Band Spectacular

 taken from the program November 7, 2012

A Bit of History

Excellence in music in the district began in the early 1920's when Joshua Williams came to Anaheim High School.  During the 30 years at that school he gave free lessons to his high school students as to make a complete orchestra, then he encouraged the elementary schools to develop music programs.  The next important champion in Anaheim was William (Bill) Cook, who came to Anaheim High School while he was still a senior at Redlands College.  With the retirement of Williams in 1950, Bill Cook spearheaded the development of music throughout the new schools that were being  built in the district.

Loara has been blessed with only 3 band directors in our 50 year history,

1. Rick Moreno
2. Bill Schroeder
3. Scott Domingues

The first Spectacular was held at La Palma Stadium in 1963.  The show moved to the newly opened Anaheim Stadium in 1967 and back to Glover Stadium in 1984.  During the enrollment high of the district, and prior to the high schools becoming four year institutions, the Spectacular drew crowds of over 25,000 and featured 26 AUHSD schools (17 junior high schools and 9 high schools).

The Band and Pageantry Spectacular was never intended to be a competition, but rather a "show." The basic rationale of the "show" was to show off the excellence of the Anaheim Union High School District music program and to help the progression of young musicians from the junior high school programs through the high school band programs.

The All District Junior High School Band is composed of 120 musicians represent the eight junior high schools in the Anaheim Union High School District.  The members are selected by their directors to join in this opportunity to introduce them to the high school band program.  The goals of this group are to promote high expectations, outstanding achievement, motivation, and involve junior high school students in the large scope of music education.

The All District High School Band is also chose by the band directors.  They chose an equal amount of students so the band is a overall representation of the best of the best when it comes to High School music.  Over the years some of the best musicians in the nation played in the all district band.

Since the early 90's Loara's ASB has agreed to attend each and every band spectacular and since then other ASB's have been seen there supporting their bands ... of course Loara High School is always the loudest.

Once a Saxon, Always a Saxon.

Homecoming Dances

Seaxe 1966 / Loara's First Homecoming Dance, Gym 11.19.1965

High school dances have changed in the last 50 years.  If you read the Saxon Shield and Yearbooks of old you will see that the Homecoming Dances were true Homecomings.  The alumni were invited back for free and the cost of the dance was $1.00.  But the decor was not extravegant but it worked for the time.  Most of the time there was a Dj spinning records in the corner and everyone had a great time.

Loara High School Gym 10.20.2012 / taken at the same angle as the 1965 Homecoming Photo

Surprisingly the cost hasn't shot up that much in 50 years.  A ticket is $15.00 today, surly that doesn't match the cost of living increases.  Loara works hard to make the dances as affordable as possible for all to attend.  Nothing worse than a dance with no one there.  In a 1990's yearbook they reported they were over 400 attendees, today we get about 800 in attendance in good years but we generally hit the 700 mark.  Sadly that's about 1/3 of the school, many have to work, baby sit or are not interested in dances.  

In 2013 terms Dj is a name that has morphed Vj (Video Jockey), Digital Dj's and more have entered the scene.  Oddly enough many have turned back to vinyl to mix their music but most do so on a Digital turntable not playing records or cd's at all but digital remixes that are further remixed at the dance itself.  Video has entered the dj scene that allows Dj's to play music videos of the songs they are tracking at the same time.

Homecoming Queens & Kings 1988 - 2012

The Age of the Homecoming King

1988 - 1989 Seaxe

The second 25 years marked a transition with bringing in Homecoming Kings to the mix.  After a game against the Cypress Centurions that ended in a tie, a new set of traditions set in motion.  The field not only had Queen candidates present, but King candidates were there too.  Hearing names like Craig Beltran, Adam Dove, Imron Hussain, Mark Plettink, Billy Kang, Vince Carpino, Dan Bokelman or Robert Garcia announced must have had alumni what had happened, but they didn't hear wrong.  Jerry Halpin, Activities Director at the time, and his cabinet thought it was time to join many in the county that were adding Prince and King candidates on the ballot.

Below, click on to see a video of the Queens / Kings of 88 - 12.  Again, sorry I cannot show the YouTube Video direct, but the link will get you there (click here). Enjoy!

