QHHS Alumni: 1979-1980: A Decade of Wrestling Championships & Vande's Debut

1979-1980

The 1980 Cavalier Yearbook is a double-sided book. One side displays the old Rebel-on-a-horse logo and opens up to a formal picture of the Yearbook staff, followed by the Senior, Activities and Varsity Athletic sections of the book. The flip side shows the old soldier-holding-a-sword logo and inside is a silly picture of the Yearbook staff all dressed up in playful outfits followed by the Class, Activities, Sports and Faculty pages.

FORMAL SIDE

This year's Homecoming Queen was Pat Thais.

Winter Ball, held at the Mayflower Gardens Recreation Room, crowned Queen Lisa Endres and King Dave Nash.

SPORTS

Cross Country celebrated their fourth Consecutive Golden League Championship.

A faculty vs. varsity Girls Volleyball game was played. Staff members who played included Coach "Spanky" Kahler, Coach Mattison, Coach Thomas, Mrs. Horn, Mr. Tosi, Mr. Martin and Principal Dr. Johnson.

Wrestling achieved their tenth consecutive Golden League Championship, establishing a new CIF record. No other school in CIF history had established such a consistent league record. The Yearbook notes, "Quartz Hill is a feared and respected name in Southern California wrestling." The cumulative record reflects that QHHS had produced one state champion, two runners-up, twenty-three CIF finalists and forty-five league champions. But the yearbook notes that wrestling may be cut next year due to budget cuts (as a result of Prop. 13).

Boys & Girls Swimming were merged for the first time. They competed side-by-side during the same season, but scores remained separate.

The Football scoreboard returned to the Cavalier this year. The team had a 5-5 season and were defeated yet again by the Antelopes in the famous AV-QH crosstown rivalry.

In her closing commentary, Yearbook Editor Kathy Etherton mentions that "this may be the last yearbook for a while." The ripple effects of the passage of Proposition 13 on the education budget are clearly being felt throughout most student activities.

SUPPLEMENT

This was the second year of a Yearbook Supplement, a paper insert that was produced over the summer highlighting sports and events that occurred after the publication deadline of the yearbook.

Thanks to this year's supplement, we learn:

1980 Prom was held aboard the Queen Mary and Carolyn Baldwin was crowned Queen.

The QH Marching Band raised nearly $80,000 to make the trip to Buckhannon, West Virginia to lead the Grand Royale Strawberry Festival Parade. They also traveled to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. They won seven awards, including first place in every category they entered. Images from their trip were included in the supplement, including two significant images involving the World Trade Center. The top right photo is a view from the group's tour of the building while the third picture from the left on the bottom row shows the group looking up at the structure.

We also get a glimpse of the Senior Toga Party in the supplement, an activity that has been alluded to in past yearbooks, but because of the late date in the year it was held, we've never actually been able to see photos.

SILLY SIDE

On The Prom page, the yearbook documents Total Cost of Prom at $217.26, including a $40 ticket (that's per couple!), $56.70 formal dress, $47.52 tuxedo rental, $25.46 for new sandals, $15.50 haircut, $16.73 for corsage and boutonniere and $15.35 for hairstyle. These costs have seen quite the increase in the last 35 years, including Prom tickets, which are now above $100, for a single ticket.

Prom was held, once again, at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. The yearbook states, "The way things were looking in February, Prom tickets were going to cost about $50.00 a couple, because the unorganized Junior class couldn't get it together for the annual dance-a-thon. The greatest fault of all was the fact that the court had been previously informed who they were before the official announcement."

In Powder Puff, the seniors were victorious once again, defeating the juniors 14-6.

On the Journalism page, we learn that the Ubiquity newspaper was not produced during the fall semester "due to lack of organization." However, "the staff enthusiastically produced papers second semester," but because of district cutbacks, "things like teachers and school papers" were discarded.

Hidden among the staff pages is this little gem. A photo of the 79-80 security staff, including first-year QHHS "bouncer" and our 2014 Inaugural Hall of Fame inductee Vande Micheaux. For thirty years, Vande managed to instill both fear and love into the hearts of students at QHHS. As a freshman in the 90's, I remember hearing the stories of "Vande" and how you did not want to get caught out of class without a pass by her. As an involved student on campus during my four years at QHHS, I came to learn that Vande indeed had a heart of gold. As her co-worker in the 2000's, she became a friend. Vande retired a few years ago, but you can still find her helping out at Varsity Football games on Friday nights in the home side ticket booth sharing smiles and her deep love of QHHS. The 2014 public Hall of Fame ceremony will be held on Friday, October 10, 2014 at 6:15 p.m. prior to the QHHS vs. HHS football game.