Updates

Aloha Classmate Ohana,

OH YES, WE MADE IT, back to where it all began! We thank all of our classmate ohana and their spouses and guests who attended our activities during our 50th Anniversary Reunion weekend March 13-15. The feedback Dan has been receiving from our website: www.waianaehigh65.com has been very positive. Thank you for your responses ----- we achieved our goal!

For those who were not able to attend, Friday night's Social Mixer at John & Pati DeSoto's hale could not have been planned on a more beautiful evening. Classmates received goodie bags, t-shirts and a custom- designed souvenir medallion with "orders" to wear their shirts and medallions at the high school Saturday night.

A beautiful Makaha sunset provided the background for our ono buffet, very successful silent auction and karaoke session.

Who could have known the singing talent of our fellow classmates? It was a beautiful sight seeing the hugs, tears and laughter of our classmate ohana. Fifty years ago seemed like only yesterday.

A beautiful Saturday morning welcomed our golfers to Makaha Valley's Pacific Links golf course and our Waianae Coast Tour participants to the school bus at the WHS gym. As our golfers enjoyed the relaxation and unsurpassed views in the valley, our school bus tour traveled Farrington Highway and the backroads along the coast, all the way to what we remembered as Yokohama Beach. We learned its actual name is Keawa'ula Beach and it's just as beautiful as ever!

What great tour guides we had in Richard Landford and John DeSoto. Waianae Coast Comprehensive Center served as our lunch stop where we feasted on delicious sandwiches beneath the cool shade of trees. The Center has expanded to quite a large complex serving the growing community with beautiful hiking trails leading above the facility.

The climax of our 50th Anniversary at our alma mater was as promised, an evening to remember and treasure! From the moment our great Class of 1965 was recognized, given lei and presented the plaque "Honoring Golden Seariders 50th", we ruled the night! We proudly sang our class song, "I Believe" and danced to the "Duke of Earl" demonstrating we still have the "moves"! Music of the 50's and 60's by our great band kept the dance floor packed. What a night....

Our Aloha Brunch finale at the Kapolei Golf Course Restaurant was perfect! Another beautiful morning in Hawaii Nei, ono food and lots of door prizes added to the love and aloha experienced by all. Congrats to Russ Woolsey for winning the $100. grand prize. The laughter and “talking story” continued until our event unfortunately ended at 2 pm. Fifty years leaves a lot of “catching up” to do!

And last, but not least and most important, many thanks to our official photographer, Brittany Gomes, (yes, Dan’s lovely daughter) who skillfully and patiently captured our events to be featured on our website…..

Our fabulous weekend could not have been the success it was without all of our ohana who attended from as far as North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Texas and California to Hilo, Laie, Honolulu, Aiea, Waipahu, Ewa Beach, Nanakuli, Ma’ili, Waianae and Makaha. Mahalo nui loa! As Dan mentioned, Phase II will be coming up on October 9, 10 and 11 in Las Vegas. More info to follow on our website.

Please keep in touch as we will begin our process of planning the next event. Till we meet again, a hui hou! Have a safe and Happy Easter….

Until then –

Aloha!

Your Reunion Committee:

Nadine Lindo Woode, Annie Loving-Ferreira, Myrna Ojerio Hardin, Dan Gomes, Alvin Higa, Nancy Nakata Hirahara, Richard and Shirley Magana Landford, Jay Okada, Searle and Tanna Pestana, John DeSoto and on the 9th Island (Las Vegas) Gladys Paulo Kahaku, Justina Cole Cabunoc and Washington State Lois Paul Parker

Reflections from Las Vegas:

WHS Class of ‘65 Golden 50th Anniversary Reunion

Continuing the Celebration

By Ruby Tsang

The venue – bright flashing neon lights of Las Vegas –struck quite a stark contrast from our nature enriched origins in rural Wai`anae . But our WHS Class of ‘65 celebrants brought our own brand of spark and shine to the Vegas “strip” as we ate, danced, LAUGHED, “talked stories” as only aloha spirited people know how to do –proving again that no matter where we are – our kama`aina spirit will always prevail.

