Photos from the Picnic in the Park at Titlow Park

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Photos from the Main Reunion Event at Fircrest Golf Club

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Photos from the Narrows Brewery

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Photos from the Mau Mau at the Cloverleaf

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John Lennon - 75th Birthday

For some reason I woke up today singing the song "You're Going To Lose That Girl". It may be because today is John Lennon's birthday and he would have been 75 (born October 9, 1940 in Liverpool). That Beatles song, which John wrote and sang lead on, was from the 1965 album and film "Help". Although I was more of a Rolling Stones fan at the time, I later learned to love the Beatles' music.



1965 was a big year for the Beatles, Beatlemania was in full bloom, "Help" was recorded early in the year and they continued performing live, first touring Europe starting in June, and then continuing with their second US concert tour in the late Summer of '65, including legendary performances at Shea Stadium and the Hollywood Bowl. Unfortunately the screaming girls were so loud at these concerts that the Beatles could hardly hear themselves play. As they toured in the US and the rest of the world, the Fab Four had to hole up in hotel rooms for security, so they mostly went from airport to hotel to venue and what was once fun was not so fun any more. John wrote the song "Help" as an assignment for the movie, but without being conscious of it at the time, it was a summation of the pressure he was feeling from the incredible superstardom of his band.

"And now my life has changed in oh so many ways.
My independence seems to vanish in the haze"

In Memoriam - September 2015

We've received news that Jim Johnston passed away at home with his family at his side, on September 26, 2015 after a hard fought battle with cancer.

I remember Jim sat in front of me in home room class and we chatted occasionally. He had a very genuine and big smile and was always a gentleman. Jim excelled in swimming and competed on the Wilson High School swim team.

You can read more about Jim's life, including his love of boats and especially hydroplanes, which he worked on as a crew member, at his online obituary.

A lot of people have been asking for a list of our classmates who have passed away. So we've been planning to post the beautiful "In Memoriam" video that Dan Fiorino put together featuring all of those who have passed away in our class. This video was shown at the main 50th reunion event at the Fircrest Golf Club, but we wanted all alumni to be able to see it either again or for the first time.

Update: Dan has updated the video to include Jim Johnston. Dan knew Jim and had this to say about him:

Jim and I were friends at Wilson but I really got to know him when we both found ourselves in a cattle car headed to Fort Lewis for basic training in 1968. He and I made it through together and he went on to signal corp training and I went to Fort Knox to become an armored recon scout. He spent time in Viet Nam and I’m sure he saw action. I was hoping to see him at the reunion. He was a good man and a good friend.

A Great Big Thank You To Everyone

Well our 50th reunion has come and gone and so we wanted to post some thank you's and final thoughts before too much time had passed.

First we want to thank everyone who attended, you all made it a success. It was a huge turnout, too many people to be able to talk to everyone, which was frustrating, a "wealth of riches." But it was a special time, the weather was perfect, the location very elegant, the decor was amazing, including several historical boards which brought back so many memories of growing-up in Tacoma! And, all that was just wonderful and exciting, but the true gift was spending time with so many friends, saying hello over and over and talking seemingly non-stop. It was so nice to see everyone again and catch up. It was practically perfect! Perfection would have been to talk to everyone!

Next, we've had several requests to list all the committee members who all helped put this event together and get the word out to as many classmates as we could find. We spent over a year working on this, sometimes in bursts of activity, other times in periods of calm, but the stone kept getting pushed up the hill and our work finally all came together in a series of unique events that made it a wonderful four-day celebration.

The Woodrow Wilson High School 1965 Reunion Committee:

4th and Final Reunion Event - Picnic in the Park

Sunday, September 13, 12 - 5 pm
Titlow Beach Park
8425 6th Ave. Tacoma, 98406

After all the events of the weekend, this is our chance to unwind, relax, enjoy each other's company and savor lunch alfresco in the great Pacific N.W. outdoors. Food, beverages or picnic accessories are not provided, you'll need to bring your own. We will have the covered picnic area reserved for our group during the scheduled time. There are 4 tables under the shelter and 6 outside.

