Being able to connect to the cyberworld from her thatched-roof residence is still considered a luxury where she lives. But last year McDown managed to get an Internet connection installed in her home.

One day while surfing the net, McDown stumbled on classmates.com, an alumni portal that linked to her alma mater Lynbrook High School's alumni page.

"People from various graduating classes were talking about holding reunions. Somebody mentioned holding a reunion for a bunch of classes.

And that's where it all began," recalls McDown.

McDown had left Cupertino as a teenager. She'd graduated from Lynbrook and had never had a chance to return. She married, became a mother and found a soul-satisfying job halfway across the world in Far East Asia. But now, 26 years later, McDown was finally coming back home for a mega high-school reunion.

Photograph by Douglas Zimmerman Judy Brunett Butler, Class of 1977, whoops it up with Biff Tauzer at the mega reunion ball Aug. 9.

"Brian Stuckey was one of the initial energizers of the event and got this whole thing moving. And then several of us pitched in, taking care of various aspects of putting together such a huge event...With all the budget cuts, we felt this would be a good way and the right time to raise some money and give back to our school," says Trish Kane, Class of '74.

Word soon spread and emails began to fly. A cool reunion website popped up that made planning and coordinating much easier. So while the Silicon Valley team was busy with the logistics of the event, McDown was responsible for reaching out from her remote location to as many students as possible. "I probably sent out emails to as many as 1500-2000 people. These were long emails that would fly back and forth. In the process I made friends with people I'd never seen or known before during my high-school days," she adds with a laugh.

Finally on Aug. 8, the much-anticipated reunion bash kicked off to a roaring start with a golf tournament and a motorbike ride, organized as part of the fundraising efforts. The golf event was sponsored partly by Ford and Cisco and held at the Los Lagos Golf Course in San Jose.

"Many of us, including me, don't play golf. So we decided to do something we all enjoy and organized the bike ride," says Sampson Wolfe, coordinator of the bike event. Close to 50 alumni—some of the men still sporting a throwback image of the '70s hippies style with long hair, drooping long moustaches that seem to disappear beyond their chins and of course the must-have leather pants—gathered outside at the school parking lot around noon.

With their Harleys and Hondas on display, the reunion's first official trip down memory lane had begun. While most riders were from around the Bay Area, a few had traveled by motorcycle all the way from Oregon, Washington and Colorado.

Photograph by Douglas Zimmerman Linda Fuqua Lanzze, Class of 1968, dances with Michael Callahan to the tunes of the Joe Shirino Band at the ball.

Today Saba continues his passion for motors. He works as a classic-car broker in Denver.

Around 12:30, the bikers began their ride. Thirty-nine bikes varoomed to a deafening start as they pulled out of the school campus one after another and headed toward the Santa Cruz Mountains. The group returned for an evening of barbecue at Calabazas Park, their popular haunt as school kids.

Aug. 9 was party day. The reunion gala was at the Santa Clara Convention Center. Almost 1,500 former students from various parts of the country and the world had flown in for the event. "People came from as far as England, Tokyo, Paris, Germany and Thailand, specifically for the event," says Rick Figueroa, Class of '73 ƒand a member of the event's steering committee.

Wes Weiner, Class of '71, is now a colonel in the U.S. Army. He is the Director of Public Affairs and stationed at the United States European Command at Stuttgart, Germany.

"I was here on an official visit to Washington, D.C., and decided to fly down for the reunion," says Weiner. "I wore my mess uniform, which is the army equivalent to a tuxedo, to the gala. So many people I did not know came up to me and said thank you for your work and for protecting our country. It felt really good. I also met one of my closest friends whom I had not seen since leaving school."

Photograph by Dustin Cohen Pat Webber, Class of 1971, jams with some old friends during the mega reunion picnic Aug. 10.

"Edith Magurkurth was the dean of girls back in the '70s. She was the enforcer. She'd make sure that our skirts were below the knee or suspend us if we missed our first period class," recalls Terri Lawless Figueroa with a laugh. "But looking back now, I realize that she was just doing her job. Now that I have kids myself, I wish they still had deans like Edith who'd put the fear of God in these children," she says.

One of the special guests for the night was Lynbrook's first principal, Ken Stanger. Stanger, who's now 83 years old, served as the head of the high school from 1965 to 1977. "Lynbrook was started at a very interesting time in American history. This was the period of the free speech movement, women's equality, the Vietnam War. A lot of things were happening then. The whole concept of administration also changed radically from individual decision making to the need for a more consensus approach."

Lynbrook at that time was one of the model schools in the country. It was one of the very first to have closed-circuit TVs in the classrooms. And the classrooms were air conditioned and carpeted. "Educators from across the country would come to Lynbrook to learn about and assess the system," says Stanger.

He says being at the reunion "just reemphasizes the fact that the profession I chose in my life has reached out and touched so many people. It makes me so happy and proud. If given a chance I'd do this all over again," he says with a smile.

Photograph by Dustin Cohen Lynbrook alums gather up to compete against the current Lynbrook High School girl's team at the mega reunion. The alums won.

"Many of these guys have not been in the water in ages," joked Trish Kane, as she sat watching the match and cheering for the teams. The proceeds of the match were allocated for the girls' water-polo team, a women's sport that only exists today because of the passing of Title IX in 1972 that requires schools to provide equal access to sports for women as they do for men. Glancing through 1970s yearbooks reveals pages and pages of men's sports and often none for women.

But reunions are not necessarily happy times for all. For many it can be traumatic. "It was an awkward period in all our lives. And some of us experienced things that left a lasting impact and it takes time to heal," says Randy Christensen. There are many for whom the healing is still not over.

"I received emails from many people who still remember somebody being nasty or rude to them during school. And so did not want to come back for the reunion. I tried convincing them that all that was in the past and people don't remember those incidents anymore. But my logic did not always work," McDown points out with a wry smile.

For McDown herself, returning to her old school after almost a quarter century was interesting in many ways. "This whole place has changed so much. When I left Cupertino, it was full of orchards. But now there is no vacant lot and the traffic is scary. I was not sure I knew the way to my own school. But then I finally met up with one of my best friends I've been searching for for more than a year. And it was all worth it," she says.