By Jonathan Tsou
For the first time, Arcadia High School’s first graduating class returned to visit Arcadia High School. The event hosted by Arcadia High School Student Council Historical Committee and Arcadia High School’s Associated Student Body gathered outside the Performing Arts Center to commemorate this meeting. Thirty – five alumni, along with spouses and children, came back together to reminisce on a time that they will never forget.
Before the 1950s, high school students from Arcadia, Duarte, and Monrovia all attended one high school, which was located in Monrovia. Many community members proposed an idea to separate Arcadia from the school. Many of these alumni’s parents argued Arcadia to separate themselves from Monrovia and Duarte.
Many members that I spoke to admitted that they hated school back then, however, they could not miss the excitement and renewed camaraderie that could result from this reunion.
A sixty- year reunion is a rarity. Rarely do so many members of a group willing travel hundreds of miles by car, train, or plane to come together for such a wonderful moment.
When members of the Class of 1955 graduated, Disneyland opened for the first time, the Montgomery Bus Boycott just began, and the Los Angeles Dodgers were still in Brooklyn.
The first Arcadia High School ASB President, Paul Dyer, said that one of the reasons that they have formed such strong bonds among classmates is that they were the senior class for 4 years. They were the class that selected the Apache mascot, the cardinal and gold colors, and even created the school’s Alma Mater.
A member of the committee, Max Bumgund, with six others planned to formulate a mascot that showed bravery, aggressiveness, and powerfulness. With over 20 different mascots proposed, including Spartans and Marines, they selected the Apaches. Mr. Bumgund also hinted that he believed the group selected the cardinal and gold colors because many of wanted to attend the University of Southern California, which also uses the cardinal and gold as their school color.
