By David Yamaguchi ‘75
The Cleveland High School Class of 1975 held their 50th reunion on September 6, 2025, at Terry’s Kitchen, Bellevue. While all such milestones hold deep meaning for those in attendance, this gathering stands out for what followed it. The class’s reunion committee presented a $15,000 check to the CHS Alumni Association on behalf of the class. The funds, raised through a silent auction and other donations at the dinner, were provided to help present-day CHS sports teams meet their expenses for uniforms, equipment, and practice facilities.
Beside the check, the class presented former principal Bill Maynard’s (1971-1976) championship letterman jacket to Principal Jeff Lam and Athletic Director Daniel Jurdy with the intent that it be displayed at the school. Maynard received the jacket on CHS winning the state AA basketball championship in 1975. He recently donated it to the Class of ’75 for use at its silent auction.
Following the class’s stated wishes, Maynard’s jacket was then purchased by an attendee, and given back to the class to donate to the school.
The backstory of how the class gathered such substantive donations is worth telling. As the committee met monthly across the year leading up to the reunion, we realized that we shared a common sentiment. Senior class president and reunion co-emcee Kathy (Eng) Yee, said, “We didn’t know we were poor until we saw what other school teams had.”
In my case, at a distance of a half century, I recall watching one school’s varsity boys’ tennis #1 doubles team enter their courts with a stinging comment.“Your red sweats are so raggedy.”
Accordingly, our committee decided to pay back CHS by hosting a silent auction at our reunion to help its current athletes in these dire times for the Seattle Public Schools budget. Many donations were gathered on which reunion attendees could bid. Maynard’s jacket was a special one. While It had been one of his prized possessions, he is willing to pass it along now. Other offerings included those from Red Bird Sports (owner, Jay Turner ’75), Larry’s Volvo (Warren Moy ’75), and Kobo Shop & Gallery (Binko Chiong-Bisbee ’75). Especially impressive was a customized red and white handcrafted quilt by Sheryl (Eng) Chinn. Its reverse side features tree branches and pine cones: a nod to CHS’s Memorial Forest!
The reunion program included several memorable parts. Maynard delivered an outstanding speech describing how his years at CHS were the highlight of his career. Brief videos followed from Lisa Nakamura ’85, chair of the CHS athletics booster, sports mom Sandy Yee ’85, and her son, Jacob Yee Navlet, member of the CHS basketball and baseball teams. The three described how the current CHS budget for all sports is only $3,000/year, for transportation to and from games. Navlet’s basketball jersey doesn’t match those of his teammates. His home and away baseball uniforms have different numbers. When a baseball rolls into outfield blackberries, Yee wades into the thorns to retrieve it, as there are no funds to replace it! Next, co-emcee Richard Kennewick conveyed the concept of someone purchasing Maynard’s jacket, then donating it back to CHS for display. The full-circle idea originated with Patty Hiroo-Mastrude, a committee-member long experienced with nonprofit fundraising.
Attendees at the reunion gave generously to the silent auction, to donation jugs, and through later donations. We hope that their efforts will inspire other classes to similarly “pay it back” to our school to which we owe much.
