BACK TO SCHOOL; CLASS OF 1957 TO GET TOGETHER : FRANCES LANE.Byline: Karen Thacker Special to the Daily News In 1957, Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley Joint Union High School won the CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). football championship. Its band was No. 1 in the state. Bobby socks bobby socks female short socks that epitomized 1940s teen fashion. [Am. Cult.: Misc.] See : Fads and poodle skirts A poodle skirt is a wide swing skirt worn with layers of petticoats underneath, often on its own (worn with a cardigan) or sometimes as part of a dress. It was a fashion of the 1950s, most notably 1955, popular with young women and teenage girls of the Silent Generation. were in, Elvis was King and '57 Chevys cruised Lancaster Boulevard. Before football games, banners stretched across the boulevard. Decorated cars honked as they drove down the street to the big rallies and games. ``It was a fun school,'' said '57 graduate Dante Simi, who recalled that a rally or a home game often attracted 3,000 people. ``There wasn't a lot else to do in those days,'' he said. Forty years later, the 1957 graduating class of AVJUHS is gathering to reminisce rem·i·nisce intr.v. rem·i·nisced, rem·i·nisc·ing, rem·i·nisc·es To recollect and tell of past experiences or events. [Back-formation from reminiscence. and learn what is happening now in the lives of their one-time classmates Classmates can refer to either:
``We have people coming from the East Coast and one from Hawaii,'' said organizer Patti Nygaard. Lancaster now has about 10 times its 1950s population. The ``Joint Union'' disappeared from Antelope Valley High's name after Palmdale High opened in the same district. Antelope High classes now meet in the single-story structure that replaced the two-story building torn down after the Class of '57 was graduated. ``It was a beautiful building,'' Nygaard said. ``There is not one building left that was there when we were there.'' The front staircase was the unofficial hangout hang·out n. Slang A frequently visited place. Noun 1. hangout - a frequently visited place haunt, stamping ground, resort, repair area, graduates recall. A view from the front steps looked west straight up Lancaster Boulevard. Students from the 1950s are proud of how far some came to go to school. They say the bus route was the longest in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. at the time. Students came from as far as Gorman and Mojave. Many boarded the bus before dawn. Elvis was the King of rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. , but alfalfa alfalfa (ălfăl`fə) or lucern (l  sûn`), perennial leguminous plant (Medicago sativa reigned
on the farms where many high school students lived. They had plenty of
work to do when they got home from classes.
At the reunion, the attendees will each receive an aerial-view photo of the school in the 1950s. Showing bare land around the high school, except at Lancaster Cemetery, the photo is a reminder of the small town that once was Lancaster. Each person who attends also will have a name tag with his graduation photo attached. But '57 graduate Frances Lane expects most to recognize each other even without looking at the tags. ``You do recognize people and it's like that many years haven't passed,'' said Lane. ``It's just like, yes, where you left off - even though it's been 40 years.'' ``Many of us went through grade school and all of high school together, so we have a lot of fun memories,'' Simi said. The casual-clothes reunion will begin at 4 p.m. Saturday at Roper Ranch in Lancaster. Alumni from other '50s graduating classes are also welcome to attend, organizers said. Tickets are $30 per person. The music, of course, will be from the '50s. Anyone needing more information can call Patti Nygaard at (805) 943-5456 or JoAnn Beebe at (805) 943-4138. After she graduated from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School in 1957, Frances Lane became a stewardess for American Airlines American Airlines Major U.S. airline. American was created through a merger of several smaller U.S. airlines and incorporated in 1934. It continued to buy the routes of other airlines, becoming an international carrier in the 1970s; its routes include South America, the , but was forced to quit when she was married. Such was the rule in the 1950s. She lived in Fresno for many years, showed horses and painted. Now single, she lives on a ranch outside Leona Valley and is active in many community events, particularly fund-raisers. She remembers the football games, drive-ins, bobby socks and saddle shoes saddle shoes an oxford, usually white, with a saddle of contrasting color, usually brown; a favorite fad of the 1940s and 1950s. [Am. Pop. Culture: Misc.] See : Fads . And what was her graduation present? ``A '57 Chevy,'' she recalled. ``It's a classic now - I wish I had kept it.'' JOANN PELLIZZER and JOE BEEBE High school sweethearts JoAnn Pellizzer and Joe Beebe have kept their commitment going 40 years now. They met at Antelope Valley Joint Union High School and enjoyed dates at the drive-in, Teen Town dances on the weekends and a lot of hay rides. ``We usually always went on double dates, triple dates - a whole gang of us would go together,'' JoAnn said. At school, a popular gathering spot was the sundial in front of the main building. There was a senior lawn, and getting a class ring was a must. Some merchandise and many events were class-oriented, ``senior this or junior that,'' JoAnn said. There was the full crinoline look under the poodle skirt. Ponytails and pageboy cuts were the popular hairstyles, she recalled. A generation later, her daughter is amazed a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. when looking at the yearbooks. ``My daughter says, `Mom, you didn't really look like that?'' BOB READER Raised in Leona Valley, Bob Reader remembers catching the bus about 7 a.m. to get to Antelope Valley Joint Union High School by 8 a.m. It made for a long day, but there were others getting on the bus even earlier since the school drew students from a 50-mile radius in 1957. It was the era of corduroy corduroy, a cut filling-pile fabric with lengthwise ridges, or wales, that may vary from fine (pinwale) to wide. Extra filling yarns float over a number of warp yarns that form either a plain-weave or twill-weave ground. peggers, Levis and dances after football games, and the Future Farmers of America chapter was a big force at the school. About one-third of his class came from farms and ranches, but Reader can think of few still active in farming. Reader worked 37 years for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) is responsible for the construction and operation of Los Angeles County's roads, building safety, sewerage, and flood control. before retiring in March. KEN PURSLEY Most early Antelope Valley residents were linked to alfalfa in one way or another. Pursley's mother, Razelle, graduated from Antelope Valley Joint Union High School. So did a brother and sister. So did Pursley's own three children. Teen-agers passed time ``draggin' the main'' - driving up and down Lancaster Boulevard between 10th Street West and the high school - and once in a while driving down Sierra Highway Sierra Highway is a road in Southern California, United States. It runs from Tunnel Station near the north limit of the City of Los Angeles, where it intersects with San Fernando Road and Foothill Boulevard, as well as Interstate 5, and continues north to Mojave, mostly paralleling . A valley resident his whole life, Pursley retired two years ago after 36 years with Southern California Edison Southern California Edison (or SCE Corp), the largest subsidiary of Edison International (NYSE: EIX), is the primary electricity supply company for much of Southern California. It provides 11 million people with electricity. . DWENNON CARROL HEALY Dwennon Carrol Healy remembers playing the first basketball game in a new boys gymnasium. It was during the days of mandatory crew cuts for boys in sports. ``Off-season we'd let the hair grow and do the Fonzie-Elvis hair - and it was not the dry look,'' Healy said. Levi's, T-shirts and letterman jackets were common attire. Paxton's drive-in and the drugstore at Lancaster Boulevard and Sierra Highway were the places to go. Healy worked on the family farm while he was in high school. He now works for Boeing, after working in the glass business and the construction business. CAPTION(S): Photo, 5 Photos/Boxes Photo: (1--Color) Frances Lane, who will attend her high-school reunion in Lancaster, holds her graduation photo. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News Photo/Box: (1) Frances Lane (2) Dwennon Carrol Healy (3) Bob Reader (4) Ken Pursely (5) JoAnn Pellizzer and Joe Beebe |
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