A Unique Group of Friends Come Together Again...

by Dan Harley, Jr.
Class of 1984
October, 2004

Over 20 years ago, a few hundred young adults graduated from a high school at the edge of the Mojave Desert and took their first steps away from high school and into the world on their own. Since then, many have stayed close friends, others vanished some had passed on.

Those young adults are now in their late 30's. They have families, careers, responsibilities and lives they could only imagine to have back in high school. They have scattered to the edges of the country and around the world. One thing is for certain. They will always have a common bond no matter where they've been, what they do or where they go.

The uniqueness of growing up in Apple Valley, CA during such era is the bond that links these people forever. They will always be special friends to each other no matter how far they are away or how long it's been since they've seen one another. Many cherish these special friendships more than most anything in their lives.

In late September, 2004, these friends had a great opportunity to come together again and celebrate their 20-year anniversary of graduating from Apple Valley High School. Many things have changed among these friends and the place they used to call their home. Most everyone had doubts in what would arise when they meet these special friends once again. Many decided not to come just for that reason. Such concerns were eliminated the moment the first of these friends met.

Unlike what is portrayed in movies and books, this reunion wasn't just a one-night event. The actual reunion started months before the traditional reunion event. A dozen or so classmates came together in December, 2003 to form a committee to plan a 20-year high school reunion that would last a whole weekend. A Yahoo Groups message board was created soon after the first committee meeting. This marvel of Internet technology very quickly found another use, and that would be to get old friends to contact each other.

The Yahoo Group soon became filled with banter among friends around the world who haven't seen or heard from each other for years. Eventually, another message board opened up for more free spirited conversations. The banter and planning made the months of preparing for a big reunion weekend go by quickly. September was soon upon us, and the big event became a reality with a weekend packed full of things to do.

The Classes of 1983 and 1984 20-Year High School Reunion celebration started Friday night, September 24th with an invitation from Apple Valley Unified School District to attend the Bell Game for free. The timing and the situation for this rivalry football game could not have been planned better.

The Bell Game has been a staple rivalry between Apple Valley High School and Victorville High School for years before these friends graduated from high school. Generations of Sun Devils and Jackrabbits look forward to the last game of the regular football every year. It never mattered who had the best record during the season because this game was played as if it was the only one played all year. The reward for winning was pride in ownership of a bell taken from an elementary school building dismantled in the late 60's.

As the years went by, the area grew and these high schools migrated into different conferences. The Bell Game was no longer played at the end of the season, but rather became one of the first of the season and often before school started in the fall. The Bell Game quickly lost it's rivalry luster. Apple Valley High School had lost several Bell Games in a row. That changed the year of our 20-year reunion.

That year the Bell Game gained new meaning and importance by being acknowledged as the second longest rivalry among high schools in the Mojave Desert. The Bell game was scheduled after the fall semester started. Apple Valley High School had a week long rally and the rivalry was alive once again.

About forty of our classmates came together in the Newton T. Bass Stadium parking lot for a tailgate party and then into the stadium to watch the Sun Devils beat our long time rival Victor Valley Jack Rabbits in a 26-6 upset victory. Apple Valley High School once again reclaimed the bell. Some of our classmates had kids attending the high school making it a celebration across generations.

Friday night's festivities didn't end with the game. Most everyone who attended the Bell Game journeyed to Drapers Sports Bar and continued the reunion of friends. Drapers is an unofficial historical landmark to the friends as the facility had been standing longer than we've been alive. It started out as a restaurant long ago. A bar was added and then expanded into being a night club. For many of our classmates, Drapers was their first taste of adulthood entertainment.

That night was a night to remember. Our friends completely took over Drapers. Everywhere you looked was an old friend from high school, and everyone looked great. There was living proof that the years have done well for our classmates. The festivities went on till the bar closed for the night.

Saturday morning, September 25th, seen dozens of these friends attend a tour of the old high school campus. Lots have changed in 20 years. The smoking area is now filled with portable classrooms. The grass quad areas are cemented in with an outside amphitheater in front of the library. The senior patio remains pretty much the way it was left by these friends 20 years ago.

Some of the more shocking changes was the day care center and a probation officer's office on campus. We could never imagine such would be seen on a high school campus let alone our own alma mater. These were definite signs that things have changed.

A more somber yet heart warming experience is seeing the Stan and Gloria Shaver patio area dedicated to two dearly loved teachers and friends. Their tragic deaths may have ended their lives, but their memories will live on.

The tour ended with pictures in front of the Tony Balsamo Fine Arts Building with Tina Balsamo being the center for most of the pictures. Tony was more than just a principal for many of our friends. To dedicate a building to Tony was an incredibly kind jesture to a very wonderful person.

The big event was the reunion dinner at the Ramada Inn on Saturday night, September 25th. Months of planning for it's success came down to just moments of high anticipation. The hours before the reunion had me dealing with last minute details and left me practically out of breath. I also had concerns that classmates from Class of 83 would have thoughts of discouragement in thinking they were just tagging along with Class of 84. Such thoughts were darted minutes after the doors opened that night.

Many of these friend have made great success of their lives. There were doctors, lawyers and others with very successful careers. There were also those who's biggest accomplishment was just to attend this event. All the titles, the successes and the failures were left at the door as everyone returned to simply being old friends getting together after being away from each other for so long. A formal agenda that I spent hours preparing was thrown out as the night took a form and direction of it's own. Over 160 of these special friends found their own way to hook up, talk, laugh and catch up on life.

