Tucker High School - Class of 1966

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April 19th,  2009

The new school building's are well under way for phase I at Tucker High.  I've included three photos you might enjoy. The first one is the 9th Grade Academy, which is being built in front of the old building where the teacher's parking lot used to be. The second and third one are the new 4 story classroom and staff office building being built where the old gym used to be.  The front view is from Lavista road.  The rear view shows the parking deck that will be under this building.

1) Ninth Grade Academy

2) Front of new 4 story classroom and staff offices

3) Rear of new classroom building from right field of the old baseball field

December 27th,  2008

A lot has been happening at the old high school. First, the construction on the new school building began over the summer. The gym has been demolished and Phase I of the construction of the new school is under way. To view the plans, go to the Links section and then click on the New Tucker High School Building Plans link.

And second, December 12, 2008, Tucker High captured it's first State 4-A Football Title at the Georgia Dome.  Even sweeter,  it was against their biggest rival, Marist High School.  Marist had beaten the Tigers in their regular season game 38 - 0.  Our Tigers reversed that on them in the championship game with 322 yards to Marist's 71 yards, and Tucker ran 74 plays to Marist's 27 plays.  The final score was Tucker 15 and Marist 3.  Tucker last made it to the finals in 1963, only to loose to Dublin.  Some interesting facts about Tucker football: Tucker began playing 11-man football in 1949.  Tucker has won 100 games this decade.  Tucker is the first DeKalb County public school to win a state title since Southwest DeKalb in 1995. Tucker became the fourth school in history to avenge a regular season defeat in the state finals.  Tucker's record was 14 and 1.  Tucker Tigers: 2008 4-A State Champions. It doesn't get any better than that!

May 8,  2008

I finally took the time to update our web page with some recent news I hope you find interesting.

* Tucker Day 2008 is Saturday, May 10th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm.  The theme is A Blast From The Past. Check out web site for the list of events at  www.tuckerday.com .   There is also a Cruise-in on Main Street from 5:00 pm till 8:00 pm after the Tucker Day event.  There is a link to that event from the Tucker Day web page.

* Did you know that Rick Lewis' son Joey Lewis is a member of the UGA Bulldog Baseball team?  Congratulations Joey Lewis.

* Super Tucker High and UGA running back Thomas Brown was drafted this Spring by the Atlanta Falcons.  Congratulations also to Thomas Brown, Tucker High Alumni!

* The biggest news I have to share with everyone is Tucker is getting a brand new, state-of-the-art high school! I know, we've been there and done that!  However, the ole school has served it's usefulness for 45 years.  Can you believe that?  The new school construction will begin as soon as school is out and the existing gym will be demolished  and Phase I of the construction will begin.  There will be a parking deck with classrooms and administration buildings above it where the old gym stood as well as a new wing of multi level classrooms built in the existing parking lot on the Lavista Road side  ( front) of the school.  This is a 44 million dollar project and Tucker High will be a state-of-the-art education  facility.  Milton Pate Architects has won the design contract.  They did the Tucker Middle School design and I'm sure the new Tucker High School will be just as impressive.  There is talk that a granite facade may be incorporated to resemble the old old school building! You can view the plans, by phases, at tuckertigersschool.com . Once on the web page click on LINK , then on the CURRENT DESIGN SCHEME topic.  There is a 9 page PDF showing the existing facility and the 3 Phases that it will take to complete the building project.  

I checked on the status of our time capsule and it will be moved along with the memorial garden marker that has been set up in the A-wing courtyard.

There is also a plan to sell engraved bricks from the old building as a fundraiser to purchase an electronic sign for posting activities at the school.  When the plans are finalized I will post the details.

Have a great Summer and stay in touch!

April 23, 2007

Check the Calendar Page for our Spring Mini-reunion at Sangria's May 19th from 4:00 pm till 8:00 pm. 

Here's the latest news on the events at Tucker High School.  The most exciting is the county just passed renewing the special option sales tax  and has targeted Tucker High School to be the recipient of a new school! That's all the details I have at this point.  

