AHS Loses Hall of Famer Dave Bourne – Class of 1957

D. BourneDave Bourne comes by his musical talents naturally. His father Ted Bourne was the instrumental music instructor for 27 years for the Anaheim City School District which at that time included Fremont Junior High and five elementary schools. Dave started piano lessons at 6 years of age and his father taught him trumpet, trombone, baritone, and string bass.

Dave was in the last freshman class at AUHS and while there he encountered former vaudevillian Red Hamilton who introduced him to ragtime. Red worked for the school district as a piano tuner, stage manager, and maintenance man. Red was a great ragtime piano player who also played the banjo, drums, and cornet. Red’s great granddaughter is Gwen Stefani of the group No Doubt.

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KEITH BURNSIDE – 1943-2013

KEITH BURNSIDE 1973Keith Burnside, a long-time teacher and counselor with the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD), died on June 27, 2013. He was born July 21, 1943 in Los Angeles to Allan and Kathryn Burnside.

He attended Burbank schools and went to college at the University of Redland, where he met his wife, Sandra Mathews, in 1966. The Burnsides moved to the City of Orange, where Keith worked as a teacher and counselor for the AUHSD for 37 years, several of those years at Fremont JuKEITH BURNSIDE - CURRENTnior High School where he taught history and ceramics.

He is survived by wife, Sandy; daughters, Lori Jones and Keri Burnside; sons-in-law, Mario Sattro and Robbie Jones; granddaughters, Lila and Lindsey Jones; and cats, Woodi and Sami.

Keith enjoyed golfing, playing bridge, hiking, working on his cars and spending time with his wife and family. The Burnsides recently acquired a condo in Lake Crowley where they enjoy exploring new territory and making new friends. Keith was very loved and respected and will be missed.

Published in Orange County Register on July 2, 2013

 

Black and white photo from the 1973 Fremont Junior High School Yearbook courtesy of the AHSAA

Cassie Miller – Voice Heard Around the Globe

Cassie Miller’s Anaheim High teachers and classmates always knew she would hit the big time. A natural, Cassie was a star member of the school’s choir and a featured vocalist in theater productions throughout her time at Anaheim High and Fremont Junior High.

Now she’s touring the world and performing for audiences that number in the thousands, making stops along the way at Carnegie Hall, recording studios, TV and film sets.

But Cassie hasn’t forgotten her hometown roots. She performed for the Sept. 11 Service and Remembrance sponsored by the City of Anaheim to remember victims of the 9/11 terrorists attacks, including AHS Class of ’67 grad Charles “Chic” Burlingame, the pilot for American Airlines Flight #77, which was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon.

Returning home to sing for another Anaheim audience has brought Cassie full circle in a career that started immediately upon graduating in 1978 from Anaheim High when she joined the Knott’s Berry Sisters trio. She also paid her dues singing on cruise ships and performing in various shows at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland.

Cassie’s big break came when she began singing background and touring with Perry Como and Andy Williams. She stills considers sharing the stage with these legendary singers a career highlight and “a dream come true.”

Cassie said she found her forte when she began singing with a local big band in Long beach in 1984. This experience ignited her love for the swing era. Since then she has worked with many ghost bands and swing bands including the Harry James, Jimmy Dorsey, Glenn Miller orchestras and others.

Her most recent tour was a departure from the big band genre as a background singer for Supertramp. She recently returned from a tour in France, performing for an audience of 77,000 people.

Other career highlights including doing her own solo tour of jazz clubs overseas, singing with John Lithgow at Carnegie Hall and being “Big Band Singer of the Year” by the LA Music Awards.

Her song styling has brought her wide acclaim from many entertainers including Gregory Peck, Jimmy Stewart, Placido Domingo, Jerry Lewis and Liza Minelli.

Cassie has also appeared in commercials and print ads for such companies such as IBM, Chrysler and others that have aired all over the US and other parts of the world.

Still she is drawn to her Anaheim roots and shared an interesting part of her life. “My parents adopted me when I was a few days old. I ended up finding my birthparents and siblings, only to discover that my birthfather had also gone to Anaheim High and I went to junior high with one of my half-sisters, but never knew it at the time. My birthfather and I both had the same music director, Sheldon Disrud, who is still living.”

More about Cassie, including her schedule of appearances, can be found at www.CassieMiller.net.