Text Box: History of SAHS All School Reunions (and later, Classes of the 60s) 1986 Colorado The first all school reunion was held August 1-3, 1986 at The Inn At Silver Creek, Colorado, about 80 miles from Denver. About 167 attended. This unbelievable success story was the result of tremendous work and unselfish sacrifice by Margaret Amateis (class of 1970). The result of all of her personal sacrifice and dedication was a very emotional experience. We saw friends we had never dreamed we would ever see again. Some members of the faculty and staff attended, which was really special. Class pictures were taken. A softball game was held and some people enjoyed the horseback riding available in the area. This first reunion was probably the most emotional of all - we just couldn't believe it could happen. Following this, attempts were made at publishing a newsletter and keeping the mailing list current. Volunteer support was sporadic. Funds were not available, and we had difficulty continuing what had begun. 1990 Cancún A second reunion was held four years later August 3-6, 1990 in Cancún, Mexico. This was a great trip, but only 30 people were able to attend. It became obvious that if we were to survive, we had to get organized and get some long term commitment. At that time there were several versions of the mailing list. None of them were completely correct. A major effort was made to combine all the mailing lists and get them current. We hired a professional mailing house because the job was too big and no one was able to volunteer to do it all. We went into debt, but we were able to pull off another reunion. 1992 DC 1 The third all school reunion was July 30 - August 2, 1992 at the Doubletree in Crystal City, VA. Several people worked together to make this very successful and another extremely emotional experience. Many new people showed up and ten former cheerleaders from many eras lead a Pep Rally at which every club, sport and activity were mentioned and participants stood for rousing applause. What a great show! The 'girls' were a hit and a tradition began. There were probably 175 people representing classes from 1962 - 1993. After that, the mailing list developed into a real database and was in outstanding shape. We keep it up ourselves so we don't have to pay someone else to do it. In some ways the third reunion was a turning point. Somewhere along the way we named ourselves SAHS Brats. We were then healthy but limited in scope and funds. It become obvious that the most important function we perform is database management. All work is volunteer. 1994 Korea There was a serious attempt in 1994 to have a trip back to Korea for another reunion. For various reasons, it had to be cancelled at the last minute. 1996 Lake Tahoe The next reunion was in Lake Tahoe from July 28 - August 4, 1996. This was certainly the most beautiful and had the greatest variety of things to do. There were about 50 attendees and a lot of first timers were there which always makes it even more fun. The e-mail database was begun right after that by popular demand and several SAHS pages were showing up on the Internet. It didn't take long for this to replace all of the snail mail and hard copy of a directory. 1998 Greensboro, NC A class of '60's reunion was held in Greensboro, NC August 7 - 9, 1998 with about 40 attending. 2000 Hawaii The fifth all school reunion happened at the Outrigger Waikoloa Beach in Hawaii, August 3 - 6, 2000. About 190 of us gathered for another unique experience and a simply fantastic reunion. A highlight was an unbelievable Power Point presentation showing pictures of attendees during our SAHS days, all set to music of the times. Almost all communications are now done through e-mail and web pages. Individual classes and small groups of classes have been having more and more reunions, so this was the last "all school" reunion. The following reunions were targeted to the classes of the '60's, but anyone is always welcome. 2002 DC 2 July 26 - 28, 2002, Hilton Crystal City at National Airport, Crystal City, VA. Again, we had people taking advantage of the area for sightseeing, as well as providing plenty of visiting time in the hospitality suite Friday night, the Saturday night "Teen Club Sock Hop" and the Sunday morning Brunch. More new faces and great 60’s music made this a lot of fun! Group pictures for the various classes were taken. 2005 DC 3 July 28 - 31, 2005 at the Hilton Tyson's Corner, McLean, VA. There were 88 people attending. About a dozen were first timers. Others had been to all seven reunions since 1986. The music was great and we danced all night like we were teenagers. There were no injuries reported. The Cheerleading Squad performed again to thunderous applause and cheers. They were the highlight of the evening. As always, there was tons of memorabilia - yearbooks, newspapers, photos and slides, and T-Shirts - a lot of old memories were shared. Thanks to digital photography, we had about 1000 photos that went out on a CD. A documentary film was shown: BRATS: Our Journey Home - An Intimate Portrait of a Lost American Tribe. With narration and songs by Air Force brat Kris Kristofferson. Featuring interviews with brats from all branches of the service, including Army brats General H. Norman Schwarzkopf. This documentary, created by one of our own, led to many fascination conversations, way above the usual "cocktail chatter" level. People's reactions ran the gamut of emotion. It effected everyone. People found it enlightening, thought-provoking and powerful but ultimately very validating of our unique role in our country's history and it's affect on us. Two Thumbs Up! _________________ Other reunions. Of course, other classes have had their own reunions. If you have information about them, contact the webmaster and we may add your input into this history.