Reunion attendance up

The annual Rattler Reunion over the weekend saw a healthy increase in alumni attendance over the previous year, undoubtedly to the appreciation of the Tucumcari restaurants and motels that hosted those attendees.

Kathy Segura, a member of the Tucumcari Alumni Association's board of directors, didn't have a final count of people who attended the banquet Saturday night at the Tucumcari Convention Center because a few walk-ins still were arriving. But she said she was pleased with attendance, regardless. She said a total of 310 had registered for the event - an increase of 75 people over the previous year.

Segura said she noticed the overall boost in numbers during Friday night's barbecue, which hosted 264 people.

"We were full," she said. "It was nice. It's been an awesome time."

Noticeably more cars packed the parking lots of restaurants and motels Friday and Saturday, especially on Tucumcari's Route 66 corridor. The Rattler Reunion receives support from the city's Lodgers Tax Advisory Board because of its ability to put "heads in beds" of lodging establishments.

Vehicles and people also lined Route 66 on Saturday morning to watch the Rattler Reunion parade. Children dashed to the sides of the road to pick up pieces of candy tossed from parade entries. A few adults along the sidewalk dodged the occasional water balloon chucked by alumni friends.

Per tradition, the Tucumcari High School class marking its 30th anniversary was put in charge of hosting the banquet Saturday night at the convention center. This year, that was the Class of 1989.

Donna Garcia, chairwoman of the Class of '89, said hosting the Rattler Reunion was "chaotic but great" - especially with seeing about 40 classmates again.

"When we come together, it's like it's 1989 all over again," she said. "We don't skip a beat with one another. We've always kept in touch, and we've all remained good friends.

"My mother was a graduate of '58; my sister, '89; my other sister, '93, and I'm '89. We've always come to Rattler Reunion. It's a staple. You know the first weekend in August, you come home."

A few Tucumcari classes - especially the Class of '69 marking its 50th anniversary - saw robust attendance. The numbers were more meager for recent classes. That included 2009, of which Rebecca Lopez, now a registered nurse in Amarillo, is a member. This was her first Rattler Reunion.

"I feel really young," she said as she looked around the room, laughing. "But it was nice to see everybody," noting she'd seen about 15 classmates.

One lucky member of the Class of '69 was Shirley Stallcup Hughes of Kerrville, Texas, who won a framed print of the Gary Morton painting "Peace in the Valley" during one of Saturday night's raffles.

"I've been here (for Rattler Reunion) for the 20th, 30th, 40th and this year," she said as local band Limited Edition began to perform for the event-ending dance. "I grew up here, and my mom still lives here. I've had so much fun. And I came 547 miles to get here."

Two moments received the loudest applause during Saturday night's banquet. One was Judy O'Rear Harvel's singing of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the beginning of the program.

A member of Tucumcari's Class of 1989, she appreciated but shrugged off the complements, noting she teaches choir at the Bushland school district in Texas.

"I sing all the time," she said.

The second big ovation occurred when four members of Tucumcari High School's cheerleading squad performed a dance routine to "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," a big hit in 1987 for Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes from the "Dirty Dancing" movie soundtrack.

Guest speaker Don Bullis, a historian and author of nearly a dozen books, provided snippets of Quay County trivia, including that Tucumcari once was named Liberty, Douglas, Ragtown and Six Shooter Siding. Also, the county was named after U.S. Sen. Matthew Quay (R-Pa.) because he was an early advocate of New Mexico statehood. It turns out, Bullis said, Quay wasn't interested in New Mexico as much as he wanted to help a friend launch a railroad in that state. Quay's buddy, however, went broke before New Mexico attained statehood.

Venders hawking photographs and souvenirs dotted the convention center's main hallway. A new twist was Al Patel's table, where he was raising money to find a low-maintenance solution to refurbish the faded big "T" on Tucumcari Mountain. The high school's senior class had repainted the letter annually since at least the early 1940s until the mesa's new owner tightened access two years ago.

Rattler Reunion speakers endorsed Patel's fundraiser at least twice Saturday. On Sunday, Patel reported Sunday he'd received $500 in pledges and $150 in cash donations from reunion attendees.

That brings the total money raised to $6,150 since he began the Tucumcari Mountain "T" project in June.

He anticipates giving a more comprehensive report on the revitalization project during the Lodgers Tax Advisory Board meeting in early September. It's anticipated the board will match Patel's gathered donations dollar-for-dollar sometime early next year.

"It's all coming together," Patel said of the project.