By Robin Shepard
Times Correspondent
Fifty years – a half-century of time filled with raising families, working and imagining what the future might hold in store, all the planned events and unplanned detours that add up to the natural ebb and flow of life, all of that time which seems so long in retrospect, but so short upon meeting old friends again – disappeared recently for about 100 members and guests of Atwater High School’s Class of 1975.
I was there for our 50-year reunion. I’m a proud Falcon alumnus, and with apologies to earlier and later classes, ours was one of the best assemblages of local students who ever graduated from our city’s first high school.
In the decade of the 1970s, the schools of Atwater were filled with a wonderful mix of local country-bred kids and Air Force brats who moved in and out with some regularity. Our graduating class included the sons and daughters of area farmers and ranchers, the city’s businessmen, the mayor, and even Castle Air Force Base’s senior commander.
High school reunions can’t help but bring up memories of ourselves as teenagers, and in the faces of my classmates I could still see them as they looked in 1975. We shared our stories and memories and brought everyone up-to-date on our personal histories. And we made some new memories during the three days we spent together.
The Class of ’75 was born near the end of the baby boom. We’re old enough to remember the assassinations of Kennedy and King. We wore bell bottom jeans and peasant dresses. Our hair was mostly long, and we watched the Vietnam War on TV.
We had the best music too.
We enjoyed our lives, because life was so much simpler then. And Atwater was a simple town with great people, and everyone simply got along. We were neighbors and we were friends.
We grew our high school friendships, many of them life-long, into a continual tapestry to this very day. We also lost friends along the way. Over the years, we’ve wondered what happened to this person or that one. We were proud to hear of a classmate’s success, and we were saddened to hear of one’s death.
On a memory board at Saturday’s dinner, the senior photos of our deceased classmates looked back at us from five decades in the past. It was wistful to see someone you knew, but whom you didn’t know had died.
In 50 years, we’ve learned that life is filled with both joy and heartache, but we’ve survived and are now approaching our seventh decade in the sun.
We’ve aged as gracefully as we could, gained a few extra pounds, and suffered our own health problems to some degree, but we also have more than a few interesting stories we can tell our grandchildren.
The reunion was our opportunity to renew long lost friendships and to establish new ones. It brought the Class of ’75 together to spontaneously sing the high school’s alma mater (yes, we still remember the lyrics), and to tour the 2025 version of the school that was our home for four years.
It began with a meet and greet at Tary’s restaurant Friday night, and moved to an early morning breakfast at Granny’s Pantry on Saturday, with the main event dinner and dance that evening at the Castle Veterans Hall. The Sunday barbecue was a more informal and relaxing end to a wonderful weekend.
We toured the high school Saturday afternoon, posing for photos at the senior benches (where some of us had snared an unwary freshman and turned him upside down in a garbage can. No kidding. There’s a photo of it in our yearbook. (I know, we’re not too proud of it now, but we were kind of rowdy back then.))
We visited and stood by the new pool, replicating the 1975 class photo as much as possible. (The former, older pool was built too late during our senior year for us to enjoy, but we were pleased to see the new one.)
We ventured into the old gymnasium, where we both ate lunch and played basketball, and were shown the new gym, which was certainly impressive.
We enjoyed seeing the William H. Schneider Music Building, and saw the many trophies collected by our bands and bands from other classes. (Mr. Schneider taught music during our tenure there and he brought the band to Vienna for a concert in 1973. Many of our classmates were on that amazing European tour.)
On Sunday, a small group of alumni toured the historic Bloss Home, some of us for the first time, and the history that we gathered there connected us further into Atwater’s rich past and legacy.
If felt good to be from Atwater. It felt good to be of our late boomer generation. It felt good to realize that we were part of the lives of so many groovy people. (Yes, we said words like “groovy” back then.)
But, don’t take it from me. Here’s what I’ve heard from others:
“It was a wonderful weekend to connect with old friends, and to make new ones,” said Sandy Bettencourt Williams.
“I loved seeing everyone and was so impressed that many travelled far to attend,” said Diane McMahon Dudley.
“I was very grateful to be there, and so appreciative of the organizers for creating such a beautiful class reunion,” said Kim McMillon.
Many of us are wondering now when we’ll meet again. I hope it’s not too long before we make that happen, maybe in a combined class reunion.
The one thing about attending Atwater High School in the ‘70s is that the school and community were so small that we had friends in other classes, especially those in the 1972-1974 years.
Let’s do it again sooner than later. Life is short, and at our age, it’s getting shorter.
For our classmates who were unable to attend, reunion photos and comments can be found on the Atwater (CA) High School Reunion Facebook page, and additional photos can be viewed by downloading the PhotoCircle app on your phone, and by searching for “Atwater High School Class of 1975 – 50th.” There you’ll find more than 400 photos posted by alumni.
In a text message, one of my classmates mentioned a particular song that reminded her of our time then and of our time now.
It’s called “We May Never Pass This Way Again” by Seals and Crofts, and it’s from the duo’s 1973 album Diamond Girl.
I had forgotten about that song, though it was a huge hit back in the day. I had to immediately listen to it online. The lyrics are poignant, and somewhat bittersweet.
“Like the twilight in the road up ahead
They don’t see just where we’re goin’
And all the secrets in the universe
Whisper in our ears
And all the years
Will come and go
Take us up, always up
We may never pass this way again.”
But it’s ultimately a love song, and it concludes cheerfully:
“’Cause you make me feel
Like I’m more than a friend
Like I’m the journey
And you’re the journey’s end
I may never pass this way again
That’s why I want it with you, baby.
We may never pass this way again . . .”
My dear old friends and the new ones I made this weekend, we had a lovely time, didn’t we?
See you next time.