In two years, Lynbrook High School will get its AARP card in the mail. We “50-plus” LHS grads know what that’s like.

Almost 50 years ago, in 1965, our alma mater was born on the site of a former prune orchard on Johnson Avenue, in that odd little finger of way-west San Jose also known as “Cupertoga” or “Saratino.”

This summer, those early Viking pioneers–with a capital “P,” since they came from Cupertino High–will join with all the classes of the ’60s and ’70s to celebrate the Lynbrook High School MegaReunion 2013 Aug. 9-11 (lhsmega2013.com). A whole weekend to revel in the good old days, when we cruised “Highway 9” (now De Anza Boulevard) in cool cars with AM radios blasting Led Zeppelin, the Doobie Brothers and the Jackson 5 (featuring little Michael with his ‘fro and original nose).

On Friday, there’ll be a golf tournament and individual class mini-reunions; Saturday, we’ll head downtown for the gala, where we’ll rock to The Joe Sharino Band (who played at Lynbrook High in the ’70s). Sunday’s a fun family day at Lynbrook, including a car show featuring those colorful pre-’73 cruisers.

And the all-day sit-in jam with the rock ‘n’ roll Alumni Band, plus a rendition of the fight song from the other Alumni Band. Also, there’s bound to be some butt-kicking of an alumni team by a current LHS team in at least one sport. Ouch. Have mercy.

Ten classes of the ’60s and ’70s, 1965-1979. It’s Lynbrook’s history and America’s history: the days of flower power, the Vietnam War, women’s liberation, Nixon, Watergate, the scary Soviet Union. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak were electronics nerds (before we had the word) over at Homestead High–who knew?

Not me. I do remember guys like them; they had summer jobs at HP and made big money, like five bucks an hour, maybe, when the rest of us were making $1.35 at the Red Barn or Shakey’s. (Bonus points if you can identify those eateries.)

Most of us were pretty clueless about that birth-of-Silicon Valley stuff. Our dads might have been Lockheed engineers, but they used slide rules. What?

Computers took up a whole room. Lynbrook had IBM cards; who knew what for? It was a different world. Gas was dirt cheap; we couldn’t wait to get our learner’s permits at 15. Traffic was lighter.

There were about half as many people in the state; it was twice as easy to get into college, and it was practically free. Maybe we could afford to be a little footloose, maybe we had more fun.

These days, Lynbrook is one of the best schools in the country; why else would people cross the world to pay a million bucks for our parents’ $25,000-$35,000 houses? It always was. Hey, we started it.

In 1965, Cupertino High School, only three years old, was already bursting at the seams. Prune, cherry and apricot orchards bloomed all over the Valley, but the first “tech boom” of the mid-’60s (Lockheed, IBM, Fairchild) brought growing families in need of housing.

Goodbye orchards, hello new homes. And hello, new schools.

A crop of ‘Tino freshmen and sophomores made the move to Lynbrook, one of the nation’s most advanced high schools at the time. Principal Ken Stanger was plucked from Fremont High to get things started, and he got the cream of the crop–new teachers from Stanford and San Jose State–to staff the new school with its closed-circuit TVs, Olympic-sized pool, carpets and air conditioning.

“It was an absolute dream to be there,” says Los Gatos resident Peter Raap, a Stanford-credentialed science teacher who started at Lynbrook in 1968.

“A high school science department with eight of its nine teachers having master’s degrees? Unheard of even in the ’60s. And where else in the country could you find a science department with its own electron microscope?” (I had no idea we had an electron microscope. But I barely made it through sophomore biology. Ask Mr. Raap.)

“Silicon Valley companies and engineers donated almost any piece of equipment we could want,” Raap says. “We had Stanford heart surgeons, NASA engineers who designed the Lunar Module, and other scientists on the cutting edge, parents who came to speak and challenge young minds.”

Academics and athletics, from the start: Stanger’s first coaching staff included three Olympians in swimming and track, a Stanford quarterback, and the legendary Sandi Stober. Current athletic director Linda Nichols (’72) and P.E. teacher/coach Tim Kenworthy (’71) are living LHS legends, stars of their era, following in the footsteps of their mentors. They’ve coached Olympians–it’s a Lynbrook thing.

Does that sound familiar? Lynbrook students and teachers have been at this achievement business for a long time. Lynbrook’s Baby Boomer generation turned out a raft of scientists, musicians, athletes, physicians, business leaders, engineers, media experts, attorneys, teachers and coaches.

If you ask us, we’re inclined to tell you that those were the “good old days,” that the ’60s and ’70s were Lynbrook’s best years. We’ll say that we had the best teachers, the best teams, the best of everything. Then we’ll look at Lynbrook now, as we often do, and admit, proudly, that our dusty diplomas look pretty darn good in the light of these new Vikings and their achievements.

Thanks, New Vikings. We Old Vikings will raise a glass to you as we reminisce about the good old days, before SAT prep classes and iPhones and boring cars. For three days in August, we’ll laugh about the smoking area (yes!), the streakers, the trips to Santa Cruz. In 40 years or so, you’ll reminisce, too. Yes, you will.

Meanwhile, I think you have homework.

For more information about the Lynbrook High School Mega-Reunion, visit lhsmega2013.com. Class of 1974 graduate Bernie Sheahan can be reached at berniesheahan@gmail.com.