UNION CITY — When James Logan High opened its doors in fall 1959, the fledgling campus was nestled between cauliflower fields, the school consisted of one long building, student enrollment was 1,200 and the mascot was "Chico the Colt."

Today, the area is fully developed, campus expansions include a student parking lot and swimming pool across the street, a soon-to-be completed performing arts center, and some 4,100 students roam the halls. The mascot also goes by the name "Jimmy."

Such comparisons will be the talk of town as many of the approximately 25,000 graduates of Logan return this weekend for a three-day homecoming celebration in honor of the school's 50th anniversary.

Events include an alumni meet-and-greet and homecoming game Friday; campus tour, cultural festival and alumni sock hop Saturday; and an alumni gathering at the Oakland Raiders game Sunday.

Barbara Mendoes, whose maiden name is Fereira, was one of the approximately 150 students who made up Logan's first graduating class.

She recalls the bittersweet feeling of relocating to a new campus her senior year. Until that year, she had attended Washington Union High School in Fremont, the only high school in the area, serving students from Warm Springs in south Fremont to the Alvarado neighborhood in Union City.

"My class was being split up. "... We were heartbroken," she said. "But we still maintained a friendship with people at Washington —

In their first game, the Logan football team defeated Washington, 13-6, and brought home the Pop Goold trophy, named in honor of the superintendent of the Washington Union High School District, who retired the year Logan opened. The team that wins the Big Game still carries home the trophy today.

Though Mendoes was sad to leave Washington Union High at first (she's now proud to call herself a Logan alumna), Kenita Ferguson, then known as Kenita Garcia, looked forward to the change as a freshman in 1959.

"It was very exciting to go through a brand-new school. We (freshmen) didn't know anything — but neither did the seniors. We loved that," she said.

As the students learned to navigate their way through the school that first year, so, too, did English teacher Guy Emanuele, who went on to hold various administrative positions before becoming the New Haven school district's superintendent for 22 years. (When Logan opened, it was part of the Decoto school district. It would be another six years before the New Haven district would come into being.)

The district's longest-serving superintendent cited the passage of a $120 million facilities bond in 2003 as an accomplishment for the community and credited teachers and parents for their ongoing commitment to the school.

"That's my proudest thing (about Logan) — there's such enthusiastic community support," Emanuele said. "I'd like to congratulate them for the efforts they've made, the success they've had."

For details about homecoming events, go to www.jamesloganalumni.org or call 510-785-5863.

Reach Linh Tat at 510-353-7010. Follow her at Twitter.com/Linh_Tat and her blog posts at www.ibabuzz.com/tricitybeat.