Tonkawa High School Homecoming 2019 was a great one! Alumni, friends and family were in Tonkawa sporting their class reunion t-shirts and Buc pride attire! The following classes held reunions this year: 1949, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1969, 1974,1979 and 1999. This year marks the 90th birthday of the Buccaneer which was created by the Class of 1929 and adopted as the school mascot.
The day began with the annual Alumni Coffee sponsored by the Tonkawa High School Student Council at the Event Center. Yona Wade, a 1999 THS graduate, sang while Diana Reese, a 1972 THS graduate accompanied him on the piano. Tonkawa Superintendent, Lori Simpson, welcomed alumni during the All Class Meeting and gave some very interesting facts and statistics about Tonkawa Public Schools. Mrs. Simpson noted that a lot of recent THS graduates are returning to make their home in Tonkawa and raise their children here. Melinda Glasgow, THS Alumni Vice President, introduced the THS Alumni Board members and officers. Officers were re-elected for next year on a motion made by Charles Conaghan and seconded by Jerry Legg. Veterans, previous Distinguished Alumni, classes having reunions, past teachers and administrators, and members of the 1952, 1953, 199, 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2018 THS championship footballs teams were acknowledged. Charles Conaghan was introduced as the recipient of the first THS Alumni Buccaneer Pride Award. The THS Alumni has partnered with Tonkawa Schools for this year’s project which is purchasing equipment for the weight room at the Event Center. The project goal is $25,000 and we are about halfway there.
Jill Shackelford, THS Alumni Scholarship Chairman, reported that this year’s scholarship recipients were Evan Glasgow and Katelynn Rothgeb. Both recipients are fourth generation Buccaneers! Both of this year’s recipients received $1000 per semester for the first year to a college of their choice and can apply for an additional $500 per semester for their second year of college. THS Alumni has one fundraiser a year, the Lucky Duck Derby, held on July 4th. Other revenue comes from donations and lifetime membership dues. We currently have 118 THS Alumni lifetime members whose names appear on a plaque in the Commons area of THS.
Donnie Noles, Allstar Showcase Chairman, reported that we had two qualifiers this year for the showcase. They are Dallin Hacker in football and David Hernandez in Cross Country. There are 92 qualifiers in the AllStar showcase featuring 22 women and ...