The sports programs continue to excel.  Tucker High Boys Basketball won the AAAA-Class State Championship.  The Girls won the County Gymnastics Championship and the  Wrestling Team also won the County Championship.    The boys Soccer team has made the playoffs and will begin tournament play this week against Rome .

Tucker's Head Football Coach, Bill Ballard, has accepted a position at  the Gwinnett County 5-A school Peachtree Ridge.  Peachtree was the 5-A Co-State Champions last season in their first year of varsity competition.  Coach Ballard had a stellar 5 years at Tucker.  His record was 53 - 8.  He had the Tigers in post season play for four of the five years of his tenure.   His replacement will be the defensive coach Franklin Stephens from the 5-A Camden  County powerhouse in South Georgia.    

February 1, 2007

To all our classmates who attended our 40th Class Reunion - thank you for helping make it a most memorable occasion!

I apologize for not posting something sooner, but my Father was ill all summer and passed on October 4, 2006.  Since then I've been busy taking care of my Dad's affairs and trying to learn the ropes of being an Executor.  Now that I've got a handle on these duties, I'm trying to catch up on the things I've been neglecting.

I cannot believe it's been 7 months already since the reunion.  Based on the feedback the reunion committee got, everyone enjoyed themselves. The reunion committee is going to try to keep in touch and plan, at a minimum, a 50th reunion.   Mark your calendars for 2016!

Everyone who attended, as well as everyone who paid their fee and couldn't make it, should have received the souvenir photo CD of the event.  I will post a couple of  group photos from the reunion when I get a chance.

We will have a mini-reunion on late spring.  Check the calendar page.  We will post the details once we pick a restaurant and date to meet.

April 29, 2006

Final Call -  We're approaching the deadline where we have to give the final head count to the Hilton for our dinner buffet .  You still have time to send your registration in if you hurry. Unfortunately there will be no registration at the door since we can't change the meal count after May 15th and you won't be admitted without pre-registering.   Please send in your $75.00 registration for one and $125.00 for two if you plan on attending.   June 10th will be here before you know it.  Lost your registration? No problem.  Send your check for the appropriate amount to Gary R. Silver, 4034 Wembley Forest Way, Atlanta, GA 30340 made out to:  THS Class of 1966 c/o Diane Warren.  See you June 10th.   

If you're staying at the Hilton, remember to make your reservations at the Hilton before May 23, 2006 and use the Group Code THS to get the group room rate of $69.00 + taxes per night. The Hilton's direct number is 770-447-4747. 

February 14th, 2006

The invitations for the THS Class of 1966 were mailed today, February 14th, 2006.  If you don't receive your invitation in the next 7 to 10 days, contact Gary R. Silver at GaryRSilver@yahoo.com so we can follow up.  Mark your calendar for Saturday,  June 10th, 2006 at 7:00 pm  at the Atlanta Hilton Northeast, at 5993 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard in Norcross.   Also check the Missing classmates page and help us continue to search for missing classmates.   

July 31st, 2005

40th Reunion Committee Members at Sangria's June 11th Lunch

Pictured above Gary Silver, Diane Mueller Warren, Bill Pritchett,   Mr. Goodin (our guest), and Judy Burton Brown  (Not Pictured 40th Reunion Committee member Frank Cranford.)

The THS-66 40th Reunion Committee has signed the contract for our 40th with Atlanta Hilton Northeast  at 5993 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Norcross, Georgia.  A big THANKS to everyone who was able to make a commitment and help us with our deposits to secure our venue site, entertainment and photographer.  

Our code for booking rooms at the Hilton is THS.  The block of 35+ rooms ( @ 69.00 / night + tax ) will need to be booked by May 23, 2006.  Please book your room by then.  The number to call is 770-447-4747.

So far we have 122 guests attending.  This includes 71 classmates, 41 classmate spouses and guests  and 10 comps for teachers and their spouses. The total room capacity is 225. The remaining slots will be allocated on a first come first serve basis. You can locate the list of attendees on the menu on the first page of the web page.

