MBHS Class of 1958 50th Reunion

Officers for the Class of 58 50th Reunion!

Bill Swank, President/Chair: wgswank@san.rr.com

When we graduated back in 1958, little did I think that in 2003, Bill Rice and I would write a book about the early sports history of Mission Bay High School. Now something even more unexpected has happened. I am either the president or chairman of the Class of 1958 Fiftieth Reunion Committee! As a student, I was not involved in school activities or student government. The caption next to my senior picture should have been, "Who's he?" There are a lot of other classmates out there who would fit this same description. Over the years, thanks to the efforts of a dedicated cadre of volunteers (primarily women), the Class of 1958 has had some wonderful reunions. I have had a lot more fun at these reunions than I ever did in high school. With the passage of time, we have all learned that we have much more in common with one another than we ever would have thought back in the 1950s.

As our 50th Reunion approaches, we want it to be the biggest and best ever. It is our goal to locate as many classmates as possible. Bill Rice (known to most of you as "Ricearoni") established www.Taroga.com to find and keep classmates in touch with the latest information about our class. We ask your help as we search for missing Buccaneers who have never attended a reunion in the past.

The Fiftieth Reunion Committee will meet at my home (3474 Via Beltran, San Diego, CA 92117, (858) 274-7999) on Saturday, September 9, 2006 at 1:00 PM to begin preparations for the 2008 reunion. Please contact us ASAP by email, letter or telephone to let us know what you would like to do at this reunion. Would you like to be a member of the committee? Let us know.

Our assumption is the reunion will be held on a Saturday. Vonnie Varner has always handled arrangements for the cocktail party held on Friday evening prior to the reunion. Orpha Higley annually stakes out a site at DeAnza Cove for our class picnic on the first Sunday after Labor Day. They have agreed to organize these events again in 2008. Suggestions have been made to possibly also host a 2 or 3-day ocean cruise. Perhaps we could sail on Mission Bay or San Diego Bay. The golf tournament at the 45th reunion was very successful. Someone mentioned a bowling tournament. At this stage, these are all ideas. We would like your input. Do we want to go formal? Should it be casual? Should there be a theme? We have money in our treasury which will reduce the overall cost of the reunion.

There is the possibility that this will be the last official Class of 1958 reunion. It has been speculated that future reunions will be combined with the other graduating classes from the 1950s. That's why this one will be so special.

In closing, a friend of mine (a San Diego High graduate) said you know that your reunion was a success when an elephant walks through the middle of it... and the next day nobody remembers the elephant.