If you spot incorrect or missing information, please contact us at webmaster@silvertips.org so we can correct it.
GOTB 2020
Updated 01/01/20
Posted 01/01/20 Efforts are now underway to put together a 2020 Gathering Of The Bears; our last GOTB was in 2017. It will most likely come together in the spring with a luncheon on a Saturday afternoon. More details will become available as they are finalized. In the mean time, talk it up among your classmates and if you want to attend, make up your mind now to be there.
GOTB 2017
Updated 01/06/17
Posted 01/06/17 The tickets for the 2017 Gathering Of The Bears are now on sale. You can order them by clicking on this TICKET ORDER FORM, downloading the form, filling it out, attaching a check for the ticket, and mailing it to the address on the order form. Silvertips Alumni Network, P.O. Box 21171 Bakersfield, CA 93390
Posted 05/07/16 The 2017 Gathering Of The Bears will take place on Saturday, May 6, 2017 in Bakersfield, CA. Be sure to save the date and plan now to order tickets when they first go on sale in early 2017 . Next year's event will be in a new smaller venue with a limited amount of seating. If you wait until the last minute, there won't be any tickets to be had. In the past we could seat 500; this year it will be limited to 150 seats.
GOTB 2015
Posted 05/10/15: The latest Gathering of the Bears is now history. We want to thank the more than 225 of you who attended. We also want to thank our sponsors, our dedicated year-round volunteers, and all those volunteers who show up on the 'day of' and make this kind of an event possible; we couldn't do it without you. Congratulations to our Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Dr. James 'Fizzer' Young (AHS '56), Larry Hallum (AHS '61), Jim Slater (AHS '63), Linda 'Smotherman' Carlisle (AHS '63), James Kennedy (AHS '64), Billy Satterfield (AHS '65), Don Kennedy (AHS '67), and Junior Kennedy (AHS '68).
Posted 05/03/15: The last batch of tickets for the 2015 Gathering of the Bears went out in yesterday's mail. Thank you to everyone who ordered tickets and will be in attendance next Saturday at Shriner's Noble Park. We look forward to another great time of reunion with classmates, teachers, and AHS community members.
Posted 03/01/15: The 2015 Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients are James 'Fizzer' Young (AHS '56), Larry Hallum (AHS '61), Linda 'Smotherman' Carlisle (AHS '63), Dallas Grider (AHS '63), James Slater (AHS '63), James Kennedy (AHS '64), Billy Satterfield (AHS '65), Don Kennedy (AHS '67), and Junior Kennedy (AHS '68). Congratulations to all of this year's recipients. They will receive plaques recognizing their lifetime achievements at the 2015 GOTB on Saturday, May 9, 2015. If you wish to attend the dinner and awards ceremony, order tickets here.
Posted 01/24/15: Tickets are now on sale for those of you who have been clever enough to show up here for our 'soft opening' a week in advance of what we tell the folks who only look at Facebook and rarely come to this web site. This gives us a week to see if all the links work and people can find their way to the Ticket Order Form above. It also let's us know if we need to tweak the Ticket Order Form in some way to make it more understandable. Here's the basic information as of today.
The 2015 Gathering of the Bears, sponsored by the
SilverTips Alumni Network will take place at Shriner's Park, 700 'P'
Street, Bakersfield, CA, on Saturday, May 9, 2015. Tickets can
be ordered by mail by opening the
Ticket Order Form
above, filling it out, writing a check, and mailing both of them to
the address on the Ticket
Order Form. Tickets will be returned by mail. The
gates open at 5pm to a no-host happy hour; alcoholic beverages are
by donation as always and if you plan to drink make plans to have a
designated driver.
A dinner of Tri-Tip, red beans, green beans, tossed salad, bread
rolls, desserts, and soft drinks will be served at approximately
6pm. At approximately 7PM we'll begin handing out lifetime
achievement awards, door prizes, and making other drawings.