April 3,2005

The THS-66 40th Reunion Committee has selected a venue for our 40th Class Reunion.  The venue is the Atlanta Hilton Northeast  at 5993 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Norcross, Georgia.  It has the best amenities, especially the shuttle from the Doraville Marta station, for our out of town classmates.  The room rate they've quoted us will be $69.00 per night plus taxes. The plans are still in the early stages, but we're hoping to have the hospitality room for an informal social on Friday evening, June 9th, 2006.  The 40th Reunion will be held on Saturday, June 10th, 2006 from 7:00 pm till midnight in the Peachtree Corners room.  The Hilton has a great reception menu, and we are lining up an evening of entertainment, and a photographer to produce a Photo CD for each classmate documenting the  evening's events.  If we exceed 225 guests, we will move to the main ballroom. Everyone will be receiving a memo and questionnaire sometime in May asking for their support and a $25.00 commitment towards their admission so we can sign a contract and secure it with a deposit by July, 2005.  We do not have any money in the class treasury.  We are depending on each and every classmate to help us move forward.  We are not going to sign a contract if we don't get a commitment from at least 100 classmates.  Please complete the questionnaire and return it with your $25.00 check when you receive our correspondence in May! We need everyone's support!

March 6,2005

The THS-66 40th Reunion Committee - Your 40th Reunion Committee consists of 5 members at this time.  They are Gary Silver, Judi Burton Brown, Bill Pritchett, Frank Cranford and Diane Mueller Warren.  The committee will meet again on March 19th and do a site visit to three venue sites.  They are the Hilton at Peachtree Corners, the Gwinnett Marriott, and the Gwinnett Civic Center.  Once we select a site and set a date we will be corresponding with everyone asking for a response and commitment to supporting a 40th Reunion.  We will want to hear from everyone by mid-summer 2005 so we can reserve the venue and secure any deposits that are needed.  

February 19, 2005

The THS-66 40th Reunion Committee - Initial meeting will be Sunday February 20th at the El Matador Restaurant on Chamblee-Tucker Road.  If your interested in helping out please feel free to join us.  The Committee currently consists of 6 classmates.  We will need more help down the road.  In 15 months we will be out of Tucker High 40 years!  Can you believe it! 

September 30, 2004

THS Fall Mini-Reunion  scheduled for November 6th, 2004 at the El Matador Restaurant.  See the Calendar page for details.

The new Tucker Middle School opened for the 2004-2005 school year.

The Tucker High Tiger Football team is off to another great season.  To date, they are undefeated and beat arch-rivals Marist 9 -7 and Lakeside 44-0.

May 15th, 2004

THS-66 Ocho de Mayo photos have been posted   See the photos on the Links/Photos page.

April 5th, 2004

THS-66 Ocho de Mayo mini reunion scheduled for May 8, 2004 at the El Matador Restaurant.  See the Calendar page for details.

The THS Class of 1964 web page link has been added to our Links/Photos page.  Their upcoming 40th Reunion is scheduled for this September 11, 2004. 

If you know the where-abouts of any of these people, please get in touch with a member of the Class of 64 Reunion Committee.

January 14th, 2004

A sad day for our Tucker High family. Coach Bill Venable and his son Bill, Jr. were fatally shot in their Lilburn residence in what is believed to be a random home invasion. Coach Venable was a good family man and a great mentor for my son Russell, who was a participant in the Special Education program at Tucker.  Coach Venable was especially sensitive to the children in the Special Education program.  Russell was a football and wrestling manager for the coach while he attended Tucker High.  Coach V and his son will be dearly missed!  (Pictured Daughter Amy, Coach Bill Venable, son Bill Venable, wife Susan. Not pictured sons Stephen and Eddie.) 

December 17th , 2003 -  Celebrating 100 years of Flight!

Tucker High's Football team made it to the semi-finals at the Georgia Dome.  They were clearly the superior team in their match against Statesboro.  Unfortunately the 5 turnovers were more than they could afford against a gutsy Statesboro team.  Our Tigers lost 27 to 24 in an exciting overtime against Statesboro, Saturday, December 13th for the second time.  Two years ago they lost to them in overtime when Statesboro was awarded 1 point for penetration. The score was 8 - 7.

If you missed the Fall Mini-Reunion, check the photos out on the Links/Photos page. See if you recognize anyone! 

