Campolindo High School Alumni Announce Our 55th Year Reunion for the Class of 1971!

To celebrate we are having our 55th Class Reunion on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at the Berkeley Yacht Club from 4:30 to 9:30 pm. 

Come mingle with music, martinis, and memories. Bring a partner, bring a date. We’ll have a full “no-host” bar, 70’s hit songs playing in the background, an amazing view of the Bay, and delicious catered food. 

We want to reach as many alums as possible, so please tell a classmate to come and enjoy! If you are aware of a fellow Cougar that’s not with us any longer, please let us know so we can honor their memory and the time we spent with them at Campo.

Save the Date!

When: Thursday August 6, 2026 - 4PM to 9:30PM

Where: Berkeley Yacht Club, 1 Seawall Drive, Berkeley, CA 94710

Cost:  $100 per attendee. $175 for two. (Drinks not included)

RSVP and payment information to follow.

Go Cougars!

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The Class of 1971 Was Exceptional

Ahead of Their Time: The class of 1971 had many outstanding and ground-breaking accomplishments during their time at Campolindo:

*  They invented Smog Free Locomotion Day where everyone either rode their bike to school or rode the bus. There were only a couple of cars in the parking lot that day and the local news stations picked up the story and President Nixon recognized the event by sending the school a plaque.

* They formed the Earth Club, which started a recycling center (something no one had heard of at the time), built an electric car (also a first for a high school), and helped clean up an oil spill and rescue birds in the San Francisco Bay.

Electric Ahead of their Times

https://www.lamorindaweekly.com/archive/issue0613/Electric-Ahead-of-their-Time-Campo-Alums-Remember-1970-Cross-Country-EV-Race.html

Notable Bands Who Played at Campolindo

A lot of now famous bands played at Campolindo in the 70’s including:

* The Grateful Dead

* The Steve Miller Band

* Tower of Power

* Santana Blues Band

* Joy of Cooking

* It’s a Beautiful Day

* We would appreciate alums sending us any media or posters about these events.

Sports

* The 1971 basketball team had a 16-0 league record beating their opponents by an average of 20 points per game. Their overall record was 22-2 and they ended the year ranked the number 2 team in the Bay Area.

* Post High School Sports Stars:

* Three members of the class went on to become All-Americans in high school.

* Tom Hale was the fastest freshman in the nation in cross country. After graduation he ran for the University of Oregon. Tom still holds the cross-country and 2-mile records at Campolindo 51 years later.

* Tom Belfanti led the water polo team to the NorCal title and was named the most valuable player in the NCI in his senior year. After high school, Tom became an All American at Cal in water polo. While he was at Cal his team won the NCAA championships 3 straight years, in 1973, 1974, 1975. Tom was selected to the US Olympic team in 1980. Unfortunately, that was the year the US boycotted the Olympics held in Russia due to the Russian invasion of Afghanistan.

* Steve Jackson dove for UC Davis and won the Division II National Diving Championship for the 1-meter board in 1973 and the National Diving Championship for the 3-meter board in 1974.

* Rich Gunther still holds the Campolindo record for the discus. After graduation he went to UCLA and was a member of their track and football teams.

Successful Entrepreneurs and Professionals

* In 1979, Tom Hale started Backroads, which has become the world’s largest active travel company that now offers 427 different biking, hiking, and multi-sport trips to 64 different countries. In 2022, he expects 55,000 guests take one of his trips.

* Rick Holiday is an innovative social entrepreneur, and a pioneer in affordable housing construction. His current venture is Factory OS which builds prefab affordable multi-family housing in a huge warehouse at Mare Island Shipyard.

* Patrick Gardner was a distinguished Professor of Music at Rutgers University. Pat’s performances have been acclaimed by New York audiences, critics, and an international roster of composers whose orchestral and choral works he has conducted. Pat unfortunately missed the class reunion because he was conducting a concert at the Vatican. Seriously.

* There are many other class members who have gone on to become successful entrepreneurs, executives, environmental advocates, veterinarians, lawyers, doctors, nurses, accountants, teachers, musicians, and authors. 

We imagine all these class members would credit their success to the education,inspiration, and opportunities they had by attending Campolindo High School.