So we continued our WHS Class of ‘65 50th Golden Anniversary Reunion celebrations – from Wai`anae in March 2015 to Las Vegas in October 2015 – we’ve continued the celebrations for our special year. It is a glorious landmark year in our lives – What joy it is to see old classmates who are still on the journey with us – giving us all a sense of hope and encouragement for our future travels.

The first night welcome festivities on October 9th – was a Hawaiian buffet dinner at Aloha Kitchen. The event brought together classmates from all parts of the mainland and Hawaii. We all warmly embraced each other with tears and laughter. Hugging each other tightly, we tried to close the gap over years of separation. What fun it was to guess who was who – from memories of who we were to the realities of who we have become – at least at the surface physical level.

Of course, having the beautifully hand-weaved red and blue leis with our High School graduation pictures was uniquely charming as name tags. Big Mahalo to Tanna Pestana for crafting the leis and Rick Harvey for making the memorable tags. “DJ” Chris, who was our host for the night- (of Haitian/African roots)- was particularly charming and adept at keeping the dance music pumping.

But the crowning event was when” DJ Chris” skillfully pulled off the hilarious “shake your booty” contest with our Male reunion attendees. Although the competition was keen among the fellows, John Aperto , won hands up and down for his thumping style. But all the guys- Searle P, Richard H, Howard C, Teddy N, Joe P. Donald E, and John A - were all good sports at displaying their class spirit… great show!

Spinning the “oldies but goodies” dance music of our era, DJ Chris kept our group bopping away until the end of the evening – proving once again that we “still have it.” Our electric slide dance number was truly of American Band Stand performance caliber.

The second night took on a more “gala atmosphere” with attempts at masquerading with glamorous masks and funky outfits. The event was staged and catered at the Orleans Hotel/Casino Salons . Lois (Paul) Parker, (organizer extraordinaire), set the tone for the evening with her lime-green wig and Seattle Seahawks t-shirt. Lois also generously supplied revelers with masks and beads. Rick Harvey was hilarious in his Howdy Doody get-up. He managed to fool everyone.

Then there was John Aperto, who floored everyone with his “rasta” hair and buccaneer sword swashing outfit… winner again John! Our DJ for the night, Van De Guzman, of local island origins, was extraordinarily talented as a musician/entertainer, but he also kept the beat going for our dance party revelers.

Once again we heated up the dance floor with our raw energy – not bad for some late 60 year olds, huh? But the crowning event of the night was when our beloved Gladys (Paulo) Kahaku, shared her grace and beauty in singing and dancing classic Hula numbers- including the infamous, “He Aloha no ‘o Wai`anae .”

Gladys’ cultural performance brought us back to our roots in Hawaiian song and dance. Memories of so many pep rallies past came to mind as Gladys and Annie (Loving) Ferreira, both former Cheer leading squad members, led us in singing our Alma Mater and our class song – lots of misty eyes after that one.

Both nights featured a lucky numbers drawing for door prizes that had been generously donated by fellow classmates. According to Dee Rego Balfour, who worked diligently with Nancy Nakata Hirahara, on coordinating all the donation and prizes, reported that by the second night, close to $700 worth of donations had been contributed as door prizes. What an incredible show of generosity and commitment from our classmates in supporting our celebratory occasion-a smashing success!

In addition to the 2 dinners, day activities included a bus tour to the Hoover Dam. Some members pursued Bingo tournaments and local shopping during their free day hours. But a real fun event – for players and watchers was the Bowling Party –complete with popcorn and pizza.

Our Waianae players – Gladys Paulo Kahaku, Nancy Nakata Hirahara, Sharon Asato Thiel, Dan of Julie Hambaro Morgan duo made us proud at the Orleans Bowling Alley. On Sunday, a leisurely champagne brunch cruise-ride down Mead Lake in the Hoover Dam area capped a truly memorable weekend of well planned and fun-filled activities.

