Alumni searching for Western High’s class of 1972

It was 1972, the year before the Arab oil embargo, when gasoline was selling for 36 cents a gallon. Watergate was about to become a household word. The radio played top 40 hits - "American Pie," "Lean On Me" and "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)."

This day, a handful of alumni met at a North Las Vegas home, one of several meetings they've had in recent months to prepare for a special reunion, the 40th gathering of Western High School's class of 1972. It is planned for Oct. 19 and 20 at Texas Station, 2101 Texas Star Lane.

It didn't seem that long ago to some.

"I still call you guys 'the kids,' " said Geri Gonzales Barnish, who lives in The Lakes area, as she arrived. "I told my husband I was going to go see 'the kids.' He said, 'What kids?' And I said, 'You know, the kids. The kids from Western.' "

Various committees had been formed - pictures, music, activities. Everyone had been given a job. Gonzales Barnish was making an iMovie. Cindy Phelps was in charge of music. She had worked on reunions for other classes and was an unofficial guide to the others.

The task of tracking down classmates was a big part of the preparations. They made a spreadsheet of everyone's name. Debi Burkhalter told of using different websites, such as whitepages.com and zabasearch.com. They looked at public records and obituary columns.

"The girls were the hardest to (locate) because we had to go through the marriage records in Clark County and through the assessor's office," Burkhalter said. "It was a lot to do. It was all these little steps."

So that the task did not fall to one person, the list of names was broken up alphabetically and assigned to people.

"They gave me the J's," said Janet Shugart with an eye roll. "You know, the Johnsons, the Jones. I got (to track down) all those."

Shugart was a flag girl in high school. She now lives in Mesquite and still has her letterman jacket.

Former classmates were found to be living in Hawaii and Alaska. The whereabouts of one classmate was somewhere in South America, where she was serving as a missionary.

"When we logged into Facebook, we were lucky that (some women) kept their maiden names," Gonzales Barnish said.

So far, out of 576 students, 122 had not yet been found.

Burkhalter, who works as a surgical technologist, recalled reconnecting with a classmate who was about to have surgery. The woman was lying on a gurney when they recognized one another. She joked that anyone being rolled into the operating room who recognized her would say, " 'Oh, it's Burkhalter. Quick, jump off and run.' ... Everybody thought I'd be the hippie," she said.

Jake Gutierrez found classmates in unexpected places, randomly running into them at attractions in other states, such as Disneyland, when all the time they lived in town.

Shugart said she had tracked down classmates by first finding their brothers or sisters, prompting "you wouldn't happen to be related to " types of questions.

As names cropped up among the committee members, the memories came rushing back, and the purpose of the meeting was shelved as they reminisced.

Gutierrez brought up how students would be sent home if they wore jeans to school. The students rallied against the dress code, and eventually jeans were allowed their senior year, he said.

"We all wore hipster bell-bottoms," Gonzales Barnish said. "And our jeans had to have the crease (in front) ... The girls all had their hair parted down the middle, long and straight."

"I got sent home for wearing a skirt that was too short," said Phelps, who hosted the meeting.

Back then, they all agreed, Vegas Village Shopping Center was "the" place to shop, as was a store called Rebel Britches and also Vegas Jeans. The Boulevard Mall was the only real mall in town.

A visit to historicaerials.com shows just how small Las Vegas was around that time.

They spoke of curfews ---- staying out past midnight was taboo for most back then. Burkhalter recalled coming home at 2 a.m. after sledding at Mount Charleston. Worse, she got injured, something she couldn't keep from her parents.

"We were so busted," she said.

Favorite teachers were Terry Armstrong, described as the tall, dark and handsome type. He taught science and physical education and ended up marrying a girl from one of his classes, the group recalled. Mr. Pirtle, an art teacher, was also considered a hunk. Jack Shelton was an easygoing teacher who refused to wear a suit and tie.

Another teacher, Andy Nixon, taught government. The school joke was that his first name was really Richard.

The effort to track down classmates was a collaborative one that relied on help from other classes, such as the class of 1973's Jay Phelps.

Some of the members were also aiding another reunion effort, as classmates of both Clark and Western high schools are planning a combined reunion this fall for the class of 1967. Students from that year are being sought as well.

For more information, call Barbara McCoy at 336-7549.

For more information about the Western class of 1972 reunion, visit whsclassof1972.com.

Contact Summerlin/Summerlin South View reporter Jan Hogan at jhogan@viewnews.com or 387-2949.