She’s not only merely dead; she’s really most sincerely dead

Attention seniors. Before the merriment of commencement commences, I hope that your years with us here at Rydell have prepared you for the challenges you face. Who knows? Among you there may be a future Eleanor Roosevelt or a Rosemary Clooney, and among you young men, there may be a Joe DiMaggio, a President Eisenhower, or a Vice-President Nixon. But you will always the glorious memories of Rydell High. Rydell forever. Bon voyage.

        -- Rydell Principal McGee

It was a blast from the past; I received a flurry of email messages from folks I hadn’t heard from … well, ever -- or at least since before the Internet and email were invented. It seems that several of my classmates from Herbert Hoover Senior High School in San Diego have taken the pledge, “Be true to your school,” to heart and are trying to keep in touch with as many alumni from the class of ’66 as possible.

The piece de resistance came yesterday (on my birthday) from a former fellow bandsman, John Buono. The message was titled, “Hope you remember me.”

John served all of us in the U.S. Army for 20 years, rising to the rank of Major before joining a (that’s right) defense contractor (can you all spell M-I-L-I-T-A-R-Y I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-A-L C-O-M-P-L-E-X??) for another 10 years.

While former V.P. Al Gore was inventing the Internet, Hoover’s own John Buono was inventing email – he says it’s part of Communications Interoperability and who am I to doubt him?

Anyway, in retirement, John has volunteered to set up a web site for us Cardinals: here it is

The best thing about the site (to be totally immodest) is the fact that Wandering Dave is currently featured on the splash page. The alumni grapevine not only alerted John to my current status, but also sent along a set of URLS or links that led him to this site. Score one more for the internet (and, email, of course).

High school memories have faded quite a bit. I have a few Hoover stories in my repertoire, but like the vacuum cleaner of the same name, they kind of suck (kidding).

I definitely remember John as an earnest band member, serious about his trumpet playing and serious in his approach to life in general. I remember him being involved with ROTC and the military career makes sense. In band, he was brass and I woodwind, so we weren’t within horseplay range; but I do remember him well.

I don’t know if most classmates knew the words to our school’s alma mater. As a bandsman, I was on fairly intimate terms with them:

Hail, Herbert Hoover High,
This is our pledge to thee
Long may your banners be
Crowned with victory

We pledge our loyalty
And our sincerity
We will be true to thee
Hail Hoover High

I’m pretty sure the music and lyrics are unique to our school. Many high schools, even colleges “borrow” melodies from other schools. When I attended Adams State College in Colorado I was amused to discover that school had adapted the Canadian national anthem (“Oh, Canada!) to school spirit purposes, titling the purloined melody, “Oh, Adams State!”

My favorite school song combo, though is from another alma mater – San Diego State. The school anthem is “Hail Montezuma,” another original composition. And the fight song, titled “Fight on” actually contains a couple of bars from the alma mater in the bridge. For me, sounding that foreshadowing refrain after every home touchdown and at other critical moments in the game made the post-game performance of the full version more powerful.

After reflection, I realize that I DO have great memories of both high school and college. Though I tend to focus on how innocent (read: naive, stupid, clueless, unbelievably shy) I was, there are sources of some pride and considerable joy.

Unlike many others in my age group. I would gladly “go back and do it again.”

Sincerely.