This Fourth of July, amid the patriotic fanfare along Orange Avenue, the Coronado High School class of 1975 will mark its 50th reunion with a float in the annual parade — an emblem of shared history, deep-rooted friendships, and the enduring spirit of a town that, though transformed over time, still feels like home.
“Coronado in the ’70s was a sleepy, tight-knit Navy town,” recalled Frank Sanchez, a former track star turned aerospace engineer who spent decades helping launch satellites into orbit. “You knew your teachers, your neighbors, their kids. You could walk around at 2 a.m. and feel safe.”
That sense of familiarity and security defined the class of ’75’s high school experience, said Sanchez.
“We rode everywhere on bikes — sometimes even dated on bikes,” said Sue (Mercer) Hockenmaier, who served as co-homecoming queen with classmate Andi (Fleckles) Morey. “It was a time before traffic lights, before the bridge really changed things. Coronado was small-town Southern California at its best.”
The bridge to San Diego opened in 1969, but even into the mid-’70s, Coronado retained its insular charm.
Students like Jamie McArthur, who played football and raced sailboats, remember cruising the island, attending bonfire parties and biking to the beach — barefoot and sun-soaked.
“We were competitive sailors, racing all over Southern California,” McArthur said. “But Coronado didn’t have a high school sailing team. You just did it because you loved it.”
Now, 50 years later, more than 100 alumni and guests are expected to gather for a weekend celebration planned by 13 classmates. It begins with the float in the Fourth of July Parade, followed by a formal reunion dinner at the Coronado Yacht Club on July 5 and a picnic at Spreckels Park during the Concert in the Park series on July 6.
The flatbed float, donated by classmate Geoff Davis, will be adorned with banners and tiki-themed decorations — a nod to the class’ senior-year logo.
Sanchez, who also designed commemorative baseball-style shirts, ornaments and poker chips for the occasion, described the float as “not fancy, just fun — just us being together again.”
Many reunion organizers were once the student leaders and cheerleaders of CHS; today, as sexagenarians, they’re engineers, financial advisors, Coast Guard veterans and consultants.
Though many of them have scattered across the country, they remain united by the island they once called home.
The beach was their backyard. Some fathers were at war — Vietnam loomed large — but their childhoods still felt remarkably safe.
The student body reflected this duality: a mix of civilians and military kids — like Dede Haas — some staying for just a year or two before another transfer sent them elsewhere.
Haas, who helped lead the planning from Washington, D.C., never graduated from CHS because her father’s Navy orders moved her to London before her senior year. But she said a deep bond remained.
“Even though I didn’t walk across the stage in ’75, I was there to watch them graduate. That meant everything,” she said.
The class has lost around 20 members in the last five decades. In their memory, a tribute table will be displayed at the reunion, honoring their memories.
“It’s one of the reasons we come together,” Hockenmaier said. “To remember, to reconnect.”
For many, returning to Coronado is both a celebration and a pilgrimage.
“Coronado is in my heart,” said Gabe Benrubi, who ran cross country and still golfs on the island weekly. “It’s where I came of age. It’s where we were kids, learning who we’d become.”
