Class of ‘84 reunion rekindles relationships

Adults in their late 40s mill about, chatting and dancing at the Hotel Valencia, an upscale venue in the heart of Santana Row. It is 2 a.m. on Saturday night, but no one is in a hurry to leave. These are the members of Saratoga High’s class of 1984, and many of them have not seen each other for 30 years.

“I really enjoyed seeing some of the folks that I had known since elementary school and junior high,” said alumnus John Roberts, who resides in Colorado and has worked at Denver Investments, a firm that offers investment management services, for 16 years. “There were so many people [that] it was hard to talk to everyone, but we all certainly tried.”

Saratoga High class reunions occur almost every fall, usually put together by former class officers or leaders. The most well-attended ones tend to be milestone anniversaries of 10, 20, 25, 30 and even 50 years. The high school gathering that occurred on Sept. 20 is one such reunion.

The participants came from far and wide to reconnect with their former classmates, including areas as far away as Uruguay (Cherie Del Carlo), the United Kingdom (Nicole Perry Ellis) and even South Korea (Andrew Ridley). Roughly 200 people attended the reunion, which took place at the Hotel Valencia in San Jose and lasted for around eight hours.

Some were even able to rekindle former group relations with their classmates from school organizations. For instance, the reunion organizers arranged for Roberts and his former band-mates to perform once more at the reunion.

“Interestingly, the exact line-up of the band that played at the reunion never played together as a band in high school,” Roberts said. “While many of us played in bands, and a few together, we decided to give it a new name to recognize it as a new band, so ‘The 867s’ were born.”

Their reunion band’s new name reveals yet a set of insider jokes for the class of 1984. John Loken, the former SHS student body president, coined the idea based on two factors:

Back in the ’80s, many students had phone numbers that were 867-xxxx. In addition, Tommy Tutone’s 1982 song “867-5309/Jenny” was a No. 1 hit, especially for SHS students whose phones started with 867.

“The family that had the number 408-867-5309, dialed 867-5309, had to change their phone number once the song became popular due to all the prank calls,” Roberts said.

“There was no caller ID back in 1984, so prank phone calls were a common occurrence.”

Alumnus Ed Goldfarb, who is now a record producer, organized the band’s reunion performance and hosted practices at his home studio.

They played at ground level during the reunion, just as they had done at house parties in their high school days.

One might think that classmates who haven’t seen each other for 30 years would find their life experiences too diverse to reconnect as close friends. Robert found the opposite to be true.

“To quote organizer Christy Dwyer Rector,” Robert said, “‘the band took away the anxiety and nerves that many people were feeling and brought an upbeat, joyful mood to the party.  As the band played on, people loosened up, and many joined in the dancing. [All] the people felt more comfortable and at ease because of the house party-like atmosphere.’”

The novelty of seeing old friends after so long a gap caused much enjoyment and amusement among the participants.

“It was interesting on Friday, as many of us were checking in, to bump into people we hadn’t seen in decades in some cases,” Robert said. “Literally anyone on the elevator could have been an unrecognized classmate.”

Indeed, the classmates of 1984 found themselves still socializing at 2 a.m., celebrating in a manner not unlike their camaraderie from three decades earlier.