All times are approximate and you should come in a mellow state of
mind to go with the flow and enjoy the evening. This event has
always been much more about seeing old friends and making new
friends than it is about food, drink, door prizes, or recognition.
As always, our advice is bring lawns chairs. It will be hard
on your old bones to sit for four hours on park bench style seating.
This will also allow you to get away from the little cluster at any
single table and visit with other alumni. People do not
need to be an AHS alumnus to attend; they do need to buy a
ticket, so if you have friends or relatives (or relatives who are
friends) you want to bring, you must purchase them a ticket in
advance...NO TICKETS at the door, so download the
Ticket Order Form and
get your order in the mail ASAP.
If you or your
business would like to act as an event sponsor, you can leave a
message at 661-374-BEAR (2327) or shoot us an email at
webmaster@silvertips.org to get involved on a financial
basis. As usual, any proceeds from this event go to
sponsor our annual scholarship and other worthwhile programs at
Arvin High School or in the local community. This is a
great evening and you'll see Arvin High School Alumni from all
across the years. Plan now to be a part of making this
event another huge success...
Posted 01/03/15: The biennial Gathering of the Bears is set once again for the Saturday before Mother's Day on May 9, 2015. We'll be gathering at Noble Park, home of the Kern County Shrine Club, on 'P' Street just North of the Kern County Fair Grounds. Makes plans now to attend and take part in this opportunity to gather with Arvin High School classmates from many years. We'll be posting other pertinent information later this month, but for now be sure to save the date.
Posted 10/30/14: Our first planning meeting will be on Tuesday, November 11, 2015, at 6:30 p.m., at Cataldo's Pizza on Niles. This is in the FoodMaxx Shopping Center. I'll provide Pizza and 'beverages'. We're looking for people who want to work to make this another huge success. If you're a talker and not a worker, we don't need you! You don't have to have any special skills, just a willingness to help. If you do have special skills, that's all the better.
If you need other details, or have questions you can email me at farrellneeley@aol.com or you can leave a message at 661-374-BEAR
Posted 06/17/14: Once again in May of 2015, we'll be returning to Noble Park of the Kern County Shriner's Club, for our 3rd Gathering Of The Bears. The date will be Saturday, May 9, 2015. As in the past, this is the Saturday before Mother's Day. We'll be looking for great weather and a fun-filled evening with food, laughter, music, awards, and the chance to renew old acquaintances, and make new friends
Posted 05/25/14: 2014 Scholarship Recipients: This year's SilverTips Alumni Network scholarships for $1,000 each were awarded on Thursday night, May 22, 2014, to Seniors Liliana Calderon and Denise Alvarez.
Liliana
comes
from
an
Arvin
family
with
five
girls
and
one
boy,
where
she
is
the
second
eldest
child.
Liliana's
father
is a
truck
driver
for
Agrimix
and
her
mother
is a
packer
for
Grimmway
farms.
Liliana
has
a
3.9
GPA
and
is
ranked
10th
in
her
graduating
class.
Liliana
wants
to
study
biochemistry
at CSUB,
with
a
long
term
goal
of
becoming
a
nutritionist.
Liliana
received
the
scholarship
memorializing
Vietnam
War
Veterans
Alvin
Bozarth
(AHS
'65),
Kenneth
Johnson
(AHS
'66),
Jimmy
Montana
(AHS
'67)
and,
Ronald
Youngblood
(AHS
65).
All
four
of
these
young
men
were
Killed
In
Action
in
Vietnam.
Denise
comes
from
an
Arvin
family
with
three
girls
and
one
boy.
Her
father
is a
farm
worker
and
her
mother
is a
stay
at
home
mom.
Denise
has
an
older
sister
who
is
already
attending
college,
so
the
financial
pressure
on
her
family
will
only
grow
more
fierce
this
Fall.
Denise
has
a
3.8
GPA
and
is
ranked
13th
in
her
graduating
class.
