GONZALES — Gonzales High School Class of 1979 recently celebrated its 45th reunion at the Harden House patio in Salinas.
Attendees began arriving in the early afternoon of Sept. 7 at the beautifully decorated property owned by the Harden Foundation, which was decked out in Gonzales’ colors — orange and black. The Harden House belonged to the late Dale and Ercia Harden.
The Class of 1979 has held many reunions in the past, with this one taking place in Salinas for the second time. Past reunions have been held at the Elks Lodge, Doubletree Inn in Seaside, Adventures By the Sea in Monterey, Spreckles Hall and lastly the Tap House in Gonzales.
One of the highlights of the reunion was the attendance of retired teachers that came to enjoy the memories, the music from DJ Albert Villa and the delicious food of Big E’s Kitchen Catering.
Teachers included Linda Coyne and Bill Deeb, as well as Dave Casterson, Sheila Bengston, Cindy Leathers, John Macias, Joni Madalora and John Mahoney.
While many of the classmates still reside in Monterey County, there were also alumni that came from Santa Clara, Fresno, the Bay Area, Sacramento and Los Angeles.
Before dinner began, a moment of silence was held for the deceased classmates from 1979. The reunion program continued with the ticket winners of seven gift baskets.
Committee members for the reunion were: Lorraine Torres-Ramirez, Shirley Kuramura, Diane Ipong-Gonzales, Rosie Rosillo and Jesse Molina.
Ipong-Gonzales then took the microphone and organized a game by teams of alumni, a teacher and bell ringer. The teams then had to answer trivia questions with topics that included music, science and history.
The winning team included Yvonne Jimenez, Virgie Blanco, Mike Rianda, Sandra Jimenez and teacher Dave Casterson, who won gift cards.
After the game concluded, a spirited group of alumni led by drill team member Ipong-Gonzales and rally girl Kim Slagle led the class in a rendition of “Big G.”
“Since 1989, we have consistently been having our reunions every five years. I want to thank everyone involved who made our 45th reunion one of the best so far,” said Torres-Ramirez. “We’d like to give a shout out to the following donors, The Harden Foundation, Salinas La Plaza bakery and Mr. and Mrs. Kuramura.”
The music and memories flowed the rest of the night, and the class also enjoyed a slice of orange-and-black cake and a few adult beverages.
