Guests at a reunion of Santa Fe High School alumni walk by the words “SF Strong” on their way to the fundraiser event at Galveston County Fairgrounds last week in Santa Fe, Texas. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP
Months ago, Rachel Lyons assumed her 10-year high school reunion would be a low-key affair. Perhaps she and other members of Santa Fe High School’s class of 2008 would go to Top Golf in Webster, she thought, or rent out a restaurant near the small Galveston County community. The Houston Chronicle reports that all of that changed on May 18, when she and other alumni learned a gunman had killed 10 people and wounded 13 at their alma mater. A 17-year-old student was arrested and charged with capital murder.
“We didn’t want to have fun while the town was in so much pain,” Lyons said. “We figured, why don’t we try to do something to bring something positive back to town? Let’s bring on the school pride.”
Lyons and dozens of other Santa Fe alumni from as far back as the class of 1988 spent the past couple of months planning The Alumni Santa Fe Strong Benefit Concert, which on July 15 brought hundreds to the nearby Galveston County Fairgrounds.
Serena Bear wears a Santa Fe Strong shirt while observing the items available for auction at the Santa Fe High School’s class of 2008 fundraising event benefiting Santa Fe shooting victims. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP
The fundraiser felt more like a community barbecue than a solemn remembrance, something Lyons strove for as she helped organize the event. She went so far as to cash in all of her vacation and sick days so she could make the three-hour round trip to Galveston County multiple times each week to help get everything together.
Children shrieked as they bounced down inflatable slides and slurped snow cones in the steamy summer heat. Adults perused donated items up for auction and raffles, which included horse bridles, fire pits, a wagon filled with bottles of whiskey and an all-inclusive trip for two to Africa. Some stood underneath a large, metal awning and held cold cans of Miller Lite to their faces and necks as pockets of thunderstorms rolled across the fairgrounds.
Nearby, Wesley Willoughby and several other members of the Galveston County Mounted Posse civic group watched the party perched atop horses. Willoughby graduated from Santa Fe High in 2010 and knew four people who were injured in the shooting.
Kristi Helton of the Galveston County Mounted Posse accompanied by Wesley Willoughby, left, share a smile during the Santa Fe High School’s class of 2008 reunion fundraising event. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP
Willoughby and his class are still a couple years shy of celebrating their 10-year anniversary, but Willoughby said he was inspired by the example set by the class of 2008.
“This is pretty dang awesome,” he said. “But this is just what we do — this is what Santa Fe does. We’re all ready to get out and help.”
—Shelby Webb/Houston Chronicle via AP
Steven Littleton Jr. extends a flag that honors the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP
Diona Evers, right, helps her friend Sara Reul, wear a Santa Fe headband at the Santa Fe High School’s class of 2008 reunion fundraising event. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP
Children play on a scaffold during the fundraiser at the Galveston County Fairgrounds. –Marie D. De Jesus/Houston Chronicle via AP