Kudos and much Mahalo to Lois P. and her committee for a superb job on organizing a complexity of details with different Las Vegas businesses/vendors for our event - all done at a distance: email, text, phone – all done over the internet. It was heartening to see how everyone pitched in to help in putting all the pieces together for making each event a successful one.

The true class “kokua”spirit displayed is what seems to bring everyone back together for our class reunions. The participation at both events, by all accounts, was lively and enthusiastic.

Special recognition to those who attended both reunion events. In doing so, they demonstrated their dedication to celebrating the true spirit of the Class of ’65 Golden Anniversary. They included: Liz Smith Berger, Gayle Nii LoPiccolo, Nancy Nakata Hirahara, Camille Stroud Summerlin, Dee Rego Balfour, Annie Loving Ferreira, Sharlene Inafuku Kimura, Howard Caires, Gladys Paulo Kahaku, Joe Perez, as well as Tanna and Searle Pestana.

All in all, the Vegas gathering was a wonderful extension of the Golden Anniversary festivities. For while it was important that the first reunion take place where it all started – in Wai`anae , Las Vegas provided a wider scope in seeing the extent to which some of our classmates have progressed beyond Wai`anae .

But even as we have variously travelled far and wide, it is obvious that Wai`anae still remains the core to our essence and being. And so we have returned to our roots – WHS Class of ’65 – Happy Golden 50th Anniversary to each of us and all of us. May we see more to come in the years ahead!

(L to R: Gayle Nii LoPiccolo, Sharleen Inafuku Kimura, Liz Smith Berger)

By Ruby Tsang

10/15/15

70th Birthday Celebration

April 26-30, 2017

Las Vegas

We are "turning" 70 this year so lets celebrate in Las Vegas! We are planning an evening to get together on either April 28 (Friday) or April 29 (Saturday). This single planned event will allow everyone the flexibility to explore and "experience" Las Vegas, or spend time "catching up" with classmates.

We will also have t-shirts made so please let us know if you want to order one to commemorate this event. The cost per shirt is $15. If you have not already done so, please reply as soon as possible (before January 28) with your size to ensure you get a t-shirt. We are not planning to order any extra shirts for this event.

See you in April....... We will post additional information as it becomes available here on this site.

Your Reunion Committee:

Aloha Classmate Ohana,

WHERE do we begin.......We believe all would agree this Las Vegas reunion exceeded our expectations! From the pre-mini reunion gatherings to our actual reunion event, Seafood Buffet, to the post mini reunions……. we had FUN, FUN, FUN with capital letters. Just as we had hoped, classmates took advantage of the time before and after our single activity to get together and spend quality time at other venues. Many appreciated not scheduling activities every day. We want to sincerely thank all who attended including those who had never attended activities in the past. Our guests and spouses all helped to make this perhaps our best reunion yet. As we predicted, everyone seemed to pick up right where we left off after graduation, even after 52 years. We had folks asking "when is the next one". Don't know at this point, we are in recovery mode, hah, hah.

Just a few highlights; the distribution of t-shirts went smoothly with everyone showing up on time to pick up their shirts and purchase a few extras that were available. Mahalo to Alvin and the Fremont Hotel though we did "overstay" our welcome a bit with our spontaneous mini reunion. You know how it is when a "few" WHS classmates gather in one spot, auwe!!! Maybe a little loud but the aloha was heartwarming!

And then there was the picture-taking! Mahalo to Warren Wong, our photographer (referred to us by Ilona). who was most professional and funny too. As Elaine Harvey described it, a "hurricane" was blowing outside of Main St. Casino, our photo site. Las Vegas was experiencing high winds for several days. Some of our beautiful plumeria hair decorations (courtesy of Myrna) went flying across the street into the bushes and beyond.......BUT our picture with the "sea of blue" t-shirts is perfect...............we even took a picture of our spouses and guests ...... mahalo to Yvette Hangca Opiana as we also had lauhala hair decorations that could withstand the "hurricane".

