Colonists alumni across the generations and from as far away as New Zealand gathered for Homecoming 2024 at La Palma Park’s Glover Stadium. After the victorious Varsity Football Game against Savanna High, AHS grads gathered under the new BIG A, a blow-up replica of the BIG A built by Mr. Dardarian and his students that was used from 1966 through 1987.
A trademark that was at Colonist football games for decades is coming back, but WE NEED YOUR HELP!
The Anaheim Colonists football team running through the Big A was a regular tradition for many years. The new Big A will be as iconic as the one built by Mr. Dardarian and his students that was used from 1966 through 1987.
Our goal is to blow up the new inflatable BIG A by September 20th at the Varsity Football Homecoming Game, so we need to work fast!
New head coach Gus Martinez and his staff are working hard with a talented squad that returns nearly a dozen all-league players Together they are excited to initiate a new chapter in Anaheim Football, Orange County’s all-time winningest public school football program.
The new BIG A will give our current team an unforgettable experience before every home game. In addition to football games, the new BIG A will be used at other athletic and school events to provide a BIG dose of Blue and Gold Spirit, Pride and Tradition.
Any funds raised beyond the cost of the new BIG A will be donated to the Football Program. The goal is $12,000!
Help us bring back the BIG A with a tax-deductible donation to the Anaheim High School Alumni Association, a 501(c)(3) organization. Any amount is welcome and may be paid via check or by using the VENMO code below.
If you want to take it to the next level and have your name or message added to a special panel that will be seen by everyone who walks under the Big A, support this effort at a donor level listed below:
NOTE: Each level is allowed a certain number of message lines from 1 to 3. The PRIDE LEVEL is allowed a business logo or a symbol, such as a letter “A” or the Colonist Crest. Font size will correspond with donation amount, increasing with each level. Click here for a letter that provides more details.
THE DEADLINE FOR PUTTING YOUR NAME ON THE NEW BIG A IS SEPTEMBER 10!
To donate between $150 to $1000, please fill out the BIG A Donor Form by clicking here. Mail the form with your tax-deductible donation made payable to AHS Alumni Association to P.O. Box 389, Anaheim, CA 92815.
Donations can be made online via Venmo using the following QR code (note BIG A in your memo). Send the filled out Donor Form to anheimalumni@yahoo.com. We will contact you to review your message and provide a mock-up for your approval. Thank you for your support!!!
A day of family fun and Colonist connections will take place Saturday, Oct. 19, on the Anaheim High campus as part of the AHSAA Colony Classic Car Show. This free event will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Along with 100 classic cars, guests will enjoy Colonist memorabilia displays, music, food, and vendors selling an assortment of items including Colonist spirt wear.
An awards ceremony with custom trophies will be among show highlights. Attendees will also want to check out a silent auction for an opportunity to bid on restaurant gift cards, tickets to local sporting events, and much more.
Add to that entertainment on the Pep Stage featuring student performers and other family-friendly activities and you have a free day of fun that benefits Anaheim youth.
Click here for the the Car Show Sign-Up Form. Cost is $50 per car through Oct. 11; $60 thereafter. All classic makes and models welcome!
Become an event sponsor and receive a car entry or vendor space and receive other benefits such as the promotion of your business or product on the AHSAA website and social media sites, depending on the sponsorship level. Sponsors are what make this event possible and profitable!
To sign up as a vendor, please click this link.
Questions may be addressed to anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.
A January ribbon cutting ceremony marked the opening of Anaheim High’s new state-of-the-art track and field. Moments after the ceremony, the Girls’ Soccer Team played a winning match on the all-weather turf field that is surrounded by a nine-lane synthetic track.
The project also features goal posts, bleachers shaded by solar panels and a pumping system to keep the new track and field free of pooling water.
A large crowd of students, alumni, coaches, administrators and special guests enjoyed messages from Principal Ruben Calleros and two student athletes, and performances by the band drum line, cheer squad and dance team.
Among special guests was Class of 1996 Colonist Reuben Droughns, a former NFL player who set many school records in football, track and wrestling while at Anaheim High.
He was joined by Ron Pharris, Class of 1967, who set school records in the 100 and 200 meter races.
Also in attendance was former coach Albert Rodriguez, age 89, who coached many track athletes to champion status, including Ylena Carrasco, a Class of ’86 grad and CIF-State High Jump Champion who was the first female Orange County athlete to clear 6 feet.
To mark the occasion, the Anaheim High Alumni Association obtained a donation of an electric utility vehicle, called a “Big Foot,” from Anaheim-based WAEV, the parent company of Taylor-Dunn, a manufacturer that has been producing — with employees who graduated from Anaheim High — trusted industrial vehicles for 70 years.
The Big Foot vehicle, valued at $15,000, was presented by Chief Operations Officer Alfredo Arroyo. The vehicle will used by the Anaheim High custodial crew to maintain the 17-acre Anaheim High campus. Thank you, Waev, for this amazing gift!
Alumni, family, friends and fans, we invite you to put your stamp on Anaheim High School forever by buying a commemorative Colonist brick. This is a great way to celebrate a family of Colonists or to commemorative a graduating class.