Denise
wants
to
study
business
while
taking
a
minor
in
music.
Her
life
goal
is
to
own
her
own
recording
company
and
to
be
able
to
record
her
own
music
as
well.
Denise
received
the
scholarship
memorializing
Kimberly
Reed
(AHS
'82)
who
died
this
past
year,
after
being
in
poor
health
for
many
years.
We
expect
to
hear
great
things
out
of
both
of
these
young
ladies,
a
few
years
down
the
road.
Posted 02/03/14: Each year the SilverTips Alumni Network gives out a scholarship to a new graduate and we select Arvin High School Alumni and/or community members who have made a significant impact with their lives, and brought positive recognition to their alma mater. This year we will be giving out a scholarship again and we will be looking to honor some folks with a Lifetime Achievement Award. In the years when we have a Gathering Of The Bears, we've tried to select recipients who live close enough to be able to attend with their friends and family. In years like this one, where we have no formal gathering, we've tried to select recipients who live in other states or countries and wouldn't likely miss out on the dinner anyway. Your part in these two efforts would be to donate money to our scholarship fund and/or to nominate some old Bear or Bears for their lifetime achievements. We'll be focusing on Bears (from out of the area) who are from classes from 1957-1960 or thereabouts. To donate or nominate, you can send donations to SilverTips Alumni Network, P.O. Box 21171, Bakersfield, CA 93390-1711, and you can send nominations to webmaster@silvertips.org. We appreciate your involvement in these two great efforts.
Posted 01/21/14: Our next Gathering Of The Bears is set for Bakersfield, California on Saturday, May 9, 2015. Until then you can stay up with the smaller 'Gatherings' of Bears that go on all the time on Facebook or go on in the real world and get chatted up on Facebook.
Posted 08/27/13: Just a reminder that we'll be offering an opportunity to Gather with fellow Arvin High School alumni on Sunday, October 13, 2013. We'll be doing two things that day that might interest you. First, we'll be having breakfast at the Black Bear Diner on California Avenue, in Bakersfield around 7:30 a.m. Second, after breakfast, those that want to are going to car pool to the Rose Bowl Flea Market in Pasadena, CA. For more details, send your questions to webmaster@silvertips.org and we'll get back to you. For details on the Rose Bowl Flea Market, follow this blue hyperlink.
Posted 06/01/13: Our next Gathering Of The Bears is set for Bakersfield, California on Saturday, May 9, 2015. Until then you can stay up with the smaller 'Gatherings' of Bears that go on all the time on Facebook or go on in the real world and get chatted up on Facebook. In addition to multiple class sites and multiple alumni sites on Facebook, there is also a page devoted entirely to Gathering Of The Bears. Be sure to 'like' us the next time you're signed on.
Posted 05/14/13: Recap Of This Years GOTB: Approximately 200 old Bears were on hand for this year's Gathering Of The Bears. They enjoyed a wonderful evening filled with music, friends, food, drink, laughter, gifts, and awards. James C. Williams (AHS '72), SilverTips President served as Emcee for the evening. Lifetime Achievement Awards went to Houston Townsend (AHS '52), Bill Atchley (AHS '54), Charles Toy (AHS '54), Calvin Meek (AHS '55), Clara 'Petty' Meek (AHS '55), Gary Sedam (Faculty), Rosalie Abacherli (Faculty), and a $1,000 scholarship was given in memory of the late Herbert 'Dean' Perry (AHS '65) to Marisa Rodriquez (AHS '13). Marisa, her parents, and her two siblings were on hand to enjoy the evening and thank the crowd.
Posted 04/18/13
Scholarship Memorial: Each year the
SilverTips give a scholarship to a graduating Arvin High School
student in memory of an alumnus of Arvin High School. In 2011 we
honored the memory of Jock Nicodemus (AHS '71) and in 2012 we
honored the memory of Robin 'Cantrell' Walden (AHS '71) in this
fashion.
