It may seem a long way off, but the Sept. 1921 weekend is coming up quickly, at least for those Los Gatos High School graduates planning class reunions. And it's the hope of the Los Gatos High School Alumni Association that classes planning reunions this year will select those dates for their 2003 gatherings.
The alumni association—in conjunction with the New Millennium Foundation, Blue Pumpkin and the Los Gatos Community Foundation—will host an all-alumni reunion that weekend, and graduates from all eras are encouraged to participate.
The event will offer a reminder of the high school centennial of 1988, when thousands of graduates returned to town to celebrate their school's anniversary. But the all-alumni reunion will be just a little different.
For the past two years, the New Millennium Foundation has invited alumni to return to Los Gatos for a weekend of activities that includes recognition at a Friday night football game, school tours and a special auction that serves as a fundraiser for the school. The group's first two efforts have proven highly successful and extremely popular.
This year's event expands on that theme. Alumni will be invited to the Friday night football game, which will be followed by an old-fashioned sock hop in the high school gym. A pancake breakfast on Saturday morning will be followed by tours of the campus and the New Millennium Foundation auction at the Opera House. And the weekend will culminate with a Sunday picnic at Vasona for all alumni, family and friends.
But the key to a successful weekend is the participation of Los Gatos graduates, and that's why classes are encouraged to hold reunions that weekend—so as many former Wildcats as possible will be in town to participate in the festivities.
So far, the graduating classes of 1948, 1963 and 1969 have planned reunions for the evening of Sept. 20. The sponsoring groups are hoping that more classes will follow suit.
Consolidating reunions on one weekend would produce a number of benefits:
* Graduates would get the opportunity to share a weekend of memories with not only their former classmates but also alumni from other classes.
* Increased participation would enhance the opportunity for a more successful fundraising auction for the New Millennium Foundation, thus providing much-needed improvements at the high school.
* And more alumni visiting town means added business for local restaurants, hotels, bars and businesses.
The concept is a win-win for all concerned.
Graduates are going to hold class reunions. It only seems logical to hold those reunions in Los Gatos and to coordinate them in such a way that would benefit the school, the town and the alumni. The idea put forth by the Los Gatos High School Alumni Association to consolidate as many reunions as possible on a single weekend makes a lot of sense.
