Oceanside High School Foundation/Alumni Association

Larry Hatter Honored

OCEANSIDE ---- Many students are so focused on getting out of high school that they think they'll never look back, but the Oceanside High Alumni Association and Endowment Foundation proves that's just not true, organizers said.  (Correction:  Oceanside High Foundation and Alumni Association)

The thriving group holds a plethora of year-round activities and is open to all graduates and current students.

Because Oceanside had the first high school in North County, many of its alumni come from Vista, Encinitas, Carlsbad and Del Mar.

The association, which now has 103 members, has two primary goals: raising money for scholarships and recognizing outstanding alumni to induct into the school's Hall of Fame.

Last week, the group handed out $1,000 scholarships to Oceanside High graduating seniors Eduardo Diego, Marcos Andre Farr and Mikayla Garvin, as well as a $500 Calvin C. Gabriel Sr. Memorial Scholarship to Terra Aguilar.

Maintaining historical files about the school is another important task for the alumni association, its members said.

"Right now, one of the biggest jobs we have is gathering copies of every yearbook since 1909, the first graduating class," said Zoe Erickson, a trustee of the foundation. "We want to scan them and preserve each year's contents on CDs."

When a recent inventory was taken at the campus library, some 13 yearbooks were missing, so the Alumni Association put out a plea concerning their project.

"One day, a package arrived in the mail with no return address. Inside were the missing 13 yearbooks," Erickson recalled. "No one ever figured out who had those books, but now they're back where they belong."

But there are many other years still missing, including 1910-11; 1915-18; 1934-35; 1942 and 1949.

Those yearbooks are a big part of preserving the past, said Laurie Boone, association historian.

Her primary task these days is locating and collecting those that are missing.

"We have at least one copy of every year since 1950, (but) I'd do a back flip if we could get a copy of that 1910 yearbook," Boone said. "Since the centennial (2006), we've collected 34 years of yearbooks."

The association is also collecting any and all memorabilia from past high school years.

"One of the donations we received is a senior sweater from the class of 1957," Boone said. "We're looking for anything ---- lettermen's jackets, sweaters, school newspapers, anything students might have used during their school years."

"As older alumnus pass on, we don't want families throwing out their high school memorabilia," she said. "We'd love to add anything from their loved one's high school days."

Carlsbad once was a high school partner with Oceanside. Until 1957, the campus was known as Oceanside-Carlsbad High.

"We have a nice working relationship with the Carlsbad Historical Society, which has been collecting their high school memorabilia since 1957," Boone said.

The association's biggest and newest project is the annual Hall of Fame induction honoring Oceanside High alumni who have achieved notable accomplishments since graduating.

Selecting alumni for the Hall of Fame is no easy task. There are seven categories with one being athletics.

"The biggest problem we have is selecting our athletic achievers," said Pat Kimbrel, a retired athletic director who is heading the Hall of Fame selection committee.

"Oceanside High has so many great sports figures who have gone on to play pro football, baseball and participate the Olympics," Kimbrel said. "We're trying hard not to overload each year's inductions with athletes."

He said because of the great number of sports luminaries, it will take a number of years to get everyone deserving into the Hall of Fame.

The association is open to anyone regardless of whether they graduated from Oceanside High.

To raise money for scholarships, the association has a number of fundraising activities. There's a cookbook for sale, and recently the group sponsored a tile program in which graduates and community members bought a tile with their names to place around the school's senior fountain on campus.

The tiles are scheduled to be set in place for an Oct. 18 dedication, Boone said.  (Correction:  The Tile Dedication will be Saturday, October 24, 2008 following the Hall of Fame Ceremony).

For more information about the alumni association and foundation, visit www.ohsfoundation.org

Contact Tom Morrow at quotetaker@cox.net

Oscar brought his family to Oceanside in 1911, and was road master for the Santa Fe Railroad.  Louise married Dorsey Merrill, whose family came to Oceanside in 1905, and in 1910 opened Merrill's Garage selling Model T Fords.               Tom Morrow, "Notes and Quotes", Saturday, July 26, 2008