Mark R. Madler
When alumni of Burbank and John Burroughs high schools gather this
weekend for a reunion picnic, Linda Mustion will be there to keep
alive the memories of those graduates unable to attend.
For the fourth annual picnic, Mustion brings her veterans memorial
display of students who died in World War II and the Korean and
Vietnam wars. Among them is Congressional Medal of Honor winner Larry
Maxam, and William Brick, a classmate of Mustion's at Burbank High.
"We knew him as Bill," said Mustion, who graduated in 1967. "I
didn't know him well. He was in one of my English classes and sat on
the other side of the room."
The picnic is from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at Johnny Carson
Park, on Bob Hope Drive, between Riverside Drive and Alameda Avenue.
A $2 donation is requested at the event.
Alumni are asked to bring a picnic lunch, chairs, blankets,
shaders and cameras. Parking is free at the NBC east parking lot
north of the park and the Providence High school lot off Buena Vista
Street.
Linda Melton Damarjian, the picnic chairwoman, said the reunion
picnic is not meant as a replacement for individual class reunions
but as a more informal way for classmates to connect with each other
again.
"Bringing all classes together has been a real plus," said
Damarjian, a 1961 Burroughs graduate. "Even if you don't see members
of your own class, you'll see classes who were there at the same
time."
The event drew 1,000 attendees last year, up from the 60 who took
part the first year when the picnic was held in Griffith Park. The
location was moved to bring the event to Burbank proper.
Former principals, teachers and staff members from the high
schools have been invited and will have a separate area where they
can meet each other and former students. There will also be a
recognition of the alumni from the earliest graduating classes from
both schools.
"Every year, more and more people are finding this is a resource
for connecting with past high school classmates," Damarjian said.
Along with the veterans memorial and entertainment, the reunion
includes an alumni classic car show. Alumni can register their cars
until Saturday morning and should have their vehicle at the park a
half hour before the picnic begins, show organizer Denny Grossman
said. He can be contacted at grossmand@aol.com.