May 4th , 2003

For those classmates who missed the THS-66 Spring Hootenanny - get ready for the Fall get together.  We had THS graduates from 1944 through 1999.  It was a great evening of entertainment provided by our very own classmates Stan Ruffin (67), Bob Sellmansberger (68) and Mike Henry (65).  Stan was in his usual rare form!  A great big thanks is in order for all our musicians. We were having so much fun the restaurant asked us to leave at 10:30 pm. That wasn't too unreasonable, since they closed at 10:00 pm.  We'll just have to start earlier next time!  Before the evening was over we had 30 Classmates and friends in attendance.   We will plan another get together in the Fall.  Watch your e-mail for details. Do you know these musical  maniacs? See the Links/Photos page for Details. 

December 29th , 2002

As the New Year approaches I would like to wish everyone a safe, healthy and prosperous New Year! 

If you haven't already noticed, I've added our 2o Year Reunion  Class Picture to the web page.  Thanks to Judy (Burton) Brown's help for getting me a copy of the class picture.  I've also added the name index below the picture.  It's tricky putting pictures on a web page for everyone to view clearly. I've viewed web page pictures from my neighbor's computer and sometimes the pictures that are sharp on my computer appear a little grainy on theirs.  I'm using Windows 95, Internet Explorer 5.5 and my Control Panel : Display, Settings options are set at 800 X 600, small font, True Color (24 bit).  I think the culprit is your Color Palette setting if your picture is grainy.  If you are running Windows 95 or later try setting your Color Palette under Settings to High Color (16 bit) or True Color (24 bit) or (32 bit).  After you make the changes logoff and logon or close the web page and re-access it.  This should take care of the problem.  My neighbor's Color Palette was 256 Color and the Class Photo was grainy.  Once we changed the Color Palette to one of the settings above, the picture was as clear as it is on my PC.

I have three, possibly four volunteers for my Search & Recover Team.  I would still like at least 4 more volunteers.  Please consider joining in on the fun! If you'd like to help, E-mail garyrsilver@yahoo.com .  We continue to make progress locating classmates with your help.

Tucker High's football team made it to the third round of the playoffs before being eliminated by Shaw High in Columbus.  With their Junior quarterback and running back, they should be contenders again next year.  First year coach, Bill Ballard, was named "Coach of the Year" by the DeKalb Neighbor.  Congratulations are in order for the team and coaching staff.

And last the best news.  Our son Richard graduated from the University of Georgia December 21st, 2002.  What a great Christmas present!

November 28th , 2002

I've added a Search & Recover page to identify our Search & Recover Team and a spotlight on the missing classmates we're focusing on this month.  We still need 6 to 8 more team members if you'd like to help. E-mail garyrsilver@yahoo.com to volunteer.

Our Fall mini-reunion was a fun gathering of classmates from the Class of 1966 and 1967.  In attendance from the Class of 1966 were Alan Bourke, Bill Pritchett, Joe Reitz, Nubbin Garner and wife Phyllis, Phil Lazarus and wife Jenny, Judy Burton Brown, Steve Searcy, Dana Milner and  Gary Silver and wife Sue.  From the class of 1967 were Stan Ruffin and Larry Stainback. Unfortunately the digital camera I borrowed from my neighbor was set incorrectly and my pictures did not turn out.  You'll just have to come to the next mini-reunion and see if you recognize any of us!

October 23rd , 2002

As of October 19th Tucker's football team is undefeated. The next game is  Friday, October 25, 2002 against Chamblee High School at North DeKalb Stadium.  A mini-reunion is planned for Saturday night, October 26, 2002.  See the 'Calendar' page for details. 

August 24th, 2002

I've added the 'Reunion' page to show a high level time line for a path to our 40th Class reunion.  Volunteers are being sought locally for the Search and Recover Team.  This team will concentrate on locating classmates for the next 24 month's.  Depending on the response, each team member will be asked to help locate 8 to 12 missing classmates.  Anyone interested in helping should contact Gary R. Silver at garyrsilver@yahoo.com.

A 1995 Tucker graduate, Brian Holmes, got a tryout with the Atlanta Falcons.  Brian started his college career at the Naval Academy and finished at Samford University in Birmingham. He was a kicker and got to see action in the Falcons August 17th pre-season game against the N.Y. Giants.  Good luck Brian!

