Toni Filigno Clark is collecting items for a silent auction to be held during the Roosevelt High School Class of 1953 55th reunion July 18, 2008 at the Nile Country Club to benefit the RHS Golden Grads Scholarship Fund. Items to be auctioned off include “things” that are worthy of bidding on, tickets to an event, activities such as a boat outing, or an offer to teach something (knitting, cooking a specialty dish / meal, anything the person donating it is skilled in that others might want to learn), or the donor’s time for gardening, shopping, etc.

The Class of 1938 celebrated its 70th Reunion at the Golden Grads Luncheon on May 10, and easily edged out last year’s attendance winners, the class of ’53, for the Jeanne DeFriel Gardiner Outstanding Attendance Award Plaque. Next year’s Luncheon will be May 30, 2009 at a new venue, the Nile Country Club.

The world lost Jeanne DeFriel Gardiner ’30 on April 23, 2006. She was the founder and first president of the Rooselvelt High School Golden Grads. Jeanne treated the Golden Grads as a full-time job. She was on the phone daily with Golden Grads’ business in keeping track of all of the members and the various changes that occur on a daily basis. During her lifetime, Jeanne and her husband, Arthur, specialized in mountain trekking, particularly in the Himalayas. To see Jeanne’s garden overlooking Lake Washington, with a view of Mt. Rainier, was a very special treat. Jeanne died at the age of 93, remaining active, with trips to Turkey, Greece, Alaska, and Mexico with her children, enjoying plays and concerts, attending University of Washington football games, and still taking care of the membership challenge of the Golden Grads until the last. She is, and will be, missed.

RHS Golden Grads has two main goals to accomplish each year: (1) to contribute money for RHS Student Scholarships and (2) contribute money for the RHS Teachers Wish List.

The following was spent in former years:

Scholarships – in 2005-06 $22,500 and 2006-07 $29,000 was given

Wish List – in 2005-06 $22,500 and 2006-07 $11,000 was given.

How You Can Help

We have an annual luncheon each May (we each pay for our own lunch) and each August a Picnic Pot Luck at a local park. You can help Golden Grads in all its good works by becoming a dues paying Golden Grads member, volunteering on a committee or becoming an officer — and most importantly making a donation to a very worthy cause.

Contributions Are Key

Contributions from former graduates are key to being able to provide these benefits for Roosevelt students and teachers. Golden Grads membership dues go toward the two issues of Grapevine each year, which cost to print and mail, and also help to pay for guests (scholarship recipients) at the luncheon. Roosevelt High School Golden Grads Association has a tax exempt status under 501 (c)3 of Internal Revenue Code.

[Note: this was the beginning of the Golden Grads site as a page on rhs53.com]

This page of the rhs53.com web site has been dedicated to Roosevelt High School Golden Grads!

We would like to invite all Roosevelt alumni who graduated 50 years ago or more to join us, and help make a difference for students and teachers at Roosevelt.

To become a member of the RHS Golden Grads Association, your RHS class must have reached its 50th year since graduation, or you must be a former RHS student who would have graduated 50 or more years ago, but moved away before your class graduated. Membership is $15 for one graduate and $20 for two graduates in same family. Memberships are due each January and good for one year.

Your membership entitles you to a vote and to receive the Grapevine newsletter, published twice a year (March and September). Info you’d like in the Grapevine should be sent to your class secretary or one of the officers, who compile each class year’s submission.