We're pleased to announce that this year's SilverTips Alumni
Network scholarship for $1,000, will be presented in memory of
Herbert 'Dean' Perry (AHS '65). I'm sure many of you knew Dean
and we hope you'll attend the Gathering Of The Bears on May 11th
to join us in remembering him.
Posted 04/15/13 President's Award Recipient: The 2013 SilverTips Alumni Network President's Award recipient is Mr. Gary Sedam. Gary was a teacher and coach at Arvin High School in the late '60s and into the '70s. He was the AHS junior varsity Head Football coach and the AHS men's varsity Basketball Coach. Gary and his family will be with us on Saturday, May 11, 2013, for the Gathering Of The Bears. Gary will be honored that night along with our Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. Be sure to make plans now to be present if you want to get to see and talk to some of the old coaches and teachers who are sure to be in the crowd.
Posted 03/30/13 SilverTips Alumni Network Lifetime Achievement Award Recipients: Our selection committee met earlier today for almost an hour and a half to go over the list of this year's nominees. We've had a good response of nominations in recent weeks and in the preliminary going there were 25 alumni under consideration for this year's recognition. In the past two years, we've recognized two individuals per year. We have more than doubled the number of honorees this year by expanding the list of honorees from 2 to 5. Still, the challenge for the selection committee was to pare the initial list of 25 down to a more manageable size. Sadly, some of that was accomplished for them. After the initial read-through of the nominees, various members of the committee noted that 3 of the nominees were already deceased. The SilverTips have historically chosen to honor deceased classmates through our annual scholarship program. Consequently, the names of those three deceased alumni will be transferred onto the SilverTips Alumni Scholarship list for future consideration.
That left 22 names of alumni, ranging from members of the Class of 1952 through the Class of 1978, a span of 26 years and with members ranging in age from 79 years to 53 years. A big part of how the committee filtered this 'large' distinguished group was by age. Each committee member is painfully aware of the passing years, and along with the passing years the passing of many alumni from some of the earliest Arvin High School classes. So, despite the fact that all of the nominees have distinguished themselves, and will remain on the ballot for future annual consideration, there is a clear bias here toward selection of members of the earliest graduating classes. The committee offers no apology for that approach. Truthfully, there would have been more from those first four classes, but as we noted earlier, we learned that some under consideration were already deceased. So, if you nominated one of the other alumni who were not selected this year, you can take solace in the fact that their names remain on the nominations list and will continue to be considered each year.
Without a lot of further fanfare, this year's honorees will be: Houston Townsend (AHS '52), Bill Atchley (AHS '54), Charles Toy (AHS '54), and Calvin Meek (AHS '55). These alumni will be joined by a long-time faculty member who, while not an Arvin High School Alumna, was certainly a fixture at Arvin High School during 4 different decades, Rosalie Abacherli. As we've previously noted, former Arvin High School teacher and coach, Gary Sedam, will receive our 'President's Award'. The selection committee will be contacting each of these honorees over the next few days to determine if they are able to attend. In the meantime, feel free to congratulate them and share this news with other alumni who might be interested in coming to see these people being honored. We have a little over 40 days until the 2013 rendition of The Gathering Of The Bears, on Saturday, May 11, 2013. Now's the time to begin to talk it The Gathering up, purchase your tickets, and encourage your friends and family to attend. As usual, all of the proceeds go to fund the local programs in the Arvin-Lamont area, currently being supported by the SilverTips Alumni Network.
Posted 03/05/13 Lifetime Achievement Recognition: We're still receiving nominations for this year's Lifetime Achievement Awards. SilverTips Alumni Network recognizes AHS alumni and AHS community members each year, either at our Biennial dinner or through our web site and the local newspapers. If you'd like to nominate someone for consideration, drop us a line at webmaster@silvertips.org with the person's name, class year, details about their life, and why you think they should receive special recognition. Currently we're focusing on graduating classes from '52 through '59, in an effort to provide recognition while the recipients are still around to enjoy it. You do not have to be a SilverTips member to nominate and there's no cost to you. So, think about those Bears you know in their late 60s and beyond who may have been overlooked in the past, and submit their name today.
