A groovy reunion

Any teacher will tell you there is no classroom more difficult to control than one full of high school students.

The handful of retired Estancia High School teachers on hand at the school’s 40th reunion learned that nothing changes with age or discipline — except possibly for the worse.

They sat helplessly as the emcee at the celebration, held at the Costa Mesa Country Club on Friday evening, tried everything to silence the crowd of former students, now mostly in their late 50s and early 60s, to no avail.

“They needed a teacher up there,” said the school’s first plastics teacher Bob Schureman, recalling his days as an adolescent disciplinarian. “You might be the smartest person in the world, but if you give them a little leeway, they’ll walk all over you.”

None of the teacher’s stood up and threatened detention though, leaving the stunned host trying everything from proposing toasts to getting a group of former cheerleaders to do a cheer at the front of the room to quiet the audience down. After about 15 minutes, he gave up in failure.

The gathering was hippie themed, commemorating the movement that got its start around the time the group was in high school. Tie-dye shirts and flower headbands abounded, incense burned, and the music of Jim Morrison played on the turntables in the back of the dining hall.

Many of the people present remember the era and what it felt like to be young during such an exciting time.

“Everyone wanted to leave school and enjoy life. Everyone wanted to go to San Francisco,” said Pam Ring, who looked particularly at home in her loose-fitting garb.

Others didn’t have such vivid recollections.

“We took too many drugs. We don’t remember anything,” said Bill Moran, who stood with his wife, Cathy, who he started dating back in high school. The couple now lives on Catalina Island.

Many of the attendees were part of Estancia’s inaugural graduating class. The school was founded in 1965, with a student body mostly composed of students from neighboring high schools Corona del Mar and Costa Mesa.

Back then, the city was wide open.

“My mom used to pack us lunches on Saturday and we’d go play at Irvine Ranch, and she’d say, ‘be back before sunset.’ Now I wouldn’t let my kids out of the tract,” said longtime Costa Mesa resident Mark Millar.

Many agreed that is was exciting to be part of a new school.

FLASHBACK TO 1968

 Apollo 7 sends first live TV report from manned spacecraft.

 The Beatles’ “Hey Jude” is Billboard’s No. 1 song.

 The Detroit Tigers overcome a 3-1 deficit to beat the St. Louis Cardinals and take the World Series championship.

 President Lyndon B. Johnson announces he won’t seek reelection.

 Johnny Cash records “Live at Folsom Prison.”

 The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy are assassinated.

 The summer Olympics take place in Mexico City, Mexico.

 Saddam Hussein becomes vice chairman of the Revolutionary Council in Iraq after a coup.

 The Green Bay Packers win their second consecutive Super Bowl.

 Richard Nixon defeats Hubert Humphrey for president.

 Riots at the Democratic National Convention lead to the infamous Chicago Seven trial.

 “Oliver” wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

ALAN BLANK may be reached at (714) 966-4623 or at alan.blank@latimes.com.