WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers 'REMEMBER WHEN . . .'- Above, Bob Lowe and Chris Hensey look at a one of their yearbooks from Simi Valley High School at the Elephant Bar in Simi Valley on Saturday. Every two months alumni from Simi Valley, Royal and Apollo high schools meet to socialize and keep in touch. The Simi Valley Alumni Group includes classmates from 1968 through 1990. Sam Perry graduated from Royal High School in 1974.

He and his former classmates remember a time when the old drive-in theater off Tierra Rejada Road, which no longer operates, was a popular evening hangout for teenagers.

On other nights, they would find their fun roller skating at a rink in Thousand Oaks- one of the very few nearby places for recreation at the time.

Nowadays, the 52-year-old Moorpark resident is on a hunt for his old friends and on a mission to add new memories to his old ones.

"A couple years ago, an old friend of mine had passed away," Perry said. "And so I really started to feel the need to meet up with many of my high school friends again."

GOOD CONVERSATION- Simi Valley Alumni Group member Tammie Hurd talks with friends at the Elephant Bar on Saturday. WENDY PIERRO/Acorn Newspapers Last year, Perry got back in contact with Shelley Hamilton, RHS class of 1975, and the two decided they would try to bring all their old friends together again.

They formed the Simi Valley Alumni Group, with the intention of inviting all graduates from Royal, Apollo and Simi high schools to meet on a regular basis to strengthen old ties and maybe make some new ones.

"Back in the '70s, everybody knew everybody," Perry said. "We all knew people or had brothers and sisters in the other schools, too."

In September 2007, the group had their first scheduled dinner reunion at Elephant Bar restaurant in Simi Valley with six alumni. Last Saturday, at their fourth dinner, nearly 40 attended, alumni of classes ranging from 1968 to 1985.

The first dinners served as "icebreakers" for a weekend event held last February in Las Vegas. The group now plans to hold the event annually, Perry said, and expects at least 150 alumni to join the trip in 2009.

"I love it," Perry said. "Physically we can't go back, but mentally we're all back there together. It's a nice feeling because you're always going to remember your friends."

Vanessa Brookman, 44, graduated from Royal High School in 1985. Her old friends may remember her as Vanessa Bradshaw, and she now lives in the small town of Val Verde and works as a city council member in Castaic.

"It's amazing to see how this whole generation is so successful," Brookman said. "When we were in school, it was before seat belt laws, and all our friends would just pack into one car."

Karen Cutten, class of 1983, added, "We would even have people in the trunk.

"Then we'd sneak into the drive-in," she said with a laugh.

Cutten, 43, who works as a medical assistant, lives in the same house in Simi Valley as she did back in high school.

Currently, Royal graduates outnumber the Simi and Apollo alumni in the group, and the members hope to add more people to their roster over time.

Rick Szekeres, SVHS class of 1975, came to the recent dinner reunion with his wife, Anita (Velazquez), RHS class of 1984. His sister Wendy, SVHS class of 1978, and their mutual friend Matthew Adamo, SVHS class of 1975, sat with them, and the group laughed and reminisced for more than two hours.

Adamo, who lives in Redondo Beach, came to Simi just for the event.

Perry said they hope to continue their get-togethers as long as possible. As the former owner of a tour company, he's been able to secure special rates at a nearby hotel for group members who have to travel far to come to the dinners.

The group is strictly nonprofit, and all members pitch in funds for their weekend celebration in Las Vegas.

"Our parents taught us right from wrong and hopefully some manners," Perry said. "But it was our friends who taught us everything else."

For more information or to join the Simi Valley Alumni Group, call Sam Perry at (805) 5230940. Alumni from all graduating classes are invited to join.