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DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO SHOULD BE A HALL OF FAMER?
I attended Gar-Field's graduation last year. In the graduation booklet we were
handed was a brief history of Gar-field with the following:
GAR-FIELD HALL OF FAME
| EMMY LOU HARRIS |
CLASS OF '64 |
COUNTRY WESTERN SINGER |
| JEFF NIXON |
CLASS OF '74 |
PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL PLAYER |
| ROSSI ALSTON |
CLASS OF '76 |
JUDGE |
| PAULA GIRVEN |
CLASS OF '76 |
'76 AND '80 OLYMPIAN |
| JOHN GODING |
CLASS OF '76 |
CHOREOGRAPHER |
| GINA DAWES |
CLASS OF '76 |
FIRST WOMAN TEST PILOT |
| ANDY YORK |
CLASS OF '76 |
RECORDING ARTIST |
| DR. LARRY LOOMIS |
CLASS OF '77 |
RESEARCHER IN TROPICAL DISEASE |
| BENITA FITZGERALD |
CLASS OF '79 |
'84 OLYMPIAN (WON GOLD) |
| SUSAN WALVIUS |
CLASS OF '88 |
WOMEN'S COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH |
Congratulations to all the Hall of Famers. Since December 7th, 1953 Gar-Field has
graduated over 20,000 graduates. Many are missing from this section. Let's fill up this page in the graduation
booklets. Do you know of or are you a CEO or owner of your own business, hold a patent, military leader, county
or state official, sports professional, doctor, etc.?
We will forward all information to Gar-Field High School, and get it into the graduation booklets. I'll start it
off with:
| PATTY DILLABER |
CLASS OF '78 |
DEFENSE OF FREEDOM RECIPIENT / 9-11 PENTAGON VICTIM |
Please let us know by sending them to Classof77@Gar-fieldalumni.org, Classof78@Gar-fieldalumni.org, or Classof79@Gar-fieldalumni.org or write it down and send it to Gar-field Reunion,
13317 Kenbury Dr, Dale City, VA 22193
GAR-FIELD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY
Gar-Field Senior High School was founded on December 7, 1953. Students had been
attending high school at Occoquan District High since 1928. (This school is currently Occoquan Elementary School,
and is located at the corner of Old Bridge Road and Occoquan Road.) The new High School was built on the corner
of Cardinal Drive and Route 1. Mr. Grover Manderfield, a local businessman, and Mr. Gilmer Garber, a local farmer,
donated 20 acres of land to use as a high school. The School Board voted to name the high school after these two
gentlemen. "Gar" was for Mr. Garber and "Field" was for Mr. Manderfield, using a hyphen to
separate the names. Mr. Herbert Saunders was the first principal.
In the mid-60 and early 70's, Prince William County was in a building and population
boom. Gar-Field was faced with overcrowding. In 1964, Woodbridge Senior High School opened, splitting up Gar-Field
students and becoming our heated rivals. Still faced with overcrowding, Gar-Field was forced into split shifts.
A new Gar-Field High School was built on its present location, Smoketown Road (across
from Potomac Mills Outlet Mall). The building opened in the fall of 1972. But, even at its new and spacious location,
overcrowding was a problem. Students were forced to a year round schedule or 45/15. It was based on four colors.
red, orange, blue and green, depending on where you lived. Mr. Cox was the principal at its opening. The original
Gar-Field is now the A.J. Ferlazzo Administration County Office Building.
Prince William County Supervisors were forced to build another high school in the
county to ease the overcrowding. In 1983, Potomac Senior High opened. In 1991 another high school opened, Hylton
Senior High, followed by Forest Park High opening in 2001. (The County Supervisors have already approved the opening
of another high school in 2006, across from NVCC Woodbridge campus.) That will be six high schools within six miles
of each other!
INFORMATION ABOUT GAR-FIELD SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL
The school mascot, INDIANS, is believed to have passed to Gar-Field from the
Occoquan District High School, when Occoquan closed and Gar-Field opened in 1953.
The school motto, "MACTE VIRTUTE", means "be blessed for your courage". It was shouted in the
ancient world for the winner of athletic contests and at the Olympic Games.
The school colors, RED, WHITE, BLUE, were chosen by a survey in 1953 when the school opened.
Gar-Field's stadium is named after a beloved teacher and coach, Ralph Barnette.
The Indianettes were the first team of it's kind to be developed in Prince William County in the mid-70's.
DID YOU KNOW?
*Gar-Field has a JROTC program affiliated with the United States Marine Corps.
*Gar-Field has a Work and Family Studies Elective. The Early Childhood Development Program has babysitting at the
school.
*You can letter in these sports: Girls Volleyball, Girls/Boys Swimming, Girls/Boys Lacrosse and Girls/Boys Crew.
*In the 20th Century (1953-2000) Gar-Field had 19 Virginia State Championships and 78 Northwest Regional Championships.
The state playoff system did not start until the early 70's (when you won Districts that was it).
*In the 20th Century over 20,000 students received their diplomas from Gar-Field Senior High School.
*The library is completely enclosed, no cutting through the library if you are late. They did this because of book
theft. Who knew there were books in the GF library?
*Gar-Field school grounds are completely fenced off, no going out for lunch.
*The baseball field has lights, no early dismissal to play games.
*The yearbook is still called Indian Echoes, and the monthly newspaper is called The Hyphen.
*A step team was added in the 90's, ESSENCE. Yes, they still have the Indianettes.
*Boys are cheerleaders, called stuntmen, and if you see what they do, you would want to be one too.
*Graduated two Olympians, Paula Girven '76 and Benita Fitzgerald '79 (and very possibly Sheena Johnson '99). Benita
won Gold, while Paula's dreams were dashed due to the United States boycott of the '80 Olympic Games.
*Paula Girven '76 still holds the school record for women's high jump at 6'1.25".
*Benita Fitzgerald '79 still holds the records for 100 meter (11.5), 200 meters (24.3), and 100 meter hurdles (19.7).
*Steve Mehr '78 still holds the record for the discus, 190'6".
*Peter Haymond '78 still holds the record for the 3200-meter run 9:20.6.
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