June 27th, 2002

Tucker has a new head Football Coach.  Coach Lindsey has accepted a coaching position in Alabama near Lake Martin, where he plans to retire.  Tucker's new Coach is Bill Ballard, a long time assistant to Coach Lindsey.  Coach Ballard graduated from Henderson High and played on the 1990 Furman Division II National Championship Team. Tucker Football is in good hands. Tucker opens the 2002 Season against Griffin on August 30th at Dekalb Memorial Stadium.  See the 'Calendar' page for details.

May 19, 2002

Tucker's Boys Baseball Team won 2 out of three from

Ridgeland High to win the first round of the state playoffs.  Unfortunately they were eliminated in the second round by Oconee County, Wednesday May 15th. They lost two close games , 5 - 3 and 6 - 5 , to  close out their season.  Congratulations to Coach Roman and his Fighting Tigers for a fine season.

May 07, 2002

Congratulations to Tucker's Boys Baseball Team. They finished the season with a flurry of wins.  Since the Marist defeat of 5 to 2, Tucker has won their last 5 games, scoring  a  total of  53 runs while holding their  opponents to just three runs.  Tucker will travel to Dalton to play in the first round of the State playoffs. Tucker ended the regular season with a record of 17-8.

April 30, 2002

We've reached 140+ classmates on the Web Page.  Keep sending me the leads to help find missing classmates! I've added 6 classmates this week!

Check the Calendar for opportunities to get together. Tucker Day is Saturday, May 11th this year. We're celebrating 50 years of Tucker Day's, while Tucker celebrates it's 110th year. (Wow! Our class is almost as old as Tucker Day's !)

March 2, 2002

Tucker High Class of 1966 Web Page Announced . . .

Rules of Engagement

 1.) Everyone doesn't check their personal e-mail daily.  Give them a week or so to reply.  If you don't have a response within a week or two . . . . surprise them with a phone call. 

 2.) A third of our classmates don't use e-mail.  Give an old friend a surprise phone call!   

3.) View the 'Missing' page and help locate classmates listed as missing.  The THS'66 page was published with 112 classmate names.  There were 300+ in our class. We want to locate as many of them as we can.  Send any information on missing classmates to the Webmaster, especially those we were unable to locate for our 20th Reunion.

5.) Check the 'Calendar' page for opportunities to get together before our 40th Class Reunion.  Our next opportunity will be Saturday, October 26, 2002 , 7:00 pm, at the El Matador Restaurant (See 'Calendar' page for directions). Please RSVP.

6.) The THS66 Web Page is for all of our class to share memories, links, and photos (old and new) . Photos should be in .jpg format, if possible, to post on the web page.  Send them to the Webmaster. 

February 25, 2002

Tucker Day has been moved back to May.  This year it will be on Saturday May 11th, 2002.  

February, 2002

1996 THS graduate Patrick Pass was a member of the New England Patriots Super Bowl Champions, February, 2002.   Partrick was the second THS graduate to play in a Super Bowl. Do you know who the other was? (Answer at bottom of page.)  

January, 2002 

Putting together a class reunion is a huge task. Hats off to all those who helped plan and organize our 20th Class reunion. It was great! I would like to help work towards our 40th Class Reunion by gathering the current addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all our 1966 Classmates. 

The preliminary plan is as follows:

1.  Obtain as many current mailing addresses, home phone numbers and e-mail addresses from known classmates and begin compiling an updated database.  Starting now will allow this task to be completed at a leisure pace.

2.  Publish phone numbers and e-mail addresses on the web page.

3.  E-mail everyone on the web page and solicit additional classmate names who aren't on our list.  We will do several iterations of this over the next three years  (we will also note anyone who does not have an e-mail so we don't miss them).

4.  Poll everyone and see if there is enough interest, volunteers, and commitment to having a 40th Class Reunion  ( date to be determined).

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Ans.  The other Super Bowl participant was John McMakin, THS 1968. He played for the Pittsburg Steelers the first time they went to the Suprer Bowl.

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