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Yale Field Farewell Haines City High School graduates are making final plans for the last official event on Yale Field. On Saturday, September 22, 2007, all those who have played, marched, cheered or watched from the stands of our beloved Yale Field will gather for one last time to say good-bye in style. The event begins at 10:00 a.m. and will last until the last player leaves the field. Haines City Parks and Recreation Department will soon be breaking ground on this site for a new multi-million dollar park. The celebration will begin at 10:00 when Sean Harlan, HCHS Band Director, leads the current Haines City Marching Band who will be decked out in their full band uniforms for one last performance on Yale Field. Any former band member who would like to join the band in playing the Haines city High School Alma Mater and "Hail Haines City High School" with the band is asked to contact Sean at sean.harlan@polk-fl.net. Pre-Game Reunion, Friday September 21, 2007 There will be a Reunion before the Yale Field Final Game for all classes at the GIFT MILL in the Private Dining Area in the WayBack Room on Friday, September 21st from 7-9 pm. Dinner will be "Dutch Treat" from the menu. Call 863-439-7777 for reservations. Directions and more information about the GIFT MILL are available on the Local Info page under Restaurants or just click HERE. Post-Game Reunion, Saturday September 22, 2007 Post Reunion News March 11, 2007 All School, All Year Reunion You know how people always say "we couldn’t have done it without you" and it always sounds so trite? Well, that’s what we’re struggling with here. Honestly, we could NOT have done it without you and we want to give a BIG “Thank You” to all of those who helped make this Reunion a success. And, we mean it from the bottom of our hearts. Barbara Peck and Kelly Callihan of Haines City Parks and Recreation Department were instrumental in planning the softball game and street dance. The week before March 10th, Haines City was buzzing in anticipation of the coming events as Reunion attendees streamed into town. On Friday evening, there were many Pre-Reunion parties around town to help get the festivities kicked off. Saturday morning on Yale Field the atmosphere was definitely jovial, as old friends shared smiles of recognition, handshakes and updates on their lives. While some former students live nearby, others traveled from across the state and the nation to catch up and reminisce with schoolmates. We don’t have an estimate of how many people actually attended the first ever all school, all class Reunion, because people came and went all day. But Yale Field was definitely FULL - all day long. If we heard “This is great…I hope we do it again,” once, we heard it a million times. Everybody was grinning from ear to ear and having a GREAT time. Being on our old football field and playing softball on the old baseball diamond was like being in a time capsule . . . suddenly, we were all 18 years old again in our hearts. The softball game was definitely a big hit. The even class years played the odd class years. Dean Barnett began organizing the teams as the players “warmed-up” around 11:30 AM. This was a special game played by “senior rules” with participants from the classes of 1946 to 2000. The game started about 12:30 PM and was to conclude after two and a half hours of play. Believe it or not, they played 2.5 hours which was 7 innings and the score ended up in a tie. Each team scored 16 runs! Check out the Reunion photos on the Photo Albums page of the Reunion Website. Bet there’s somebody you know there. We especially want to thank everyone who donated money to cover the cost of the Reunion. In the donation canisters, we collected $1,049. So after covering our expenses, there was $145 remaining which will go to the next all class Reunion in 2010 and the new HCHS Alumni Association which is being formed. By the way, the next meeting of the group forming the HCHS Alumni Association is on Monday, March 26th (6:00 PM to 7:00 PM) at the Gift Mill Grill in Lake Hamilton. (The Gift Mill is located 1 mile North of the Hwy 542 Dundee Traffic Light; 3 miles South of Hwy 544. It is the big yellow building on the West side of Hwy 27.) If desired, you can order dinner when you arrive and eat during the meeting. In forming the Alumni Association, people are needed to help form the organization and who are willing to work in creating a budget, creating bylaws, designing a website, forming a Board of Directors, etc. If you have any questions concerning the formation of the Alumni Association, contact Sharon (Cook) Gardner. This group plans to sponsor the next all class Reunion in 2010, so come join the fun! It was GREAT seeing everyone. Thanks again for making this Reunion a HUGE success. Judy Gamper Send questions or comments about this web site to webmaster  Dawn Anderson Miquel
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Saturday, March 10, 2007
Lake Eva Park
Haines City
FL