Queens & Kings: The Second 25

Loara High School Homecoming 1988 - 2012

(click here)

1988 - Michelle Wilkoff (the last stand alone queen)

1989 - Nicole Conner & Billy Kang (first King)

1990 - Katy Valdez & Coy Collins

1991 - Jill Stefani & Mark Axtman

1992 - Kerry Swallows & Bryant Jackson

1993 - Diana Rankin & Brent Sporn

1994 - Elana Fox & Vince Pla

1995 - Jaimee Strand & David Ferguson

1996 - Kelli Heise & Richard Meza

1997 - Sunny Chung & Alex Martini

1998 - Erika Guzman & Zack Winnick

1999 - Elisa Vartanian & Sean Moses

2000 - Cheyanne Holton & Aviran Barlev

2001 - Cindy Kobayashi & Greg Pak

2002 - Erin Craton & Chad Peach

2003 - Michelle Malanga & Jack Lam

2004 - Kristy Vincent & Zach Langhauser

2005 - Monse Gallardo & Carlos Vazquez

2006 - Clare Morgenstern & Denni Ki

2007 - Nichole Simpson & Joshua Apia

2008 - Christina Mantas & Patrick Boyle

2009 - Brionna Davis & Mike Jones

2010 - Alyssa Flores & Nolan Sanchez

2011 - Amanda Jones & Esteban De la Cruz

2012 - Kelly Low & Nicholas Garcia

Saxon Shield October 14, 1988

Homecoming Queens 1962 - 1987

Saxon Shield / November 18, 1965

The First Queen to 1987

Patti Williams - Saxon Shield Dec. 9, 1965

As the school opened in 1962 there was no Homecoming held until they graduated in 1965, the class of 1966 got the first Queen.  Often times people are confused as to who was Queen their year, because Graduation is the calendar year after Homecoming ever happens. This means during the 1966 year the Queen is crowned in 1965.  

Loara's first Homecoming was November 19, 1965.  Loara played Kennedy High School at Handel Stadium and it also marked the night that the Larry Lawrence Memorial Circle was dedicated.  The dance was held after the game in the Gym from 10:30 pm - 12:30 am and cost $1.00 with ASB and $1.50 without ASB to attendees and free to all alumni.

Patti Williams / First Queen

To keep things simple (I hope) I've listed the Queens in their graduating years not their crowning year, and I've separated them in 25 year chunks (which means more to follow).


Enjoy the video montage of the first 25 years of crowning.  Oh and before I hear any chirping I stuck some other photos from other dances in there just to make the video flow with time, see if you can spot them and which dance they were from.

Loara High School Homecoming 1962 - 1987 Video
 (click here)

I apologize that I can't seem to get a video to insert, I believe it's because of special graphics, so you'll need to click through to the video by clicking the link or graphic.

The Queens

1963 - First Class enters Loara
1964 - Sophomores & Juniors only
1965 - First Graduation
1966 - Patti Williams

1967 - Cheri Lessley
1968 - Nancy Freedman
1969 - Anne McDonald
1970 - Dorothy Bye
1971 - Nancy Ribacchi
1972 - Robin Humphry
1973 - Silvia Haaz
1974 - Dean McDonald
1975 - Sue Lee
1976 - Laurie Hoffart
1977 - Linda Emond
1978 - Sara Schantz
1979 - Robin Ray
1980 - Dana Krygler
1981 - Christie Dubach
1982 - Sheryl Sutherland
1983 - Wendy Fowke
1984 - Nancy Reiss
1985 - Ange Andros
1986 - Robyn Gorrie
1987 - Kathy Rodrigues

Homecoming Elections

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Homecoming elections are done.
Thanks Orange County Registrar of Voters
for running them.

I posted on Facebook on the afternoon of Tuesday, 10.09.12 a simple photo and a caption (see right).  From this simple photo and simple caption with a thank you to the Orange County Registrar of Voters (OC ROV) brought some of the most interesting of comments.  Loara has been using the MyBallot Student Election Program  for about three years now for Homecoming elections and last year used them for ASB Elections.  They have worked with us so well you'll even see one of our former students Teejay Hipolito (class of 2012) on the link and pamphlets advertising the program (he is the young man on the far right of the screen when you go to MyBallot).  The program to get them on our campus is simple.  Someone from the OCROV comes to Loara and talks about the election process and why the balloting system is important.  We then go to the OCROV and see how a ballot is made and the security they use so there is no fraud on an elections.  Lastly they come to us and hold our elections for us.

What were those comments? (I took the names off to help out their privacy)

•  17 like this.
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  Wow very legit!

  6 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  Wow that is high tech!

  6 hours ago · Like
  
  
• 

  WOW! That's cool

  6 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  How many days did you allow people to vote?

  6 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  One day

  6 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  What happened to writing the name on a piece of paper folding in half and placing in the shoe box? Dang I am old! Love it

  6 hours ago · Like · 6
  
  
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  Impressive!

  5 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  Were voters required to show I.D.? LOL

  4 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  Yes show Id so they vote once but there are no restrictions on who gets card. Everyone gets one!

  4 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  =0)

  4 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  Wow....I feel old. I think we voted on a piece of paper. Lol

  4 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  Great way for kids to experience the real deal!

  3 hours ago · Like
  
  
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  But seriously, we voted by stuffing the box with paper LOL

  3 hours ago · Like
  
  
• 

  Wow times have changed! That's awesome

  3 hours ago · Unlike · 1
  
  
• 

   am so impressed that you use those machines. Way to go, Mr. C!

  about an hour ago · Unlike · 2
  
  

Why do we do our elections so fancy these days?  

