A reunion weekend is being planned Oct. 3-5 for students who were in Gregg Souza’s music programs at Manteca High from 1979 through 1985.

It starts on Friday, Oct, 3, at 7 p.m. at the Manteca High home football game.

A band reunion will take place Saturday, Oct. 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Manteca High band room.

 A no host after party takes place Saturday, Oct. 4, at 5:30 p.m. at the Deaf Puppy Comedy Club, 127 N. Main St, Manteca

It is capped off on Sunday, Oc. 5, at 10 a.m. with a no host “C-ya-later” Coffee at the Starbucks at Louise Avenue and Interstate 5 in L:athrop.

You only need to pay for tickets to the football game and the food or drink you purchase at the after-party. They will, accept donations (suggested $10 per person) to offset the expenses. All donations received in excess of our actual expenses will be donated to the Manteca High School Band Program.

Souza will be attending all four events

You can request a RSVP form via email at MantecaHSbandreunion@gmail.com

I am a former 40-year  plus resident of Manteca now living in Boise, Idaho. 

A group of Manteca High School students from the classes of 1978 through 1986, are coming together for a reunion to honor and reconnect with Mr. Gregg Souza who impacted hundreds of teenage lives in just a few short years.  In essence this is a Manteca version of Mr. Holland’s Opus. 

Currently we expect over 100 people, traveling from all across the U.S. to converge on Manteca High to celebrate and honor Mr. Souza.  This has primarily been a social media and email campaign but we want to reach everyone that may have evaded our reach to date.  

Mr. Souza was an unwitting pivotal influence in the lives of many MHS students, making an impact beyond anything he could have imagined or likely believed possible. 

He took the job of Band Director at Manteca High School as his first gig after graduating from UOP in 1977.  He was only a few years older than his students, yet he immediately commanded respect, demanded excellence and along the way instilled accountability, both personal and to the larger team, shaping young lives in ways that teenagers do not often recognize until many years later.

He came to MHS, which had a storied musical legacy from the Darling Era but had, like many other institutions of the time, fallen under a climate of malaise and almost decay. 

The backdrop of the 1970s was full of social change. Divorce rates were climbing, peaking in California by the early 1980s, family lives and roles were being redefined, and economic uncertainty began to impact the funding of fine arts programs in public schools.

Mr. Souza stepped into this environment with vision and vigor.  He created a place for students to thrive, push themselves and each other and unwittingly create family.  He engaged students and parents alike to raise the bar and funds to earn their way to the competitions that he knew they were capable of winning and ultimately dominating.

Once again awards for MHS began to accumulate, the MHS band went from being the “Buffalo Chips” to a statewide force that commanded respect, ultimately traveling to Philadelphia and Washington, DC, to perform in a Thanksgiving Day parade a mere three years after his arrival.

This type of transformation not only brought accolades, it changed lives.  It set a foundation for many of us, an awareness and appreciation of the benefits that hard work, mutual accountability and a self-proclaimed family could accomplish.  Using today’s vernacular, it created a tribe, one that developed not only a sense of belonging but a recognition of potential and how to stretch, grow and achieve.

Over the years it became common when various members would reconnect, either live or through social media, to relive these experiences and sing the praises of the man responsible. Inevitably someone would bring up the idea of reunion, but over the past 40 plus years these discussions never progressed beyond talk — until now.

 Information can be found on a Facebook page dedicated to “Mr. Souza’s Manteca High School Legacy: Reunited” which currently has over 160 former students as members.  Interested parties can also reach us by email at MantecaHSbandreunion@gmail.com