walden, Bill Reaves, Barry Thompson, Monte Carpenter and John Zermeno, who helped set up and take down the displays. The alumni also thanks Filmore Rentals for providing lights, Fillmore Building Supply and Harold Foy for providing the dais and John Wilber for providing the P. A. system. Bob Cox did a great job in taking pictures of the evening's events. The board is already planning for next year's dinner, which will be held, once again, at the Memorial Building. More information and pictures will appear in the next issue of Flashbacks, which will come out in August, the Fillmore Gazette, and on the alumni website.
Two lost items were found and can be retrieved by contacting the alumni office. One item is a woman's jacket and the other is a memory chip from a digital camera. We are quite sure the owners would like to have them back. Call (805) 524-0416 if either of these items is yours.
The alumni board of directors thanks all members and guests who attended this year's dinner and helped make it the success that it was.