Stadium High School - Tacoma WA - 100 Year Celebration!

We Did It!!!

The Certification is here

1906 - 2006

One of the numbers that many people are interested in is whether we surpassed
the greatest number attending a reunion.

The signatures still need to be compared to school records and duplicates eliminated,
but over 4,000 alums signed in for Guinness record.
The old record was 2,521 set in Guben, Germany in 2002;

Here are a few more numbers:

10,000 for the game
1,000 Golden Grads reception
10,000 visitors during Saturday
3,000 Concert attendees
8,000 Sunday visitors
1,000 plus for Pancake Breakfast on Sunday
500 plus volunteers
$41,471 - Tigermania paraphernalia sales

The News Tribune has stories and pictures on their web site:

http://www.TheNewsTribune.com/Projects

For more great pictures see Chip Van Gilder's display:

http://www.ChipShotPhoto.com

(click on Stadium Celebration)

A large number of emails have been received expressing, sometimes, quite emotional reactions to the three day event.

The following, I think, expresses the experience very well:

To know this was a huge success all you had to do was:

sit in the Courtyard for 5 minutes and watch faces from young to old, grinning the same way, and remembering walking down the same halls from age 15 to 18; or

listen to conversations, hearing old friends greeting each other with war stories, or elders telling their children and grandchildren what they remembered, or young parents showing their small children where they would be going to school; or

watch a former music teacher greet an old student with hugs, a few tears, more hugs and almost no words; or

see the faces of the four SHS band members playing with Blood, Sweat and Tears, (I didn't know you could smile and play at the same time) and their parents and friends dancing in the aisles; or

greet your parent's friends, your friends, your children's friends, and lots of relatives and people you know from the community, knowing they all have this one thing in common; or

watch incredible fireworks, thinking this is bigger than the 4th of July, and it's at a HIGH SCHOOL!! or

see people from the community who have nothing to do with the school, but just wanted to be there;

note that people, old and young were back more than once (I saw the octogenarian who slept in the Library on Saturday eating an ice cream cone on the turf in the Bowl on Sunday);

watch the crowd (3 and 4 deep) at the store waiting for their turn at the sweatshirts and hats;

try to wipe the smile off your face. From one who came way late to the party, you guys did an absolutely amazing job!

William Lynn, Class of 1970

Your sentiments made me cry…I agree with everything you said so eloquently…It was a truly amazing experience for both Milt and me. I saw classmates and friends I haven’t seen in over 50 years. I had a tremendous sense of pride, both for having gone to this amazing school and for the job Pati, Dick and the committee did in making sure everyone had a glorious weekend. I am now a believer that if you wish hard enough, your dreams will come true…even the weather will cooperate! When Pat O’Day said he saw a rainbow right before the concert began I cried again. As I sat for awhile in the new theatre, I took a few moments to reflect on our journey and all I can say is WOW! I am so proud to have been a part of this once-in-a-lifetime endeavor. The memories you all helped create for thousands of people will be remembered forever.

My personal thanks go to three sponsors with whom I dealt directly. Two Busy to Cook who provided food for most of the committee meetings, Foss Maritime who provided the barge and tug for the superiffic fireworks and Star Rental who provided two generators so our bowl activities had power. You are angels indeed!

Anita Thompson Class of 1951

Thanks to all of you on the committee. What an incredible event! And a special thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who showed up to help us all make it happen. Some of you are alums, some are parents, some are students and some are neighbors who just wanted to help make it happen. You traveled from as far away as New York, Virginia and California to attend the event and took time away from your visit to help us out. It would have never happened without you. And to those of you who stayed around to see what more was needed and barely went home (you know who you are) we will never forget you. THANKS!!!

Pati Lynn, Class of 1970

The Tiger Gods smiled down on us and kept the rain away. But thinking about it, we didn't need the natural sunshine because our Alumni, students, families, friends, community supporters and guests had a perpetual radiance glowing all weekend long. After the school managed to get the visitors out Sunday afternoon, there were still people at the doors reminiscent of the Mervyn's TV ads - "Open, open, open". That elderly alum who fell asleep in the library on Saturday, I met he and his wife at the Courtyard Party and greeted them every day. As I was leaving late Friday afternoon, I saw them getting off the last visitor shuttle from the Bowl!

What diehards! I know of alums who came from London and Costa Rica. At the Pancake breakfast, I met a man and his wife from Mercer Island. He was a 1945 graduate. They attended on Saturday. On Sunday morning, his wife asked him what he wanted to do and he said "Let's go to the Pancake Breakfast".

Friday, I handed out pom poms to the crowd as they entered the Bowl, greeting friends, classmates, neighbors, family and my new Tiger buddies from our committee. Even if we had never set eyes on each other before, there were no strangers.

Thanks to Pati and Anita and Dick, our Committee, volunteers, the Boosters, our Alums, Staff and students.
I want to send a special thank you to Commander Mandigo and his ROTC students for their participation. They were everywhere!

We all love the unique building, location and history of Stadium High School. And certainly, those things have helped shape us but it's also our classmates, teachers and staff and parents that made Stadium what it was and is.

As we were planning this event, there were times of doubt of ever getting this off the ground. I feel honored and privileged to have been a member of the Celebration Committee.

On to the next 100 years!
Kathleen Monahan, Class of 70

Stadium Centennial Foundation

The Stadium Centennial Foundation sponsord other activities as well such as a Sneak Preview party (in late August) for corporate sponsors and VIPs, also a Dedication day with ribbon cutting, dignitaries and a program.

The celebration itself included an all school open-house with tours of the school and alumni activities on Saturday and Sunday. That whole weekend there were activities going on in the bowl with a Friday night homecoming football game. The plan was to have a Guinness book of World Record for the most people to attend a homecoming event. and then possibly a small concert in the new auditorium. Since the Stadium bowl holds 17,000 people, that is what we are shooting for. We have been researching alumni records in order to contact all of them. According to actuary studies there are about 25,000 still alive.

Castle On The Hill

"The Helen M who wrote the note alongside the picture of Stadium High (Tahoma High then) was my Mom....Helen McDonald, class of 1912. In 1915 she married John Stedman Wood, also class of 1912. They raised 3 boys, Donald, Philip and myself...Jack M. Wood class of '41."

In the spring of 1890, the City of Tacoma was a classic example of a western boom town, where the wealthy and affluent were becoming common place. Here was born the dream to construct a grand hotel on a bluff overlooking Commencement Bay. A world class hotel that would rival all others.

It was a dream that was not meant to be...

Out of the rubble of this dream arose another. A dream that would result in a high school so unique and beautiful it would take on a life of its own and become fertile ground for the dreams of many generations of Tacoma students.

"The Castle on the Hill" tells the true story of a Phoenix. A story of not only a school that rose from the ashes, but also the story of a city, its history and its everlasting affection for Stadium High School.