The Milpitas High School (MHS) Class of 1974 held its milestone 50th reunion at the end of August.
Out of a class of 237 graduates, about 70 of them attended. A total of 125 people were on hand.
The gathering was historic because this was the very first graduating class that had attended all four years of high school on campus at MHS.
Back in 1956, Samuel Ayer High School opened at 1395 E. Calaveras Blvd. It was the first-ever high school in Milpitas. In 1969, Milpitas High School officially opened; however, the actual MHS campus wasn’t quite ready to start physically receiving students.
So a double session, split between both high schools, was held at the Ayer campus. In the mornings, they held classes for Ayer; in the afternoons, they held classes for MHS. However, during the first year, there was no MHS senior class.
When the actual MHS campus was ready for students to enter its new buildings in 1970, freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors began attending.
“We were the very first class at MHS that started off our experience as freshmen and went all four years,” said Linda Lascurain Ross, an alumna of the Class of ’74.
Ross, who has served as Chairperson on several of the reunion committees in past years, spoke of all the work that had been put into locating former classmates to invite them to the reunion.
The reunion’s planning committee began meeting in June 2022. At that time, only three people were involved. But as time went by, that number grew to 10.
Armstrong. Front Row: Lynn Giesea Elmensdorp, Debbie Orange Shufelt, Linda Lascurain Ross, Vickie
Marshall, Rosane Bergquist Hall, and Kathy Shaw Koch
“We decided for the 50th reunion…we wanted to do it big,” said Ross.
Along with students, the committee also tried to locate faculty.
“We are aware of eight of our teachers and advisors who have sadly passed and fear that there are likely more,” said Ross.
Bob Crabtree, Jerry Heinrichs, and Chuck Gary, who were MHS teachers during the Class of ’74’s time, were able to make it out to the reunion.
Reunion Festivities
The weekend-long reunion began with a meet and greet on Friday, August 23. On Saturday morning, the group took a tour of Milpitas High School led by Gary. Later that night, there was a big dinner and gala at the Sonesta Hotel in Milpitas.
Virginia McDermott Davis, Jim Davis, and Victor Rodriguez
At the gala, attendees were given badges that had their last year’s yearbook photos on them.
“It was really important for us to put the photo from high school of each person on the badge,” said Walter Armstrong, a Class of ‘74 alumnus who also served on the planning committee. “That’s the only way you’re gonna know who people are. Everyone looks so different.”
At the gala, beautifully organized tables dotted the space. One table was full of photos and information on U.S. Military Veterans from the high school class; there were also tables dedicated to former classmates who had passed away over the years.
Old MHS letterman jackets from the 70s were also set up on display, along with other key items and photos. People passed around old yearbooks while reminiscing about old times.
Come Sunday, the alumni got together one more time for a picnic before everyone headed back home.
MHS Memories
Armstrong, who was on the MHS cross country team – with Chuck Gary serving as coach – has many fond memories from that time, five decades ago, when students first stepped on the newly built campus.
“Milpitas High School was a new concept. Back then, it was a new concept for schools to look like a college campus with buildings separate from each other,” Armstrong told The Beat.
Ross remembers walking onto campus during her freshman year and seeing the whole place full of concrete and dirt. There wasn’t yet a single tree on campus. So the teachers and students got together for a plant-in to beautify the grounds.
Back in the 70s, MHS’ school mascot was The Patriots, and the school colors were red, white, and blue. It wasn’t until 1981 that the mascot shifted to The Trojans, and the colors to gold and navy blue. Earlier, the Trojan had been Ayer’s mascot, but when Ayer closed in 1981, it was decided that MHS would take it on, along with Ayer’s school color of gold.
When the Class of ’74 began their senior year at MHS, school was actually year round, and began in July that year, with alternating patterns of 45 days of class and 15 days off throughout the year, also known as 45-15. The students were all divided into several tracks and were taught on different schedules.
“I remember that you could find the absolute best hot butter bread at Milpitas High School,” said Ross.
She also spoke of how many different student bands would come out on campus during lunchtime. And how classmates would also get together to make floats for Frontier Days. Their class’s floats won awards two times.
Ross also recalled how MHS had been donated a Volkswagen. The auto shop class painted it red, white, and blue. It was named the Super Patriot, and the principal used to get in the VW Bug and ride it around campus.
“Our school had a lot of spirit. Every time there was a rally, we were loud. Our class is really close,” said Ross. “I have friends I keep in touch with up until this day. I can tell you the name of every graduating student in my class.”
Gary, who started teaching at Milpitas High in 1969 and even served as its Principal for two decades, remembers that time fondly. He grew up in Milpitas and graduated from Ayer High School in ’64.
“I knew those buildings at Ayer really well,” Gary told The Beat. “And making a transition to the new campus at Milpitas High School was really cool. I was a beginning teacher. Everybody was new and we got to know each other really well.”
Not only did Gary attend the 50th reunion, but he also remembers attending their 5th reunion over four decades ago.
“The class of ’74 was an awesome class. I was their class advisor, and they had competitions and we won everything together,” said Gary. “It was a very special class.”
