Drinking fountain buried by mischievous seniors

We needed to act out, said Hager, 66, a retired probation officer.

They pulled off a doozy. Only recently was their mischievousness uncovered: a 300-pound granite drinking fountain they had buried near the center of campus in 1960.

Grossmont High received the fountain as a gift when it opened in the early 1920s. It was pulled from the ground during a ceremony last week just outside of the newly remodeled library and computer lab building. About 100 people attended, including administrators, teachers, former students and current students.

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I'm a little embarrassed to be here under these circumstances, Hager told a crowd of people who had come to see the prank revealed. But it looks like you're going to have a water fountain again.

Larry Anderson of La Mesa, who didn't participate in the prank but was friends with Ashley and Hager, called the prank a classic. Anderson said people have been talking about it since 1960.

The fountain was an easy target for Hager and Ashley because it had been removed from its pedestal by workers doing landscaping in the area.

We were going to take it and put it in the back of my mom's Chrysler, said Ashley, an inspector for a local defense contractor.

That never happened. The fountain proved too heavy for the friends to lift, so they dug a hole near the 500 classroom building and rolled it in. Hager remembers a local newspaper reporting that thirsty thieves had taken the fountain.

He and Ashley made a pact to reveal their high jinks to the school 10 years later, but when that day came, the principal didn't do anything about it. The fountain remained three feet underground.

I don't think he wanted to give us the satisfaction. It was too fresh, Hager said.

Hager and Ashley remained friends and over the years talked about coming forward to tell their story.

Dick, he kept reviving the idea, Ashley said after the fountain was unearthed.

Somebody has to have a conscience, Hager replied.

Ashley added: We had to wait for a new generation that was going to be more receptive.

Workers last week dug out the fountain using shovels. The next day, dozens of summer school students and teachers looked on as a worker using a backhoe lifted the stone fountain from where it had been buried and placed it on a patch of dirt.

It became part of a history lesson right away.

The fountain, a gift from a Lakeside school, was engraved with the words Class of 1916.

That was the senior class that went off to fight in (World War I), said Jessica Craven, who attended the event with her world history class.

Jessica and her friend Anahy Reyes, who will be juniors in the fall, said they're familiar with high school pranks. Seniors painted a stage pink one year. Another year they dyed the pool purple.

But burying the drinking fountain topped them all, they said.

This one was cool just 'cause it was so long ago, Jessica said.