ON THE TOWN:Burbank High class reunites after 50 years

Did you wait in anticipation for a disc jockey by the name of Alan Freed to debut the newest hits by Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly? Do you remember hearing the news that sitting President Dwight Eisenhower had suffered a mild stroke? Were you reading the sports page when it was announced that the Dodgers were leaving Brooklyn for Los Angeles?

If so, then you lived in the year that saw two young Liverpudlians named John Lennon and Paul McCartney meet for the first time. It was also the year that Jack Paar took over “The Tonight Show” from Steve Allen; Dick Clark brought “American Bandstand” to the airwaves; and Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine African-American students from entering a Little Rock high school. The year was 1957, and here in Burbank, on the evening of June 13, the Burbank High School Class of ’57 was presented their diplomas on the stage of the Starlight Bowl.

Among the recipients of those diplomas was a young man who would marry a beautiful girl named Jacquie, who had been his classmate at Burbank High. He went on to graduate law school, become an attorney, be elected to the Burbank City Council and serve as the city’s 41st mayor — Bill Rudell.

This past Saturday, Bill and Jacquie Rudell were among hundreds of members of the Class of ’57 who reflected on their years at Burbank High as they came together to celebrate their 50th reunion at Lakeside Golf Club.

Attired in Hawaiian shirts and adorned with leis, members of the class hugged, laughed, cried and reminisced as they greeted one another and perused a display of photographs and newspaper clippings from their high school days.

Mary Rankin and Martha Dragna welcomed their former classmates, teachers, coaches and guests to Lakeside’s foyer by assisting them in locating their name tags, which also bore their graduation photos. Among the early arrivals were Bill Baltzer, Jim Sandor, Doug and Ann Thorne, Tony and Marcia Capitelli, Mel Aitken, Kay Price, Bob and Janet Brewer and Walt Dyer.

While excitement ran rampant throughout the club as friends — who in some cases had not seen one another in 50 years — embraced, no one caused a stir like Elizabeth Blackstone as she crossed the threshold. Now 101 years old, Blackstone was a Burbank High School teacher back in 1957.

Two other celebrities on hand for the occasion were former Burbank High football coaches Darrel Taylor and Ham Lloyd.

Others who were clearly enjoying the evening’s celebration were Mike and Carrie Hippe, Donna Taylor, Mary and Phil Huyck, Dave and Carmela Gomes, Bill and Carol Trabiley, Gail and Doug Copeland, Edith Foster, Wally Kendig, Syl and Carolyn Campbell, Cindy Swanson Pusey, Joan Chandler, Dorothy Kosmak, Marian Delia, Sue Warner, Barbara Ford, Sharon Siden, Janet Jack, Eddie Chapman, Rudy Garcia, Jim Harris, Roger Plank and Bob Cohen.

One of the most important guests on hand for the celebration was not a member of the Class of ‘57, but a guy who has perhaps changed the least and was easily recognized by all -- Bob, of Toluca Lake’s Bob’s Big Boy.

“We polled all of the members of the class as to their best memories of their high school days,” said Rudell with a laugh, as he sidled up to a 5-foot-tall statue of Bob serving up a huge burger. “Overwhelmingly, the answer was the nights at Bob’s, so we thought it was only fitting that Bob be with us tonight.”