'37 ALUMNI REUNION, BARBECUE TO HOST MEMORIES; SEPARATE EVENTS EXPECTED TO ATTRACT SENIORS.

Byline: Bettie Rencoret / Senior Columnist

Memories drawn from wellsprings of the past will flow like water this weekend as people from all over flock to the 60th-year reunion of Antelope Valley Joint Union High School's Class of '37 and the annual Oldtimers Barbecue.

Tales will be shared, like the one about how Charlie Siebenthal, Sparky Brandt and Kenny Sadler used to siphon water from the old artesian well on the corner of 10th Street West and Avenue I, into water-cooled airplane engines at the Lancaster Airport.

``Tenth Street West stopped at Avenue I going north and that was where the small spring was,'' recalled Walt Primmer, who was born in Lancaster in 1920. ``Those three just hooked up some sort of a water line from the well to the airport to get water for those engines,'' he laughed. ``It really didn't take very much.''

Many of the returning graduates plan to attend both events beginning with the reunion Saturday night at the Antelope Valley Inn.

The festivities will start there with a social hour at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Admittance is by invitation only and tickets must be prepaid; none will be sold at the door.

Irene Swenson and Dorothy Oakes, the coordinators, mailed out bids not only to the dwindling list of 1937 alumni but to those in other early years who have indicated an interest.

One former classmate is coming from Japan.

``Masao Ekimoto graduated with us but after only a few months he left here, to join his father in Japan, to complete his education,'' he said. ``He's the brother of local resident Yoshio Ekimoto.''

The reminiscing will switch Sunday to the Oldtimers Barbecue at Challenger Memorial Hall at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds. An ``oldtimer'' is considered to be anyone who has lived in the valley for 25 years or more.

Doors will open at 11 a.m. and people will stay until 4 or 5 p.m.

``We don't tell them when to leave. They just all seem to go at once when the afternoon wanes,'' said Marge Cox, Oldtimers secretary.

At noon, the kitchen crew will begin to serve an expected 600-plus guests. The meal costs $6.

Approximately 1,000 pounds of beef and huge vats of beans are being prepared.

Oldtimers President Hank Hooyerink is in charge of the ``deep-pit'' cooking operation, according to publicity Chairman Primmer. Assisting will be Glen Ralphs, of the Gorman Ralphs family, and a crew of chefs, including Hooyerink's son.

Members of local 4-H clubs will serve guests who are handicapped and can't stand in line.

Cox said there is no planned entertainment.

``People just like to visit,'' she said. ``We'll have an invocation and the flag salute and from then on we'll just talk and renew old friendships.''

Old photographs will be displayed by Primmer and Milt Stark, and antique cars will be brought by Carl Bergman.

Primmer, a local historian, noted that Oldtimers celebrations have been around for a long time.

``Prior to 1933 there were numerous barbecues but none of them had any organization,'' he said.

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Photo

PHOTO From left, Mickey Primmer, her husband, Walt, and Marge Cox are helping coordinate Sunday's Oldtimers Barbecue at Challenger Memorial Hall at the Antelope Valley Fairgrounds.

Bettie Rencoret/Special to the Daily News