Thirty of the 179 graduates from the Garden City High School Class of 1955 recently celebrated the 55th anniversary of their graduation with a weekend reunion in Tampa, Florida. The Class of 1955 celebrated the 55th anniversary of its graduation from Garden City High School with a reunion in Florida the weekend of March 5 - 7.

For half a century the class of 179 graduates has held reunions every ten years in their old hometown. But with retirement and relocations, an updated class directory indicated that some 50 surviving class members resided at least part-time in the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.

A class-wide email exchange ongoing since the 2005 reunion made it easy to poll the alumni to determine the level of interest in a 2010 gathering, a destination and date. Early March and Tampa, with its easy transportation access, were chosen as an ideal combination, providing a climate far more convivial than what the Northeast has been providing of late.

Thirty alumni and twenty spouses and guests gathered in Tampa for a Friday night cocktail reception, a Saturday gala buffet dinner and entertainment, and a Sunday brunch. Music included encore performances of GCHS’s Alma Mater, “The Spirit of GC High,” “You’ll Never Walk Alone” (sung at the class graduation in June 1955) and a sing-along medley of pop songs from the early 50’s. The audience laughed heartily as classmates reminisced about memorable teachers and events and reflected nostalgically on “how things have changed.” Each guest was given a commemorative maroon T-shirt with a Class of ‘55 reunion logo featuring palm trees befitting the venue.

Besides the Sunbelters, attendees included alumni from as far away as California (Howard Whitfield), Colorado (Shirley Shepherd Sargent) and Utah (Joan Wagner Matthews). A long-ago Garden City transplant to Australia, Ron Tacchi, had planned to attend but passed away on February 25.

The reunion organizers included Marjorie Miller and Marlise Flannery Landeck, both of Atlanta, GA; Jim Andrews of Beaufort, SC; Dave Sayer and Pete Sayer, both of Venice, FL; and Nancy Rea DeWaart of Tampa, FL.