Posted 02/05/13 Lifetime Achievement Award Nominations: Once again this year we'll be selecting a number of recipients for recognition of their lifetime achievements at the Gathering of the Bears. If you have someone you'd like to nominate, you can mail their name, their connection to Arvin High School or the Arvin High School Community, a brief biography, and why YOU think they should be honored to: SilverTips Alumni Network, Post Office Box 21171, Bakersfield, CA 93390 (write it on the back of your ticket order form). You could also email us the same information at webmaster@silvertips.org. We'll be making decisions and announcing this year's honorees after our meeting in March, so there's still plenty of time to get your nomination in.
Posted 01/30/13: Gathering Of The Bears 2013 Ticket Order Form
Posted January 27, 2013: The tickets for this event will be available to order on January 30, 2013. The order form will be posted here, the Gathering of the Bears website, and on Facebook. Be sure to let other classmates know and be sure to let AHS alumni who are veterans know we'll be honoring them that evening. It will be a wonderful time and the proceeds to go to a very worthy causes benefitting Arvin High School and the surrounding communities.
Posted December
16, 2012: We had 'the
usual suspects' show up to help with the planning of our
Gathering of The Bears. An as usual, the one things we
could always use more of is volunteers. So, if you wanted
to help and couldn't make the meeting the other night, there's
still plenty of opportunity to help out. We'll be meeting
again in January for follow-up on the tasks we have to take care
of immediately and to see what else needs to be done over the
coming months. We'll post the date and time of that
meeting here and on Facebook as soon as we firm it up.
Were setting this us at Noble Park (Kern County Shriner's
Club) on 'P' Street. We've settled once again on a Tri-Tip
dinner with all the trimmings; the price will be $12 per person.
Again, there will be a short program 1) honoring our
Lifetime Achievement Award
winners, 2) naming our Annual
Scholarship Winner for 2013, and 3) a special
Tribute to our Vietnam Veterans.
As it was in 2011, the major 'entertainment' will be you
visiting and getting reacquainted with other Old Bears.
What can you do to help out immediately? 1) Save the date;
2) tell other classmates and community members and convince them
to attend; 3) post the information in all your social media
outlets; and 4) drop us an email at
webmaster@silvertips.org if you can help out the day of,
even if it's only for one hour. This event only rolls
around one time every two years. We'll do all we can to
advertise and make it a memorable evening, but we
need your help to spread the word.
If you or your
business would like to act as an event sponsor, you can contact
us at 661-374-BEAR (2327) or shoot us an email at
webmaster@silvertips.org to get involved on a financial
basis. As usual, the proceeds from this event go to
sponsor our annual scholarship and other worthwhile programs at
Arvin High School or in the local community. This is a
great evening and you'll see Arvin High School Alumni from all
across the years. Plan now to be a part of making this
event another huge success...
Posted November 27, 2012: We'll be having our first GOTB 2013 planning session on Friday, December 14, 2012 at the home of our President, James 'Weasel' Williams (AHS '72). James and his wife Teri will be hosting. There will be food and beverages to enjoy while we plan. If you want to get involved (and many of you say you do) in helping stage this biennial Gathering (May of 2013), we need to see you there. To host a larger Gathering, we need more help each time. At this meeting, we'll be discussing the menu, the ticket pricing, honors, awards, and the evening's other events. Our last GOTB drew in nearly 300 Bears from around the country. We expect this one to be both bigger and better. For more information or to RSVP (so we can have plenty of food and drinks on hand), email webmaster@silvertips.org
Posted August 15, 2012: Kern County Shrine Club, 700 South 'P' Street, Bakersfield, CA, Saturday, May 11, 2013; gates open at 5p. Save The Date and tell all your friends so they can plan to be there.