Cheers to the Escalon High School Class of 1970 celebrating 51 years since graduation. The Class of 1970 held a 51st Reunion earlier this fall. It was the fifth reunion held by the Class of 1970 who have organized and hosted a reunion every 10 years since graduation.
On Friday, June 12, 1970, over 51 years ago, nearly 120 graduates were given an Escalon HS diploma in a ceremony on the school football field. They were the 50th class to graduate from the high school and wore specially ordered gold cap and gowns. Since then, 20 classmates have passed away. Fifty-six percent of the living class members attended this reunion.
Those 20 class members remembered included, in alphabetical order and with (if known) the year of their passing:
Nancy Bonelli Anderson, 2020; Marian Brazil, 2005; Dave Cadlolo, 2020; Charlene Conway, 1996; Tom Crom, 2013; Richard Derby; Riley Edgin, 2012; Augie Ferreira, 1979; Phil Harrison, 1973; Steve Hutchinson, 1985; Eric Johnson, 2013; George Judd, 2013; Rhoda Lindgren, 2006; Debbie Milam; Richard McKinsey, 2020; Bonnie Moyer Dent-Hearst, 2021; Tom Parker, 2015; Vicky Santini Muzzall, 2012; Robert “Steve” Smith, 2018; and Steve Trimble, 1999.
Special thanks goes to the eight committee members who spent two years organizing the reunion which was postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID-19. Committee members include: Cyndie Vieira Krasko, Teri Hogan Lucas, Linda Schmidt Gentry, Pat Ogilvie Rigg, Brad Haskin, Terry Lynn, Lynda Plancarte and Lee Tarkington Lundrigan.
The Del Rio Country Club in Modesto was the perfect setting of the 51st Reunion on a Friday evening. Attendees enjoyed a specially prepared meal of Tuscan braised short ribs with Castelvetrano olives, sundried tomato and mushroom Ragu, Caesar salad, fingerling potatoes, seasonal vegetables, garlic bread and mascarpone mousse amaretti cookie crumble. Round tables were set with glittering candles in hurricane vases, gold plate chargers and chocolate candies imprinted with Class of ‘70. Music from the 1960s and 1970s played as classmates and guests spent the evening telling stories, reliving glory days and getting updated on over 50 years of events since some had seen each other. Attendees were seated in the exquisite Del Rio Country Club ballroom during the banquet, and later in the evening relaxed on the outside patio overlooking the golf course and mature oaks.
Eighty classmates and guests were in attendance including:
Mary Alfieri Studt and Dan Studt; Ceil Anderson Cummings; Chris Barber; Marisa Bettinzoli Nepote and Dennis Nepote; Jim Black; Frank Borba and Carol Borba; Carl Bradshaw; Garvin Carter and Gale Carter; Marvin Carter; Kathie Collins Williams and David Williams; Marty Crum and Jeanette Teixeira Crum; Louise Davis Fuches; Charlie Dosio; Andy Dugo and RoseAnn Dugo; Pati Echandi Wooster; Roxanne Fee Lemos and David Lemos; Ardell Habben Greaves and Michael Greaves; Kathy Hall Phillips; Brad Haskin and Luann Gremp; Ernie Hayes and Terri Hayes; Teri Hogan Lucas and Ron Lucas; Barbara Jones Kniffin; Fran Lopes and Sandi Acosta; Duane Lovett and Susan Lovett; Ann Luis Reeves; Terry Lynn and Linda Lynn; Suzanne Mabley Montz; Bruce Marconett and Julie Marconett; Gwen Marshall Loudenback and Larry Loudenback; Robert Mericle and Jane Mericle; Lynne Nelson deBie; Ron Ney; Pat Ogilvie Rigg; Clarence Phillips; Lynda Plancarte; Carol Postma Erickson; Susan Sandall; Linda Schmidt Gentry and Will Hecht; Mark Stetlor and Joyce Stetlor; Dan Swass; Sherrie Swass and Robert Fenstermacher; Lee Tarkington Lundrigan; Marie Teixeira Botelho and Edward Botelho; Tom Terry; John Van de Pol and Sue Van de Pol; Marian and Gary Miller.
Attendees arrived from far and wide including all corners of California plus Washington, Oregon, Nevada, Virginia, Massachusetts and Texas.
Each member of the class who attended received a handmade purple and gold fan with quotes, information and photos from their high school days. Yearbooks, photo albums, and Block E sweaters were on display. Professional photographs were taken by Marian Miller of Hudson Photography in Oakdale and will be included in a Memory Book committee members are preparing.
On Saturday of the reunion weekend, Escalon High teacher Derek Scott, whose father Ray Scott is a member of the Class of 1970, led 18 classmates on a nostalgic tour of their alma mater enabling them the special opportunity to take in all the changes and improvements Escalon High has undergone since the 1970 graduation. Those on the tour got to see inside the new gym, theatre, classrooms, and watch students practicing in the gym on Saturday. They also got a glimpse into the “old” gym, practically a time capsule without change, where they used to listen to live bands, hold dances, participate in tumbling night and other events of their era.
The Committee is pleased to have hosted the events of the weekend and have heard from many classmates that they want the Class of 1970 to hold a 55th Reunion in four years. Classmates can keep in touch via email at: escalonhigh70@gmail.com or Facebook at: Escalon High Class of 1970.
This article was contributed by Lee Tarkington Lundrigan, publicity chair for the EHS Class of 1970 reunion committee.
