The Point Loma High School Class of 1967 celebrated its 40th anniversary at Portugalia restaurant in Ocean Beach on Oct. 26, opening the door for a fund-raising drive to bring back the Pointers’ dog mascot costume that suffered a washing accident years ago.
As a result, the reunion served not only to reunite former classmates but open discussion on the need for other PLHS alums to get involved.
“I truly think it would be great if other reunion planners would contact the school and find out if there is some worthy financial need for their school,” said reunion co-chair Marcy McCann.
Portugalia is owned by Jason Nascimento, whose mother, Carol, is also a member of the PLHS Class of 1967.
“Having the reunion in a local restaurant rather than a hotel definitely adds to the experience and ambience of a reunion,” McCann said.
In the spirit of “spirit,” several current PLHS cheerleaders also appeared at the reunion, performing cheers of old to the enthusiastic throng of nearly 200 people.
The Class of ’67 Pointers returned home from as far away as Hawaii, Indiana, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin. But the Pointer who traveled the farthest was Cay Savon, who traveled from Helsinki, Finland, to see his old classmates.
Savon was a foreign exchange student at the time he attended Point Loma High. According to McCann, most of those in attendance are still in the Ocean Beach or Point Loma area.
“[My] co-chair, Jim Sills, would refer to me as Sherlock Holmes because of all the time it took to track people down,” McCann said.
It was during the organization phase that class members began to discuss ways to contribute money to buy or make a new Pointer dog mascot costume, which disintegrated years ago during the fateful washing accident.
According to McCann, a new costume would cost anywhere from $800 to $1,000.
“I’m hoping we can find someone who works on costumes for a living and can spur them to help out,” McCann said.
McCann and Sills would like to name the mascot Bennie after former Point Loma head football coach Ben Edens. Edens built an impressive resume with the Pointers from 1950 to 1998. He won three CIF football championships (1962, 1966, and 1987) and was named the 1966 San Diego County High School Football Coach of the Year, 1981 California Athletic Director of the Year, 1981 All-San Diego County Football Coach of the Year and 1983 Southern Section Coach of the Year.
In 1988, Jan. 11 was proclaimed Bennie Edens Day by the City of San Diego, and he was named 1992 California High School Coach of the Year and 2002 NFL High School Coach of the year.
In addition to his football coaching accomplishments, Edens also coached girls sports, most notably swimming, at a time when such girls teams weren’t as popular.
“He was my 10th-grade gym class coach, and it was one of the best education experiences a young man could have,” said Jim Sills, a Class of 1967 member.
“Edens treated us like men, something a 15-year-old desperately wants,” Sills said. “We would have run through walls for him.”
“They can easily charge an extra dollar or two for the reunion fee and really make a difference to current students. A scholarship fund for the music, drama or sports departments, replacing equipment, remove graffiti or purchasing a new mascot costume for their school,” McCann said.