| "This must be the place," said the gentlemen carrying
the stack of Reflections yearbooks. "This IS the place," said the women with the
stack of El Clarín yearbooks. Brief introductions gave way to non-stop conversation. The
conversation was warm and friendly, not stilted nor awkward. The bond between ASMers is
truly like family. We ordered our dinners and kept talking throughout. As
soon as we had finished, we cleared the area to look at yearbooks. So much has changed
through the years, but so much remained the same. The campus is bigger and the soccer
field now has grass! Today, you need to call ahead before visiting the school or you will
probably not be admitted. The vacant hills and fields that surrounded the campus in 1968
have been replaced by housing and other developments. The campus is now enclosed and there
is a guard at the entrance. So much has changed, but so much remained the same.
Many teacher and faculty names came up. We all remembered Mme. Asúnsolo, Mr.
Belanger, Mrs. Campbell, Mr. Casariego, Mrs. Curbera, Mrs. Echols, Mrs. Fernandez, Mrs.
Haer, Mr. Hawkins, Mrs. Mock, Mr. Santoro, Mme. Terzano and Mrs. Villalvazo. Is it
possible that over a span of more than a dozen years, we had all experienced many of the
same teachers? At a school where the student body was constantly changing, the teachers
and faculty remained remarkably consistent.
The strict dress code of the 1960s, was replaced by much more casual styles in
the 70s and 80s. Does anybody remember the sweater revolt of 1969? Mrs. Haer and the large
group of boys that got called into her office probably do! Eventually, the jackets and
ties were replaced with sweaters and a wide variety of other fashions. Guys with
ponytails? ¡Qué horror! Looking back, the conservative jackets and ties probably did
look better. Speaking of conservative, does anybody remember the classic 1968 yearbook
photo captioned: "New School ... New Problems"? Dale and Monica dared to blaze
the trail for the mini-skirt generation.
Someone mentioned the game of "Quarters". Now, was this just a
guy-thing or did the girls from the 60s just live a sheltered life? Must have been a guy
thing! Well, I guess you don't ask, "What is 'Quarters'?" if you don't want a
demonstration. Now, I can't divulge the secrets of the Quarter Masters who were kind
enough to teach us the finer points of this game of strategy and expertise, you had to
have been there. However, I can share the photos and you may be able to glean a bit of
technique from them.
As Mark Vasconcellos ('81) said, "The Burbank Reunion was a success ... a
big success ... a HUGE success!" Carol Farron ('69), Michelle (Fearey LaGue) Mock
('69), Cheryl Fearey LaGue ('72), Vic Hightower ('80) and Jeff Hightower ('90) concurred.
¡Hasta la próxima! |
