Century of Class Acts in Anaheim

How’s this for refreshing ideas from a group of young people?

“We cannot express too highly our appreciation for the benevolence and public spirit of the citizens of this district in establishing so well-appointed a high school. And we feel very grateful for the privilege of using it.”

That’s what the staff of the Stentorian, the former student publication of Anaheim High School, had to say in 1902. The school graduated its first class--four students--that year.

There were only 39 students enrolled when the doors of the city’s first high school opened in 1898. That same school today has 2,100 students. And this semester they’ve all gotten a good lesson in the classroom on how special their school’s history is.

On Saturday, Anaheim High School is throwing a reunion party to celebrate its 100th birthday. It’s only the third school in Orange County to reach a centennial. The guest list is pretty simple: anyone who ever went to school there. About 3,000 are expected.

“It’s going to be quite a big show,” Principal Doug Munsey said. “We’ll have tables set up so people can group together by classes. We’ll have a photographer too, in case people want to group together for pictures, like all the school kings and queens.”

Not that it was easy getting this far. An arson fire almost forced postponement of the first year in 1898. Anaheim historian Louise Booth has written that the city was divided into three camps about high school in those days: Those who thought elementary school was education enough, those who wanted a separate building for the first high school class, and those who thought the high school should be incorporated into the existing elementary building at Emily and Chartres streets.

Someone set fire to the second floor of the school building in an attempt to end the debate.

Classes opened that fall in the old elementary school, but an increase in students forced the community to build a high school in 1901 at Center (now Lincoln Avenue) and Citron streets. That’s the school the Stentorian staff members were boasting about.

But in 1912, even higher enrollment forced the building of yet another school on 11 acres on the north side of Lincoln, where the current high school is located. The great 1933 earthquake destroyed the main school building. The main building and others there now were completed in 1937.

All this history has been incorporated into this semester’s classes. Munsey said some school projects related to that history will be on display this spring at the Anaheim Historical Museum.

With assistance from Jane Newell, director of the historical room at the Anaheim Library, I got a chance to dig back into the school’s past myself. Included in its collection of books on Anaheim and its schools are a few precious copies of three separate issues of the 1902 Stentorian.

To get the class terminology straight: Freshmen in those days were “subjuniors.” Sophomores were “juniors.” The junior year was considered the “middle grade,” so that class was known as the “middlers.” Seniors, though, were seniors.

I loved one description in the Stentorian of a “rough and tumble fight” between a group of subjuniors and juniors. The student magazine said the subjuniors won “being a little the stronger.”

Another line I liked: “The junior class went for a tally-ho ride.” The first debate of the year was over the British Boer War. States the magazine: “The affirmative side was supported by the juniors and the negative were the middlers.”

I wonder if any of you can tell me when middlers finally became juniors and juniors became sophomores.

If you were lucky enough to attend Anaheim High, you’d be passing up a great event if you skip Saturday’s nostalgic return visit. Call (714) 999-3717 to RSVP.

Hanging It Up: When the Pioneer Council of Orange County, a group dedicated to preserving county historical sites, began arrangements to tour the Tustin Marine base, it was an official air station with more than 300 military personnel. By the time the tour took place last Saturday, it was just an air facility, with a staff of 10. But Lt. Col. Richard Bowen made sure they had a first-class tour anyway. He had on hand a couple of former blimp pilots and some people who were around when the two gigantic hangars at the base were built in the 1940s.

Who can say how long there will be any operation there at all? But Bowen says as long as the facility is open--July 1999 is the official closing date--he will try to make it available for public tours.

“There is a lot of history here, and the people of Orange County deserve a chance to see it,” Bowen said.

Unpleasant Dreams: My heart can take Knott’s Scary Farm only about once every three years. Ghouls and goblins jump at you at every turn. The haunted mazes are designed for those much younger than I.

But, as always, I loved the Elvira show when I caught it last week at Knott’s main theater. This year the Mistress of the Dark (Cassandra Petersen) hosts a fast-paced Dead Rock Legends show. She’s still campy enough to be a hit with the Knott’s crowd.

Just when I thought I was the oldest person at the amusement park that night, Irene Reyman of Lancaster and Gale Brown of Sunland passed by, arm in arm. She’s 80, he’s 81. Just boyfriend-girlfriend, they told me.

“Elvira,” Reyman answered when I asked what had brought her to Knott’s Berry Farm’s annual nighttime Halloween Haunt. “We never miss Elvira; we love her.”

Knott’s Scary Farm runs through Nov. 1 (the Saturday night after Halloween) from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Not to put a damper on the fun spirit of the place, but . . . the night I went, I did find alarming the many young people who appeared to be 14 and younger who were smoking. Just tons of them, both boys and girls. What I’d love to see is Knott’s send a bevy of police officers through the place to nail them all, to at least alert their parents to what they’re doing when they’re out on their own.

Wrap-Up: If you were wondering: The oldest school in the county is Santa Ana High School, opened in 1891. Fullerton High came next, in 1893. The next high school centennial will be at Orange High School, which opened in 1903.

Jerry Hicks’ column appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Readers may reach Hicks by call-ing the Times Orange County Edition at (714) 966-7823 or by fax to (714) 966-7711, or e-mail tojerry.hicks@latimes.com