Some of the amenities that will be available:

• Restrooms: Yes
• BBQ's and Stoves: 1 small bbq
• Electricity: Yes, 110 volt outlet
• Water: Sink; Also a hosebib nearby
• Parking: Limited on-street parking. Overflow parking available in Titlow Pool parking lot.

There are also walking trails that wind along the beach and through the wooded area.

Now for our musical interlude, a song that wasn't from 1965, but a few years earlier, however it so perfectly captures the feeling of the cool breezes drifting across Puget Sound and rustling through the grasses and trees on a carefree Summer Sunday afternoon.



Come to Titlow Park for one more opportunity to continue conversations with friends and classmates.

The Main Event - Fircrest Golf Club

Saturday, September 12 from 6 - 11 pm

Fircrest Golf Club
1500 Regents Blvd
Fircrest, WA 98466

This is the Grand Celebration Soirée with a delicious gourmet dinner catered by the Club, music, dancing and of course lots of conversation with friends.

For your enjoyment, a no-host bar will be available and it will be CASH ONLY. There are cash machines just across the street (Regents Blvd) at Columbia Bank, Key Bank or Sterling Savings Bank.

Cocktail Hour (6 - 7:30) preceding dinner, will offer hors d'oeuvres: trays of fruits, vegetables, cheeses and crackers.

Dinner at 7:30 will be buffet-style and the entrées available will be Prime Rib and Apple Vin Blanc Chicken. Sides will be roasted fingerling potatoes, green beans amandine and Caesar salad. A delicious dessert will follow dinner.

Dress Code - business casual. Dress appropriately for a private club, so, for example, no halter tops, sweat suits or hats may be worn in the clubhouse.

The Fircrest Golf Club's course opened in 1924 and was designed by Arthur Vernon Macan, an Irishman who moved to British Columbia in 1912. Although he was a skilled tournament golfer, Macan's legacy in the Northwest are his brilliantly designed golf courses. From the start of his course design career in 1913 until his death in 1964, Macan designed or renovated more courses than any other Northwest golf course architect. Among other skills, he had an uncanny ability to design greens with drainage suitable for the Northwest's wet climate.

The Fircrest Golf Club's 33,000 square-foot clubhouse opened in 1997 to such rave reviews its design team was hired by three other leading private clubs in the area.

Hopefully you have your ticket, you can still buy them online for $85 through Friday, they will also be available at the door, but the door price will be $100, so don't wait.  Speaking of tickets, here's another classic from 1965:




We've had some requests to list the attendees, there is a list on the sidebar of the registration form, but that's tricky to find, so continue reading for the public list of attendees (only showing those who checked to give permission). This list is not necessarily complete and may change by the day of the event:

2nd Reunion Event - Narrows Brewing Taproom

Join the gang for another informal get together with food and lots of terrific beers on tap plus wine and spirits. Friday, September 11 at 6 pm at the Narrows Brewing Taproom.

Narrows Brewing Company is a waterfront brewery and taproom located in the Narrows Marina. They opened their doors in July of 2013. The brewery and taproom were built in a 100 year old mill building and have scenic views of the old and new Tacoma Narrows Bridge. The taproom also overlooks the boat slips of the marina, the Boathouse 19 restaurant, plus 100s of feet of dock space. Early in 2015, Mike Davis took over as brewer at Narrows Brewing. Mike is a familiar name to beer enthusiasts around the Northwest because of the many years he spent working as head brewer at Harmon Brewing.

Narrows Brewing Co.
9007 South 19th Street
Tacoma, WA 98466

The Taproom

Food is not sold in the Taproom, but there are many options for dining:

• Pick up food from the Boathouse 19 restaurant next door.
• Purchase from a great BBQ food truck parked just outside.
• Have food delivered or bring your own.

It's going to be really nice on Friday, in the 80's. It will be nice to be on the water, chatting with friends, the orange sun setting. Reminds me of this classic hit from 1965, one of the Billboard top 100 songs of the year...

The West Coast has the sunshine and the girls all get so tan...