Planning

The Class of ’69 reunion organizers from Pallotti, SCA, and SJC decided to combine forces for our 30-year reunion. A joint celebration would allow us to see not only our high school classmates, but also friends who attended the other two high schools.

The planning activities were spread across thousands of miles. In Belize City, Adrian Roe of SJC spear-headed the efforts, setting up planning headquarters at Caribbean Tobacco Co. Ltd.’s office, and holding meetings with representatives of the three schools. The two other planning centers were in California. In the Los Angeles area, Judith Bodden, née Usher, of Pallotti lead a committee of planners, including several of her classmates, plus Derick Gongora of SJC and his sister, Linda Lewis. Linda had graduated from SCA some years before we did. However, she was so enthusiastic about the idea of the reunion, that she became an active member of the planning committee. In the San Francisco Bay Area, Carli Scott of SCA coordinated plans from the three groups via emails, faxes, and phone calls with Judith in Los Angeles, Adrian in Belize, and SCA classmates Eloisa Bradley and Joyce Perdomo, née Gough, in Belize.

The planners quickly decided that the main joint events would be a Mass followed by a dinner-dance. The organizers from Pallotti and SCA decided to have separate gatherings for their respective schools the day before the joint celebrations began. There was debate about a reunion picnic—although it might be fun to have an outing for the entire group, it would surely be simpler for each school to organize its own trip. Finally, they hit upon an easy way to arrange a joint caye trip.