The personalized bricks will be added to the Centennial Walk that leads to the front door of the Main Building. Each brick costs $150 and may have a maximum of three lines of 14 characters. Lines will be centered.
Orders will be taken through November 03, 2023. Once the final order is processed, the bricks are installed by school district personnel. Once installed in the Centennial Walk, we will mail you a photo of your brick.
Please fill out this order form and mail with check for $150, payable to Anaheim High School Alumni Association, to P.O. Box 389, Anaheim, CA 92815. Or you can pay via this QR Scan Code and email a photo of the form to anaheimalumni@yahoo.com:
If you have questions or if you wish a gift card sent to a recipient, please contact AHSAA Treasurer Janet Brown at anaheimalumni@yahoo.com.
Click on the image to read the latest edition of the AHSAA Gold and Blue Newsletter.
Congratulations Class of 1972 on your 50th reunion celebrated Oct. 1, 2022 at the Highway 39 Event Center!
View YouTube video of the reunion here.
The remains of Class of 1937 Colonist John F. Minogue, who had been listed as missing in action since 1943, were return home for burial after being identified in 2022. He was buried April 20, 2023, next to his mother, Pearl Thessie Minogue Miller, at Loma Vista Memorial Park in Fullerton.
On Aug. 1, 1943, 2nd Lt. John F. Minogue, age 24, was shot down over Romania. But for nearly 80 years, he was among the fallen troops who could not be identified at the time.
Born May 1, 1919, Minogue played football for Anaheim Union High School and attended Fullerton College after graduating from AUHS in 1937. A Gold Star Flag was displayed in the window of his home at 506 Claudina Street, where he had lived with his mother until moving to Richfield, CA, 550 miles north of Anaheim, sometime before enlisting in the Army Air Corp on May 20, 1941.
By the end of 1941, Minogue earned his Army wings of gold and was sent to Europe. In the summer of 1943, he was assigned to the 328th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 93rd Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Army Air Force.
On Aug. 1, 1943, the B-24 Liberator bomber named “Euroclydon The Storm,” on which Minogue was co-pilot, was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation Tidal Wave, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania.
Piloted by Lt. Enoch Porter, “Euroclydon The Storm” was part of the first wave of the mission and was positioned as lead aircraft left wing. The bomber took a direct hit and was seen attempting to climb to 300 feet. The plane broke in midair before crashing in flames over a school at Plopu. Of the 11 crewmembers, three were taken POW, the bombardier bailed out but his parachute failed to open, and it is believed that two gunners also jumped with failing chutes. Five bodies were never recovered, and only two crew were initially identified.
More than 500 airmen died in this mission, and 54 planes were lost. All of the 93rd Bombardment Group earned the Presidential Unit Citation. Minogue was awarded, posthumously, the Distinguished Flying Cross for his role. He was also awarded an Air Medal and Purple Heart.
Minogue’s remains were buried as “unknown” in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan in Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) began exhuming the remains of those believed to have died in Tidal Wave in an effort to identify them and, in August 2022, Minogue was announced as successfully named.
Minogue’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Impruneta, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Euroclydon The Storm Crew
1Lt Enoch M. Porter Jr. – Pilot
2Lt. John F Minogue – Co-Pilot
Raymond P. Warner – Navigator
1Lt Howard Dickson
Fl. Of. Joe E. Boswell
1st/Lt. Jesse D “Red” Franks, Jr
T/Sgt.Frank C Ferrel
TSgt Bernard R Lucas
SSgt Earl L. Frost
Class of 1950 Colonist Harry Edman Sexton, a retired U.S. Marine Corp Colonel, passed away Feb. 15, 2023, at age 90.
Born in Anaheim on Dec. 20, 1932, Sexton was an active AUHS student. He was a varsity yell leader, played football, and served as secretary of the Future “A” Club.
He enlisted in the U.S. Marine two years after graduating from Anaheim, and married Ann Goodrich in 1958. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps for 26 years, from August 1952 to January 1978.
A man of integrity and character, Colonel Sexton flew more than 400 combat missions during two tours of Vietnam. During his first tour, he commanded the only Marine F-8 Crusader Fighter Squadron to deploy from Navy Carrier USS Oriskany.
On his second tour, he commanded a squadron of HMLA-367 “Scarface” Cobra Helicopters, providing offensive air support, utility support and armed escort and airborne support, day or night, under all weather conditions, to Marine ground combat units.
Col. Sexton was awarded the Navy Cross, our country’s second-highest award for bravery, for heroism during Operation Tailwind as he and his fellow “Scarface” Cobra Gunships engaged the enemy to provide cover for the extraction of a nearly overwhelmed force of U.S. Army Special Operators out of Laos. Click here to read more about his mission.
He was also awarded two Legion of Merits with Combat “V”, a Distinguished Flying Cross, and 44 Air Medals/Strike Flight Awards, and was inducted into the Golden Eagles for his distinguished career as an aviator. More on his career can be read here.
His adventures continued after retiring from the military at age 45 when he turned his attention from flying the skies to riding the roads on a Harley Davidson.
His wife, Ann, son, Harry Jr., and daughter Stacie will remember him as a husband and father who lived for others, giving freely of his time, skill, and love to all who were fortunate enough to have known him. He is also survived by four grandchildren; and a great grandson.