Then of course, our Seafood Buffet. Everyone arrived on time at the right spot, checked in and we "rolled" in at 4pm when the buffet began. We ended up at the same location that we had at our previous reunion. Beautiful decorations on our tables, mahalo Gladys, set the tone ---- did I mention spam and shoyu decorations! Loaded plates of crab, mussels, clams, shrimp, etc took up so much table space we had our servers "running" taking away the empty plates. Our door prize session began (when everyone slowed down a bit), mahalo Nancy. Gift cards, t-shirts, 2 beautiful woodturning art pieces by our very own Edric Florence and even the table decorations were won by our attendees. Then our cake was brought in since we can't have a birthday celebration without a cake. We ended as we always do with our alma mater.......what a night!

But then the spontaneous post mini reunion ---------- Triple 7 was a "madhouse" so we just made our own party area right next to the slot tournament machines, mahalo Jerry and Justina. Who knew we could have fun anywhere.............hours later we were still saying "ok gotta go, getting late", hah, hah! Rita's daughter, Darnell, summed it up perfectly "ok for the 26th time, goodnight". At least we moved a few feet closer to the exit.

Gatherings continued the next day at Triple 7 with a large group spending time with Dickie and Ardis Kaneshiro who were not able to attend the buffet. So much fun that they now plan to attend our future reunions (this was their first).

Many pictures were taken and Dan Gomes will to share them with everyone on our website (www.waianaehigh65.com) soooooooo, please send your pictures to him at dangomes@hawaii.rr.com.

We appreciate you all and look forward to seeing you all again. Mahalo nui to our anonymous donors who helped to make this all possible. Our committee is inspired by our classmate ohana to continue our efforts at helping us "keep in touch". Take care all, stay healthy and be safe until next time!

A hui hou…..

Your Reunion Committee

Nadine Lindo Woode, Annie Loving-Ferreira, Myrna Ojerio Hardin, Dan Gomes, Alvin Higa, Nancy Nakata Hirahara, Richard and Shirley Magana Landford, Jay Okada, Searle and Tanna Pestana, Ilona Joseph Lopes, John DeSoto and on the 9th Island (Las Vegas) Gladys Paulo Kahaku, and in Washington State Lois Paul Parker.

Your Reunion Committee

Aloha WHS Class of '65 Ohana,

Our WHS celebrated a glorious 60th year milestone on March 18. It was a beautiful day.....hot....but our tables were under a HUGE tent. ..... Entertainment began at 9am through the afternoon beginning with the alma mater, of course.

Ono food from several food trucks, silent auction, t-shirt sales, and of course the memorial tent which listed alumni who have passed were set-up at various locations on the athletic field. There was even a tent with goodies for all educators.

Our 1965 classmates spent the day eating and yakking and enjoying seeing friends from other classes. Alvin, Shirley and Richard, Dan, Leo, Russell and Sandra, Nancy (who shared goodies from the educator's tent...), Nadine, Russ, Tommy and John all had a good time (in the shade)...…

Mahalo to Shirley and Richard for ensuring our tables were in a great spot as well as displaying our RED class banner where it certainly stood out from all the rest. Good times....

Coming up is our Las Vegas 70th Birthday Celebration, April 26 - 30th. We will celebrate together at the Main Street Seafood Buffet on April 28th, Friday. Our classmate ohana will have the opportunity on other days to visit other Las Vegas "highlights" i.e. shopping, shows and other casinos together or individually or just spend time "catching up". So much to do and so little time!!!!

We look forward to seeing all of you in Las Vegas so please take care and be safe. Have a Happy Easter!

Your Reunion Committee

CLICK HERE FOR PICTURES OF THE EVENT