Loara High School today


Throughout the 60's, Loara's student body tried to get the district to let them raise money to put in a marquee different from the standard district issue plastic ones.  No luck.  Every school had to have the same sign.

In 1985, to mark their 20th reunion, Loara's first graduating class, the Class of '65 presented Loara with this excellent indestructible marker.
(information courtesy Pam Manazer, class of '65)

 
I understand our mascot has been replaced by a mural on the eastern gym wall since the photo below was taken a couple years ago.

I'll have to go by and check it out.  The photo at the right was taken of the mascot on the western gym wall.  Hopefully they didn't touch that one when they repainted the building.  Tradition should win out over artistic egos.
Some slight changes here, as extensions have been added to the locker rooms.
This guy, even older than that man above (the photo above, that is) adorns the official Loara faculty Web page.
This gorgeous crest was painted by Wilbur Ahlvers, Art Department head.  We watched Mr. Ahlvers use an opaque projector to paint the crest, in vivid colors, on the interior wall of the Loara gym during the 1965-66 school year.  I have to wonder if it's still there.
The Senior Circle
Larry Lawrence - quarterback, pitcher, student leader - worked hard to make a Senior Circle a reality.

Larry gave his life, the summer after graduation, trying to save the lives of two young women caught in heavy surf in Italy.

The Larry Lawrence Memorial Senior Circle is only a third the size Larry originally planned it to be (see plan below).

The walkways, and the walls that define them, were to be much longer, the grassy areas between them raised to the same level as the circle, with the lawns accessible by steps.

Palm trees were not a part of the plan.

After seeing the original plans, I remember the disappointment many of us felt when the project was scaled down so drastically.
 

 
Larry Lawrence's original dream for the Senior Circle.
The area highlighted in red is what was actually constructed.  The walls didn't extend that far.
The Senior Circle during construction.
Senior class president for 1965-66, Leonard Rumery, accepts the plaque for the Larry Lawrence Memorial Senior Circle from Mr. Thomason, principal.
ASB president John Longtin officiates at dedication of the Larry Lawrence Memorial Senior Circle before Loara's first Homecoming game, fall 1965.

 
The Loara theater.  I wish they'd had this when I was there.  It would have made being a theater major a lot easier.
The senior court, seen from the east.  A wooden addition has been added to the back of the band room.
Loara's lighted tennis courts.  Some recent honors are posted on the fences, but no mention is made of Coach Bill Baca's CIF championship team of 1966 - the first CIF title in Loara history - won right on these courts.

Looking back, so much of what is Loara today was established in that first decade, the '60's.  The mascot...the artwork on the walls...the Senior Circle.  Tradition and pride were established which are still alive.

Being a member of the second graduating class wasn't so bad afterall.
 

Ken Hecker
class of '66
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