1979.SanRamonHigh.com

Well, after almost ten years of having the Class of '79 website at the "members.aol.com" address, I had to move it to another site last October. Since then, it has been at the "homepage.mac.com" site. Apple recently announced plans to close the Homepage service. Fortunately, Apple will NOT be deleting any files, but it will no longer be possible to make modifications through the Homepage service.

So, I recommend that everyone uses the address: http://1979.SanRamonHigh.com and that will get you to the correct page, wherever it may be hosted!

Facebook

I had been avoiding the Facebook phenomenon up until recently. I finally broke down and signed up in June just to see what all the fuss was about. I had mistakenly assumed it was very similar to MySpace.com. Well, it may be in some respects, but it sure does look a lot cleaner than any of the MySpace pages I had seen in the past.

Once someone asked me to be a "Friend," I finally learned at least some of what makes Facebook so great. First, this blog deals with the Class of '79 and Facebook does a wonderful job of grouping all of us class members together. There are about 100 of us on Facebook already. That's pretty good for our generation, I think. (I bet that the SRVHS Class of 2009 probably has more like 95% of its students on Facebook.)

Anyway, there is even a SR '78/'79 Reunion group on Facebook, where I learned that, at least as of Claudia M-G's March 2009 posting, the reunion is scheduled for October 24, 2009. But, if that's true, it needs to be better publicized than it has been! Post it at Classmates.com. Announce it in banner headlines at the Reunion Group Facebook page.

As for my facebook page -- you can find me by clicking John B. Ramsey's Facebook Page.

still wondering about reunion date...

So, with my last post, I passed on information from an alum who was told that the reunion would probably be the same weekend as San Ramon High's homecoming game. SRVHS's website doesn't give much information yet about the next school year, either in terms of Homecoming or a football schedule. But, I've ruled out the weekend of October 16-18 as SR will be facing De La Salle in Concord according to the De La Salle football schedule posted on that school's website. I've also learned that San Ramon will be home on October 23 and facing Livermore High School. This is according to the LHS website. So, maybe we'll have the 30 Year Reunion almost 10 years to the day of the 20 Year Reunion (10/23/99).

I hope an announcement is made soon, as a lot of us would like to begin to make travel arrangements. I am already planning to be in the Bay Area for Scott Bisson's wedding on October 17th, so I am hoping that the reunion will be within seven days of that date.

Reunion date?

Although I have not been doing any work in organizing a reunion, apparently some people have still been planning. I just got an e-mail from a class member who has been informed that the reunion will coincide with the football team's homecoming weekend in October. The 2009 football schedule is not posted on the web site, but De La Salle has posted their schedule which shows them hosting San Ramon on October 16th, seeming to rule out that weekend for the reunion.

My suggestion to all who want to be keep informed about the reunion is to register at Clasmates.com under the free membership option and keep checking your message box to see if any updates have been sent out. Also, make sure the e-mailbox you used to set up your Classmates.com account is still valid.

30 Years Ago Today!

In some ways, I can remember June 8, 1979 like it was just the other day. I recall sitting on the chairs on the football field and then the short walk across the stage to shake Jim Henderson's hand. The All-Nighter in the Small Gym and then one last early morning walk through the campus on the way home. The dozen or so classmates I've been able to keep in close contact with throughout all this time have helped to make those memories a little fresher in my my than they otherwise would have been. Unfortunately, there have been many more dozens whom I have not seen since that night, as we all went our separate ways. And sadder, by far, was the passing of at least a half a dozen of our classmates thus far.

So, to the San Ramon High School Class of 1979 -- Congratulations on the 30th Anniversary of our graduation. (And, on a personal aside, congratulations to my wife and myself on our 24th wedding anniversary which is today as well!)

As for the 30 Year Reunion, I have not heard anything about the plans since last Fall. Anyone know anything?

Your Comments on this 30 Year Anniversary are welcomed!

An unofficial mini-reunion

My 32nd Devil Mountain Run has come and gone. It was a successful weekend, despite the unusual May rains that accompanied my visit. Saturday was probably the highlight as Will, Rick R., Bob R., Chris, and I all got together in San Francisco for the evening. We also connected with Rick T. via cellphone who was on board the Pacific Princess Cruise Ship in dock at Pier 29 (or close to there). So, whether there is a real reunion or not this year, at least the six of us got together. We all go back to Rancho Romero Elementary School all the way back to at least 1972.

The 10k race was wet and rainy but I finished in my usual 9 minute a mile pace. What I find most interesting is to look at the results of the race by age groups. I started running this thing when I was 17 and a whole bunch of other people my age also ran that year. But this year, just like other recent years, there were only about 2 or 3 runners under the age of 18 doing the 10k. Not that these 10k runs don't get participants -- they do. But they tend to be older nowadays.

Bob R.'s daughter will graduate from SR this June -- Class of 2009. How old are we? Can you imagine what you would have thought in 1979 if someone came up to you and said, "I graduated from SR in 1949. " We'd have thought, "Man, that's a long time ago!"

I understand that the large gym has been taken down and will be replaced by a new and modern facility. I haven't walked around our old school since 2004, so I suppose much has changed. Sad in some ways, but even in 1975-79, we knew that we were in old facilities. And with the wealth of the area, it was inexcusable for them not to modernize the school. But, for purely nostalgic and wholly unrealistic reasons, it would have been nice for me to keep everything the same.

One last thing I noticed about the Class of 2009's group photo. Apparently, this year's Senior Class is somehow even less diverse than the Class of '79 was. Why was I surprised? I don't know --probably because I live in a part of Maryland with a broad variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds represented in my town. But that's okay. That's just the way the demographics have worked out. Everyone is free to live wherever they can afford to live. Alamo and Danville are great places to live. If I could have afforded it, I would have loved to move back there.

Been Away From The Blog

January was a month which was bookended with unusually bad sicknesses for me and some members of my family. Fortunately, all has been well since then. February was spent in doing home improvements. Anyway, I haven't heard anything about the 30 Year Reunion, and I haven't really had any new plans for the website. So, that explains my silence.

I will be in Danville for the 32nd (and my 32nd as well) Devil Mountain Run 10K race. It's on May 3rd at 8 AM.

So, I'll see Bob and Rick Riley. Hopefully Will and Rich Tauchar as well as Scot Bisson, Bill Buch and Brian Robinson. Maybe Scott Shields or Jay Briggs?

Hope to have some new news to report soon!