The Burlingame Alumni Association hosted a weekend-long centennial celebration in honor of Burlingame’s 100th birthday, with various activities held from Oct. 12 to 14. Both recent alumni and graduates from as far back as the 1940s gathered to celebrate.  

“We’ve been planning for probably about five years, but really the last two years it’s been every week meetings,” said Melody White Ackley, a member of the Burlingame Alumni Association.  “A lot of friends called their friends up that they hadn’t heard of in years and they said, Oh, you know what’s happening, and you have people from all over the place here.”

The celebration began Friday morning with a golf tournament at Crystal Springs Golf Course, followed that evening with the Panthers’ varsity football game against Wilcox High School. After the game, alumni celebrated at a block party on Lorton Avenue. 

“It’s exciting for people that come back, maybe we see people from 20 years ago, or people from 15 years ago, and it’s just nice to see that people still think Burlingame is a special place,” Brian Ackley said.

The celebration culminated on Saturday with a ceremony, car show, band performance and student-led tours hosted at the front of school. Multiple speakers, including former Bay Area news anchor Diane Dwyer and President of the Alumni Association Rusty Knudsen, also reminisced about their times as Burlingame students. Dwyer shared the memory of meeting her future husband at Burlingame, while Knudsen thanked the people who made the event possible. The opening ceremony concluded with a “go Panthers” cheer before the crowd dispersed to go enjoy the festivities. 

“I loved during the ceremony seeing all the folks from the 1940s and 50s here as well as catching up with old friends,” Diane Dwyer said.

After the opening ceremony, alumni had a variety of afternoon activities to choose from. Inside the school, alumni could receive tours or watch a preview of the fall play “The Iliad, the Odyssey and All of Greek Mythology in 99 Minutes Or Less.”  School clubs and classes also used this opportunity to fundraise and show them their recent work. After exploring the school, alumni wandered over to Washington Park, which offered games like cornhole as well as food and drinks from Frank’s barbeque.

However, some alumni opted out of those activities, and reconnected in the school’s front with old friends. 

“I love Burlingame. I moved away to the East Coast several times. I’ve always come back. This is my home. This is where longtime friends are,” said Phil Caufield. 

John Dwyer, class of 1980, sent six of his own children to Burlingame, and still lives in the Burlingame area. Dwyer believes Burlingame has helped shape who he is and was grateful to celebrate those memories at the centennial. 

“I just think it’s great to get back and see people you haven’t seen for a long time and catch up and find out what’s going on in their lives.” Dwyer said.