The hard work of the reunion committee culminated in a rather impressive showing at Ricky D’s on Friday night, and an emotional and festive dinner/dance at Cattleman’s on Saturday. It was wonderful seeing friends that had not seen each other in almost 50 years share embraces and catch up on their lives.

On behalf of the committee, I want to say thank you to all of those who acknowledged the immensity of the task and the planning that it took to make this event happen. Your expressions of gratitude were greatly appreciated.

To the Class of 1973, congratulations on your 50th anniversary of graduation. To the other classes, thanks for joining the celebration.

If you did not already get the links to the 775 pictures taken by our photographer, they are listed below.

Click here for pictures from the meet and greet.

Click here for pictures from the dinner/dance.

Some of you asked for the memorial video that played during the dance. The YouTube link is below

Memorial Video

An event of this size cannot happen without a few glitches. First, I want to apologize to Mario Huerta, who was initially listed in the video as deceased. It was quite a surprise to hear him yell, “I am not dead” while the video was played at the dance. The mistake was compounded when the original video, not the corrected one, was posted on Facebook. It just goes to show you that you can make many mistakes when doing these things at 11:30 at night.

We heard from many people after the reunion was done that said they had not heard the reunion was happening. I am unsure how this can be corrected, but we will gladly accept any suggestions. As for the size and layout of the hall, we realize it was not ideal, but when you are unsure of how many people will be attending, it is hard to book a large place without the commitment of those who will be attending.

And now to address the other questions asked during and after the reunion.

1. Will we be celebrating the 50th reunion of the class of 1974? I honestly don’t know. It is WAY too soon after this one to make that determination.
2. When will we have our next reunion? Again, I do not know. We need to chill for a while before making that kind of commitment.
3. Can I be involved in the next committee? Yes, Yes, Yes and Yes.
4. How come we did not know about the reunion until just before it happened? We started planning in late summer of 2022. We used Facebook as a common means of contact, but asked everyone to let their classmates know. If you can suggest a better way of reaching out to other classmates, let us know.
5. Will we doing more of these multi-class reunions? I would assume so. The classes of 73,74, 75 and 76 had a small number of attendees compared to the classes of 77-79. They may choose to do some on their own. But I know many people would entertain the idea of another multi-class reunion.

For now, the committee will get back to their normal lives for a while. If you have suggestions or comments, feel free to respond to this posting. We will keep in touch.

Rangers for Life!!

Hello fellow Rangers and Attendees for the 73-79 RHS Reunion

Thank you for purchasing your tickets to attend the dinner/dance at Cattleman’s Steakhouse.  On behalf of the reunion committee, we would like to provide the following information about the event.

MEET AND GREET

The meet and greet is at Ricky D’s, 10780 Pebble Hills, from 6:30 until we leave or they kick us out.

Arrive before 8, and there is no cover charge.   After 8 p.m.  there will be a cover charge of $5, but ladies are free. 

Strict security procedures are observed at Ricky D’s, so all purses will be searched, and people entering will be wanded for weapons, etc.    Everyone must have an ID (even us old people.)

DINNER/DANCE

Dress code: up to you, just not too casual. Many have expressed that they will wear western type clothing, others are dressing up (suit/dresses, etc)

Please be aware that the dinner/dance is not at the actual restaurant.  It will be held at the party room which is located just as you enter the property.  The doors at Cattleman’s will open at 6 p.m.    All steaks will be cooked to order.  They will start taking orders at 6:00, and steaks will be cooked on-site.  The serving line will open between 7 and 8.  

The menu in the serving line will be:

10 oz. Prime Top Sirloin Steak, pineapple coleslaw, spicy ranch beans, potato salad, homemade rolls with real butter, jalapenos 16 oz. serving of iced tea and free coffee.  Iced tea and coffee will be free all night    A cash bar will be available to purchase drinks.  

Cake celebrating the 50-year celebration will be provided

Size of tables: 8 — no reservations; tables are first come, first served.

PLEASE NOTE.  THE CASH BAR WILL ONLY ACCEPT CASH.  THERE IS NO ATM AVAILABLE, AND NO DEBIT OR CREDIT CARDS WILL BE ACCEPTED.  NO OUTSIDE BEVERAGES ARE ALLOWED. THERE IS NO BYOB.

A photographer will be on hand on both Friday and Saturday to take pictures.  Those pictures will be uploaded to www.rangersreunion.com, which can be downloaded at no cost.

WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE AND HAVING A GREAT TIME.  IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, SEND AN EMAIL TO RANGERSREUNION@GMAIL.COM

SEE YOU THERE!!!

In approximately 67 days from the writing of this note, we will be holding a reunion of the Classes of 1973 to 1979. The reunion will be in honor of the Class of 1973, that will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of their graduation.

Why go to a reunion? Most people remember the movie Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion and think all reunions are like that. But really, why should you want to go to a reunion? Here are a few ideas**:

Reunions are not that scary

You’ve undoubtedly changed through the years, and so has everyone else. This is a good chance to get to know them for who they are, not who you remember from an era when you were all desperately trying to figure out who you would become.

Now, you’re a totally different person than who you were when you were 18 years old and the beauty is that everybody else is a totally different person, too.”

You can show what you’re up to, but it’s not a competition

To anyone concerned their successes won’t stack up against their former classmates’, — “So what?” Once you have a beer and get some hugs from old friends, your mind won’t be on cutthroat competition. This is supposed to be fun.

She went on, “Everything—whatever you do in your life—is so individual and true to who you are. Not everybody is an astronaut. Not everybody is on the Supreme Court. People have successes in their own ways and who’s to say yours is any less valuable than somebody else’s?”.

You can network professionally

You and your classmates pursued different endeavors after graduation. Not only will it be interesting to hear what they’re up to, but you never know if there’s a way you can work together or use your adulthood-minted skills to help each other.

You can get a few do-overs

We all have regrets and even if your four years of high school were your “glory days,” some of yours probably stem from that time period. You might have wanted to talk to that loner girl, thank a friend for seeing you through a hard time, or apologize to someone you hurt—but didn’t because you were busy navigating one of life’s most disconcerting developmental stages.

Here’s your chance.

Real life is better than social media

Reunions can seem kind of pointless now that social media enables us to peer in on the lives of old acquaintances, but as you know, social media is not real life. Well, it kind of is these days, but it’s still worth it to go see everyone face-to-face.

You can reminisce, make amends, and have meaningful conversations much easier in real life than you can on Facebook or Instagram. Online, people share tidbits, but in person, they end up sharing much more through mannerisms, looks, and a sense of openness.

If we learned anything from the pandemic, it’s that the high-tech version of human interaction is lacking what makes that interaction so special. The best part of the event was just getting to see all my old friends face-to-face. It’s a unique opportunity you should take advantage of at least once, because you never know when we’ll be stuck in our homes again.

So if you are the fence about coming – get off the fence and come join us.

April 21 we will meet at Ricky D’s, 10780 Pebble Hills Blvd D, El Paso, TX 79935,

from 6:30 – ???. Arrive before 8 and there is no cover charge.   After 8 the cover charge is $5, ladies free. 

We will host a Dinner/Dance at Cattleman’s on April 22, 2023 from 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm.  Dance from 8:00 – 11:30 p.m.

Tickets are available at this link here

HOPE TO SEE YOU SOON! FORWARD THIS TO YOUR CLASSMATES!!!

** Ideas taken from https://lifehacker.com/why-you-really-should-go-to-your-high-school-reunion-1848779696