Students waiting to vote

Well there are many reasons, here are three: The OCROV need poll workers so they use us as a community liaison to help recruit poll workers ($90 to work the polls, who isn't interested), we want kids to get familiar with the election devices they'll use when they turn 18, and we want to show fair elections at school sites.

In many south county schools parents feel that schools are fixing election and their son or daughter was kept from achieving their High School dream of being Queen or King (look I'm not judging, but it seems a bit odd right?) Although that is far from the truth at Loara High School, as I really don't have any real buy in to who wins or loses, there are those that really think it happens.  So, with the help of the OC ROV electronic machines there can be no doubt.

How do elections run these days?  We allow the entire school to nominate who they want on the ballot, we have a committee to tally all those ballots, all 2600 of them, and then send the names off to the OCROV (all ballots are then locked into the safe in case anyone feels the count is off, I'll let em count them themselves).  We have been doing the tally system for the last 23 years I've been at Loara (and I remember a similar system prior).

Here is where it changes, we used to spend quite a bit of money and time on Scantrons and handing them to everyone for them to bubble in the answer.  Scantrons cost about $200 - $400 an election, and took about 1 hour to run after school.  Our change using the MyBallot system is we agree to a time they will come onto campus to set up their 48 electronic machines, they bring in 5 or so of their employees along with 5 of our students and an electronic election is held.  Seniors come out during one period during the day, Juniors come out during another, Sophomores during another and Freshmen yet another.  Once all that chose to vote do so (this ends at the end of lunch) then a guy wearing a tie carrying a briefcase, a computer and a printer comes onto campus, plugs all the tallying machines together and within 5 minutes we have an answer.

This has allowed us a lot of freedom in the way we announce the court and has freed us up from expense and time.  I am truly thankful to Neal Kelley, who is the Registrar of Voters for Orange County, California, the fifth largest voting jurisdiction in the United States, serving more than 1.6 million registered voters.  He has made elections accessible to schools and has helped Loara High School considerably in the quest to be community minded with their MyBallot program.

Saxon Shield / First Edition

I thought about waiting to release the first "Saxon Shield" in a blog because we are working hard at getting together an editor and staff listing of all the Shields that ever were.  But as I look at the calendar I see time is a ticking.

Although I don't see a print date on this first edition of the "Saxon Shield" I'm dating it From October 17, 1962 to November 1, 1962, maybe a 65' alum has clear memories to print date.  You'll notice that this Shield was hand typed and formatted.  It was printed prior to the Student Government elections which are held on November 8, 1962 and you'll notice that the editor in chief happens to be Bob Adler who becomes the first ASB President of the school.

Other staff members on this copy I can read are:

Bob Adler Editor in Chief

Brent Romney: Sports Editor

Steve Milner: Art Editor

Debi Murdoch: Feature Editor

Margaret LaPierre Co editor

Linda Bernard: Social Editor

Let me pull out a few of the articles so you can read them a little better:

SAXONS IN THE SPOTLIGHT

By Debi Murdoch

Debby Arnhardt

Doing a terrific job of leading cheers this year is Debby Arnhardt.  Debby along with being the former head cheerleader, keeps a high scholastic average. Among her favorites Debby names: blue, "Close to Cathy" and Johnny Mathis.  When asked about her favorite food, Debby quickly replied, "Anything." It sounds like she really likes to eat! Debby's most embarrassing moment occurred earlier this year when she walked into the boys' gym by intake.  Since then, though, she seems to have found her way around campus much better. Debby's classes this your include English, Geometry, Gym (of course), Office Practice, Drivers Ed. and French.  She doesn't have a favorite class or teacher. For an ambition, Debby in interested in becoming an English teacher.  This should be quite a chance --- instead of telling us Saxons to yell louder she'll probably have her hands full keeping her class down to a low roar.  Unfortunately, Debby's family is moving to Borneo in about two months.  We'll sure be sorry to see such a loyal and outstanding Saxon leaving.  We all, I'm sure, wish Debby all the luck and happiness in the world.

BANNER CARRIERS CHOSEN

Tuesday, October 16 four banner girls and one baton twirler were picked.  These girls were chosen from twenty other girls to represent our school in parades.  The judges, Miss Malucky and Mr. Marino, decided on these four girls:  Janet Clark, Carol Shaw, Mickey Smith and Carolyn Young.  All girls participating were judged on poise, posture and ability to march to music.  Our only baton twirler, Pat Nannes, was chosen from two other girls on the basis of poise and routine.

(Note: in the 1962 yearbook there appears to be a Marcia Young carrying the letter A, also they list Margery Jo Black as the Drum Majorette.  Many claim this is a picture of Pat Nannes.  As I graduated in 1982 I cannot confirm not deny this claim.  Maybe a member of the original Seaxe can clear up any claims.  Yet another mystery)