The night moved onto a dozen fun awards such as: "Who Changed The Most", "Who Stayed The Same", "Who Has The Biggest Family", "Who Has Been Married The Longest" and so on. Overall, it was easy to tell that these friends aged very well. Everyone looked dashing, handsome and beautiful in their own way.

Music from the high school era of these friends started blaring out the speakers. Everyone did their best to dance their hearts out and the night away. Music from Michael Jackson, Depeche Mode, Devo, and other artists from the 80's were once again seen as popular, fresh and new instead of something heard on oldies radio stations while commuting to work days before.

The formal night ended with my own song request. I insisted the The B-52's Rock Lobster would be played to it's full extent and it was. Most everyone migrated to the dance floor for the last time that night doing their best rock lobster dance. If the song lasted forever, those friends would still be dancing. The song did end, the lights came on, the formal reunion dinner was over but the party was just warming up.

The friends continued the reunion by taking refuge in the hotel lounge across the hall from the dining area. A usually quiet drinking spot turned into a standing room only wall-to-wall party. Th establishment wasn't prepared for the borage of classmates invading this normally quiet watering hole. The essence felt in the room was incredible as everyone there knew every person in the room. The lounge party continued well past the alcohol curfew till the proprietors literally threw these friends out of the lounge and into the parking lot after 2:30 in the morning. Even that didn't stop the party.

Many who stayed at the Green Tree Inn journeyed back to that establishment for an after hours party. Others loitered in the Ramada Inn parking lot waiting for something to happen and it did.

I unsuccessfully sneaked back to my hotel room on the top floor of the Ramada Inn only to be seen by everyone in the parking lot as I walked past the windows overlooking the parking lot. The phone in my room was already ringing by the time I opened the door. The phone call from Audrey Marino was followed by some 30 friends still in the parking lot. These friends packing a very small hotel room and rationed alcoholic drinks till 4:00 AM. The aftermath of my room the next morning could be compared to a Baghdad street after a U.S. air strike.

The final event for the weekend was the Reunion Family Picnic on Sunday, September 26th at Jerry Farr Park in Oro Grande. Many had commented for months why this park over one in Apple Valley. That issue were instantly resolved when the friends finally seen how beautiful the place was.

The park is owned by the Mitsubishi Cement plant and their company picnic was the day before. Dan Cagle's (Class of 84) father had built much of the park himself. We had yet another stroke of luck as the cement plant had left the amenities from the company picnic for our use. This made the park even more pleasant for the friends and family to enjoy. Memorabilia was spread on several long tables while Dan Cagle, Jimmy Piner and Kevin Griffin prepared a feat of burgers and dogs.

Most of the friends had been with each other for days by now making the conversations less of life's past and more of staying connected and enjoying the moments together. Some had brought their adult toys with Steve Murray bringing the most. An RV, his 4x4 truck and a spare car were found at Camp Murray.

It was a heart warming site to see the friends and especially the kids play together. It was the next generation of these special friends in a special moment of their lives. The burgers and dogs were served. The afternoon was coming to an end. This special weekend was coming to a close. One final highlight was recognizing my efforts and the hard work in organizing the reunion. Janice Mangan handcuffed me to a tent pole as a humorous way to give a pat on the back for a job well done.

All good things must come to an end and so did the reunion weekend. A few last phone numbers and hugs were exchanged. The cars were packed for home and the friends started their journey back to their regular lives. I suddenly realized that no one was left, and I was the last to leave the park. Perhaps I subconsiously did so as my personal moment of closure.

Planning and preparing for an event like this was certainly a lot of work. I was very fortunate to have such a great group of people to help out. The reunion certainly would not have been as successful without their assistance. The committee certainly deserves as much credit as I do. Still I was so busy over the weekend that I didn't have time to absorb the experiences until it was all over.

Perhaps that was good as I have the rest of my life to relish in the memories. Weeks before the reunion weekend, I had sworn that I will never organize another one as it was a lot of hard work and much anguish. Ironically, I was saddened when it was all over. I look back at that weekend in late September, 2004 and realize that it was one of the best times and moments in my life. We were successful in getting a whole bunch of old friends back together again. It was well worth all the effort, and I'm grateful for everyone who came to making it so wonderful.

Weeks after that weekend, I'm still in contact with many of these friends. I've received numerous compliments from those who attended the reunion and even from those who didn't. This helped me stay motivated in fulfilling a promise to my friends, and that is to build this Web site.

I've been around computers and technical stuff since I was a little kid. I was probably the only kid in school that had my own computer. That in mind, it was no surprise to any of my classmates that I was making a living on Internet stuff. I've developed well over 100 Web sites and have won numerous awards for my work. This Web site is very special as it is an effort from my heart.

I'm blessed to have lots of friends with many being old classmates from Apple Valley High School, Apple valley Jounior High School, Mariana Elementary and Rancho Verde Elementary. It's strange to think that I have close friends that I've known for over thirty years let alone since high school. I wanted to make sure this Web site is not just a collection of reunion memories, but it represents special everlasting friendships that were started many years ago and continues to be significant and important parts of our lives.

I hope all my friends find this site to recall wonderful memories, stay in touch and keep the story about friends who graduated from a high school at the edge of the Mojave Desert over 20 years ago one that never ends...

Dan Harley, Jr.