Class of 1960 is going strong, together

When the 1960 class of Laguna Beach High graduated 55 years ago, the school was nestled in what was considered a sleepy little surfside township.

The city, whch featured clapboard homes and a museum that showcased works of early California painters, was far from being a center of commerce and activity.

The population was 9,268, according to Laguna Beach Historical Society, and the Sawdust Art Festival and Art-A-Fair, two summer festivals so closely linked today with the city’s identity, hadn’t yet been founded.

Fifty-five years later, alumni who left Laguna after graduation are amazed to see how much the area has grown.

The campus, now designated a California Distinguished School, is among the top performing schools in the state. And it even became the focus of a reality television show that followed the lives of young Laguna Beach residents. “Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County” ran on MTV from 2004 to 2006.

But the 60 alumni who gathered for the class’ 55-year reunion Saturday at Tivoli Too are different too, having gone through marriages, births, deaths, war and shifts in the culture.

What hasn’t changed is the connection they share. And this gathering was particularly poignant.

“We are here together because we have a close bond,” said Ted Fogliani, now a San Marino resident, who helped organize the event. “We have a lot to be thankful for.”

After graduation, a handful of classmates were involved in planning class reunions every five years, but then they began getting together for additional lunches to support fellow classmate Gary Kirk, who had been diagnosed with liver cancer.

Since Kirk was part of an experimental drug trial, all of his expenses were covered, so the class raised money for City of Hope National Medical Center in Kirk’s honor.

During the first 10 years of getting together, the class donated over $6,000 to the clinical research center and hospital. As Kirk continued his recovery, the class would meet two to three times a year to keep in touch. He died this year, so the friends honored him at the reunion.

They also celebrated Marikki Junnila Terasvirta, a Finnish foreign exchange student who spent her senior year at Laguna Beach High. Terasvirta hadn’t been back to Laguna in 55 years.

“I feel like this is my Nobel prize,” Terasvirta said before the guests. “I want to thank all of you for being my classmates and making my life totally different from what it would have been. It’s an immense happiness to toast you and Laguna Beach High School.”

The alumni recalled that when they finished high school in 1960, pivotal events such as the Vietnam War and the first televised presidential debate were shaping society as they embarked on the next chapter of their lives.

High school, Fogliani said, can be a troubling time for many, and it may take a while for some to realize that life after high school is not predicated on the things that matter during those years.

As guests signed a picture frame and danced to the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way,” others caught up with classmates who had flown in for the event. Ted Kellog traveled from Florida to honor Kirk, his friend of 65 years.

“Gary was the glue that brought us back together,” said Sharon Armstrong, an organizer of the event who had enrolled in Laguna Beach High during senior year. “It’s been family since the beginning. I always felt like we had incredible graduates who support each other. It’s taking care of each other and has a lot to do with love and respect.”

Among the East Coast visitors Saturday was Lois Howard, wife of Laguna Beach High alum Pete Howard, who died in 2011. Howard said she was appreciative of the group’s embracing of her.

Facebook, email and other forms of social media have attracted more classmates to reunions and other get-togethers, organizers said.

“We stay together because we get together,” Fogliani said. “We celebrate the fact that we achieved a lot in life because we had a great start at Laguna Beach High.”