Several classmates have been involved in the planning, scheduling, and carrying-out of this fun weekend since then we first started meeting back in April. Let me recognize and thank a few in particular. Would each of you stand as I say your name.

Sheila Frayser Creighton...Sheila was the Committee Chair person, assuring that everything that needed to be done was done,...Sheila, the police are outside waiting to speak to you regarding some problems that arose at the Main Event last night.

Cindy Goswick Abbott and Doug and Diane Rockwell have been tireless in generating all of the artwork and yearbook posters, and we can also thank them for the T-shirt design. They were responsible for making sure that the women came out on top (holding up T-shirt with the prone "69", which has the names of women alumni in the "6" on top and the names of the men in the "9" on the bottom).

We did a phone blitz this past week one last time to locate wayward classmates, and we have Dale Waldron to thank for the many calls he made. He set a record that a any telemarketer would be proud of.

And finally, the committee would like to recognize Tony and Lauren Ricketts and their team at Golden State Reunions, who've have done an outstanding job… we can thank them for moving us out of the recreation room into these palacial digs.

30 YEARS….Sounds kind of funny, doesn't it? Sounds kind of …old.

I feel, as I know you must feel, just a little in awe of that number.

I know it can't really be 30 years since we celebrated our senior prom in this very room, but reality has a way of hitting you head-on sometimes. Somehow the act of returning here makes it sink in just a little more.

The greatest pleasure of returning to the scene of the crimes of your youth is running into your accomplices.

I will forever have fond memories of this place. And while those memories may be blurred somewhat by the passage of time, I will certainly never forget the romantic midnight drive afterward to the top of Mount Soledad - to watch the submarine races, of course - And nothing can quite match the adrenaline rush induced by the feeling of stark terror when my date and I woke up just as the sun was beginning to rise over Escondido.

Somehow I managed to survive the retributions of my girlfriend's parents intact, and lived to date another day. And that's what we're all about - we're survivors.

30 YEARS…

That's a long time. Where did we leave off?

In 1969, Vietnam was in full bloom. Many of us went there, or have friends and family who did. And while many returned, a lot of us didn't.

There are also a few of us who have passed on, and I wanted to take a moment to honor their memories:

Ron Heredia
Evelyn Hoogervorst
James Manley
Patricia Williams
Art Hamlin

These classmates will always be with us in spirit, and will live on in our memories.

In 1969, Lyndon Baines Johnson was serving his final year as president, and Mr.Drielsma was still teaching civics class. And I know the only reason any of us follow current events today is because we didn't want Mr. Drielsma coming to our house after dinner to make sure our noses were buried in the newspaper…

In 1969, the Beatles were still at the height of their popularity, and the Woodstock generation was born. We were starting to let our hair grow down to our shoulders, and now were lucky to have hair at all. Watergate hadn't happened yet, and now we have Monica-gate.

There are many ways to measure the passage of time, and technology is as good a yardstick to use as any to see just how far we've come. When we were in school, we handwrote our essays or used a typewriter or, if you were a hunt-and-peck typist like me, you bribed a classmate to do it for you. Now we have laptops. Back in '69, we had yearbooks and school newsletters. Now we have web sites.

What are we here for today? This event is really a celebration of us, of who we are today. What I was then, I'm not now. At least I hope not.

We're here to re-discover, to re-connect, to rekindle old friendships and start new ones. It's about sharing stories and experiences, and delighting in the fact that we've all made it this far.