More than three hundred alumni members and guests filled the Memorial Building on Saturday, June 6, for the 96th annual alumni dinner. Classes were represented from the years 1932 through 1939, which was celebrating its 70th reunion. Classes in each decade were represented for the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's, and representatives from five classes from the 1980's were present, as were representatives from the classes of 1997, 2002 and 2004, and 17 scholarships winners from this year's graduating class, and their parents. Alumni came from as far away as Alaska, with many coming from Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Tennessee.
The evening began with the posting of the colors by Boy Scout Troop 406, followed by the Invocation given by Jacob Zellmer, one of the scholarship recipients. An excellent dinner was served by Gary Laird's Butcher Shop and B-B-Q. Gary is a 1976 graduate of Fillmore High.
Margaret Haskell, class of '42 was recognized for her years of service to the alumni asociation as Secretary and also for her many years of assisting with the alumni dinner. Ralph Rees, a retired teacher from Fillmore High was also recognized for his 28 plus years of teaching at Fillmore High and his continued support of the alumni association.
Prior to the awarding of the scholarshps, Sydia Lopez-Reese, class of '79 and Chad Fore, class of '02, told about their college experiences and how much the local scholarships had helped them during their years in college. Alumni scholarships were presented to Julianne Sandoval, Brina Suttle, Natalie Garnica, Karli Chessani, Jillian Wilber, Rebeca Herrera, Aimee Orozco, Michael Watson, Jacob Zellmer, Bailey Pina, Kyla Hernandez, Miguel Alonso, Gabriel Manzano, Jonathan Escamilla, Stephanie Bolanos, Nathan Liu and Erica Rodriguez.
The Honored Classes from 1944, '49, '54, '59 and '69 were recognized, and the Board of Directors thanks Biz Basolo, class of '44, Em Wendel, class of '49, Ann Scanlin, class of '54, Bob Morris, class of '59 and Joe Aguirre and Debbie Curnett, class of '69 for all the efforts to get their classmates to attend this alumni dinner.
Door prizes that were contributed by Carmen Zermeno, Lupe Vasquez, Conway Spitler, Nancy Wallace, Gertrude Lovelace and the alumni association were awarded to twenty lucky attendees.
The present board of directors of the alumni association was returned to office for the 2009-2010 year, and they are already planning next year's alumni dinner for Saturday, June 12 at the Memorial Building, so put that date on your calendar, alumni members. Next year's honored classes will be those whose graduation years ended in 0 and 5.
Oh yes, there will be dessert and two bars for next year's dinner.