The Colony community celebrated Homecoming 2016 over Sept. 23 and 24 with several gatherings, including a varsity football game, an on-campus rally and several class reunions.

A full stadium of fans cheered as the Colonists defeated the Loara Saxons 28-0 at La Palma Park’s Glover Stadium. A performance by the Anaheim Band and Flags, as well as the crowning of the 2016-17 homecoming court, provided crowd pleasing  homecoming half-time entertainment. The eveninng ended with the traditional singing of the alma mater and photos under the Big A.

Some 1,500 students, parents, alumni and community members, triple the number anticipated, came to Anaheim HS on Saturday to celebrate our local public schools. The event included a neighborhood walk, entertainment, campus tours and more.

Anaheim High, with support from the school’s Alumni Association, is staging a Read Across America celebration highlighting Anaheim High authors, as well as books that feature Anaheim High and its graduates. Student activities promoting literacy are also part of the week-long celebration that kicks off Feb. 29 and runs through March 4.

Appearances on the stage of Cook Auditorium by four authors, including OC Weekly editor and AHS Class of ’97 graduate Gustavo Arellano, student activities, an Alice In Wonderland-themed reception in the school’s library and a Hall of Fame induction are among activities that will take place during the week. All the events are free and open to the public.

Throughout the week the AHS Library will serve as the event hub and site of a display featuring Anaheim High authors, including Lois Battle, a Class of ’56 graduate who achieved success in the literary world with seven bestselling novels. The display will also spotlight books about famous alumni, including Charles Walters (’30), an MGM director and choreographer during Hollywood’s Golden Age, and Marie Wilson (’33) of My Friend Irma fame who earned three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her work in radio, TV and film.

The celebration will culminate Friday, March 4, with an Anaheim High Authors’ Forum, 3 to 5 p.m. in Cook Auditorium, featuring a graduate who has become a celebrated voice in the Latino community, a Colony writer who published a book featuring Anaheim High haunts, an alumnae who has authored of a popular mystery series based on her experience as a forensic handwriting analyst, and writer and historiam Dennis Bateman, Class of ’89, who will talk about his book Anaheim Colonists Football – A Century of Tradition and The Orange County Football Book.

Returning to his alma mater for the first time since graduating in 1997, Gustavo Arellano, editor of OC Weekly, is also the author of several books and a nationally syndicated column Ask A Mexican. He will speak about his evolution from an Anaheim High student leader to an award-winning writer.

Like her fictional character Claudia Rose in the award-winning forensic handwriting mystery series, Sheila Lowe from Class of ’67 is a practicing forensic handwriting expert. Also the author of the acclaimed The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis, Handwriting of the Famous & Infamous, and Handwriting Analyzer software, she is president of the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, a nonprofit organization that promotes education in the area of handwriting. Sheila holds a master’s degree in psychology and lectures around the country and in Canada and the UK. Her analyses of celebrity handwritings are seen throughout the media.

Lowe and Suspense Publishing have made her book Inkslingers Ball available to Anaheim High students to read as part of the celebration.

A popular subject among Anaheim High students is the rumor of ghosts that haunt the high school. It’s also a favorite subject of Tom Zaradich, author of Anaheim’s Dead – Ghostly Encounters With the Passed, which includes a chapter on Anaheim High and interviews with several AHS graduates and staff members.

After the authors’ forum, attendees will be invited to the AHS Library for a reception celebrating Anaheim High authors and supporters of literacy in the Colony community. A special mention will be given the school’s SkillsUSA program for its creation of free little libraries being placed throughout the Colony community.

June Glenn’55 and  Susan Faessel ’67 will also be recognized for their support of literacy in the Anaheim community. Another event highlight will be the induction of long-time Anaheim High teacher, writer and historian Louise Booth in the school’s Hall of Fame.

Thanks to a sponsorship by the AHS Alumni Association, all activities are free but donations of books are encouraged. For a list of titles requested by the AHS Library, visit: https://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A1SDJXD5BSLQVG

Books may also be brought to the Friday event to be donated to the school library or the little free libraries.

The AHSAA has identified 19 alumni authors who will be recognized as part of A Celebration of Anaheim High Authors and Colony-Inspired Literature. Biographies, with photos, on each of these individuals, as well as information on books written about Anaheim High alumni, literature that includes photos or information on Anaheim High, are available at https://anaheimcolonists.com/celebration-of-anaheim-authors/

To RSVP for the reception or to inform the AHSAA of additional authors, please contact Janet Brown at anaheimalumni@yahoo.com or 714-726-4372.

The AHS Alumni Association’s 7th Annual AHSAA Golf Classic, Dinner and Auction was a textbook example of a spirited Colonist gathering filled with pride and tradition.

From student volunteers, to teachers, alumni, friends and family, all reunited to spend a day designed to raise scholarship funds, as well as celebrate Colonist comradery.

The AHSAA scholarship fund most certainly gained a boost thanks to the success of Feb. 15 tournament at Western Hills Country Club headed by Chairman Phil Anton ’63. Golf, contests, an opportunity drawing, awards dinner, a silent and live auction all contributed to raising more than $10,000.

Hall of Famer Jim Fassel ’67, a former New York Giants Super Bowl coach, was a crowd favorite on and off the course. As auctioneer for the seventh year running, he helped raise thousands of dollars by encouraging bids for travel packages and tickets to sporting events and to Anaheim’s favorite theme park.

The club house activities were kept running smoothly thanks to event MC Ed Munson, a sports activist with many titles including official score keeper for Angels Baseball, president of the OC Sports Hall of Fame and the Cypress Chamber of Commerce.

The following tournament sponsors also played an important role in raising scholarship funds: Miller Toyota of Anaheim (hole-in-one sponsor), AHSAA President Gerald Woodward ’59 and former California State Senator Lou Correa ’76 (lunch sponsors); Anaheim’s ARCO AM/PM owner Jerry Zomordian (beverage sponsor); and the Anaheim Packing House and J&M Promotions owner Jack Ohanian ’72 (golfer goodie bags). Correa also raised funds by contributing two dinners for four that brought in several hundred dollars through the live auction.

Support was provided by numerous alumni who donated their time and talents, including artists Ann Betts Sullivan ‘54 and Janice D. Marco ’72, and Armando CossyLeon, COE of Casa Mexico Tequila who brought his CM crew to the course to share his Mario Lopez-endorsed libation.

Many more contributions to numerous to list all contributed to the event’s happy ending. Click here to view photos from the event.

Class of ’75 graduates celebrated their reunion Friday, Nov. 13, at Angel Stadium 40 years after holding their graduation ceremony at this iconic Anaheim venue.