A time to come together

Young Chang

There are more flowers with each decade.

In the 1967 shot, most all the guys are wearing dark suits with

ties while the women are wearing neatly tailored scoop-necked dresses

and their hair in tight curls or bouffant styles.

In 1972, the men are still in suits but the flat-tops have grown

out. Their female classmates are more free-spirited, with looser

curls and Pucci-print shirts.

Both these photos are black and white. The lack of color gives the

women a creaminess and the men a sort of toughness.

And then there is the photo from the 50th anniversary in 1992. The

men, possibly retired by then, wear Hawaiian shirts for the most part

while the women are in flower-print suits and dresses. Hair, in

general, is whiter. Smiles, in general, are shakier. The picture is

in color, but the shot is grainy and out of focus.

The space of two decades has also shrunken the group in number.

On Monday, at the 60th reunion of Newport Harbor High School’s

class of 1942, the cameras (disposables, mostly) continued clicking.

The most popular print was overwhelmingly floral, with the men

also sporting more aloha shirts than a decade earlier. All seniors

now, about 35 graduates from the “war class” sat back and enjoyed a

barbecued buffet at the Newport Rib Co. They lounged in each other’s

histories and memories, in the gentleness of pastel clothes.

Beatrice Gillum Shipley, 77, looked around and mused about so many

people being so close to 80 years old.

“But it’s nice to see them still living,” the Costa Mesa resident

said.

Reunions had traditionally been held at the Balboa Pavilion in

earlier times when people “danced and drank and drove,” said Doreen

Fleshower Healey, who organized this week’s reunion with her high

school sweetheart and now husband, Pat.

But the dancing dwindled in ’92 as everyone reunited at the Costa

Mesa Country Club. On Monday, there was no dancing. Just a lot of

ribs and barbecued chicken and reminiscing.

Conversations centered on children and grandchildren and the

siblings that once attended Newport Harbor too, and what they were up

to. Men swapped war stories, as most of the attendees had at one

point served in World War II. A couple of women joked about using

walkers and canes. Others walked down memory lane.

“We ditched school once together,” said Gillum Shipley, referring

to her old friend and current dining companion Frances Coleman.

A few with fuzzier memories couldn’t remember who was who. Those

with sharper memories remembered a lot.

“There’s always something special about their face that’s still

there,” Healey said.

She is asked what she sees when she looks at her dear friend

Shipley, whom she calls “Bea.”

“Her eyes and her smile.”

“How do her eyes look?”

“Sparkly,” Healey said.

* YOUNG CHANG is the features and arts and entertainment writer.

She may be reached at (949) 574-4268 or by e-mail at

young.chang@latimes.com.