HAPPY BIRTHDAY EVERYONE!!!!!
Can you believe it? This family of “Forever Warriors” called the Fallbrook Alumni Association is celebrating its 15th birthday. All I can say is “we must be having a lot of fun” because the time has flown by…….and we have been very busy taking care of business. Beginning our year’s activities in August, we filled and delivered another round of backpacks to FUHS, to date totaling 800! That’s a “big boatload” of backpacks! It is truly rewarding when we make the delivery and receive such warm “thank you’s” from faculty members who work directly with the students and personally know the necessity of these tools for learning. Thank you for your continued support of our “Backpack Buddy” program. Next came the Scarecrows…in the fall our Chamber of Commerce holds a community-wide scarecrow contest. We decided to participate and asked the students in the FUHS art department to help….resulting in a very impressive “Warrior Scarecrow” displayed downtown for all to enjoy. We hope you like the picture. Our next adventure was (as always) the Annual Alumni Picnic in the Park, where nearly 200 former Warriors gathered to celebrate each other and enjoy a delicious lunch prepared by our FUHS Ag students. Highlighting the day was the opportunity drawing where guests walked away with everything from avocados to jewelry to collectables to art to….well you get the picture….it was a lot of fun! October was a busy month and we finished it out at the Homecoming game where we greeted Alumni at our booth and peddled our spirit wear….lucky for us it was cold. Our sweatshirts and hoodies were a big hit! In November I attended the Girls’ Volleyball Team’s practice session and presented them with a much needed donation for which they were most grateful, as shown by the smiling faces in the picture. The end of March saw us celebrating Bud Roberds’ 95th birthday. Although it was not an “official” alumni event, Live Oak Park was filled with Bud’s adoring former music students spanning over 50 years of teaching. In early spring, Bill Hansen and I had several meetings with the owner of Rainbow Valley Orchards (an organic packing house for citrus and avocados). The end result was a very generous scholarship which was presented at the Senior Award Ceremony in May……which brings me to one of my favorite subjects…our scholarship program. We presented 4 scholarships and 1 award to students who will pursue the following fields of study: Elementary Education (The Patricia Klaviter Grevatt Memorial Scholarship) – Samantha Main (Mira Costa College); Fine Arts-Belle Banta (Colgate University); Agriculture – Nicole Conyers (Cal Poly San Luis Obispo); Career/Technical- Zachary Cain (Palomar College/Fire Science and Fire Technology). The “Heart of the Warrior Award” was received by Sierra Arteaga for the outstanding role model he is in all walks of life…truly displaying the “Heart of the Warrior.” Never let it be said that our Warriors of today don’t work hard, because I am here to tell you, they work VERY hard indeed. Presented to 103 graduating seniors (approximately 25% of the class of 2015) was a total of $2.6 million dollars in awards and scholarships….none of which were government sponsored…all from private donors and organizations, a group of very generous supporters of Fallbrook High School of which you are an extremely important part. I thank you once again for your generosity. That finished out the school year 2014-15 …one to remember. Our next adventure will take place in early August when we start all over again, and pack the backpacks for 2015-16 and begin making plans for the Annual Alumni Picnic in the Park, scheduled for Sunday October 18, 2015.
To quote Bill Hansen in a letter of thanks to one of our generous donors, “…donations from our members and the community are what keep us going and we will be able to continue to provide backpacks, school supplies, athletic and computer equipment, spirit wear and banners, and yearbooks to students in need. The school has come to rely on us for help in areas we had not even anticipated, so every dollar is important and put to good use.”
The following is the list of recipients of your generosity: Scholarships/Awards – $5,000 Backpacks & Supplies -$5000 Donations – $920 (FUHS Art Department, FUHS Girls’ Volleyball Boosters, FUHS Girls’ Water Polo, and FUHS Yearbook Staff)
Additional donations were made to the Fallbrook Chorale, Fallbrook Animal Sanctuary, & California Ballet.
On a final note, I wish to express my sadness at the loss of one of our founding members, Dennis Casteel, FUHS Class of 1957. Dennis was with us at our very first meeting bringing his ideas and inspiration for what he believed to be a very worthwhile endeavor. Without his support, our task would have been much more challenging. It is always too soon to say good-bye, but “Good-bye good friend.”
That just about wraps it up, except to ask for your continued support. Please renew your memberships, now. Our today’s Warriors need us more than ever….and to remind you, “Once a Warrior, Always a Warrior!” See you down the road, Jan P.S. More photos and other “goodies are on our NEW website www.fuhsalumni.org.. Check it out! 501C3 #0605634