SAN MARCOS -- Two alumni reminisced about the basketball championship they won in 1959, while others wandered around with maps to navigate a campus that looks nothing like the Palomar College they attended decades ago.

Hundreds of Palomar students from the last 60 years returned to the campus Saturday for a giant anniversary celebration that featured a reunion breakfast, a community barbecue, a fashion show, information booths about the college and dozens of other free activities.

The event also attracted many local residents curious about the school, and some current students that were hoping to learn about Palomar's history from the old-timers.

"It's always important for intergenerational people to interact," said Dora Adams, who graduated from Palomar more than five decades ago. "Hopefully, we can inspire young students when they see we are still active and interested."

Saturday was also an opportunity for alumni to remind one another of the great times they shared at Palomar.

Ray Ruggles and Ray Bosch spent some time recalling all the colleges they beat on their way to a 1959 conference championship in basketball, and a third-place finish in the state finals.

They said San Diego's population was so sparse back then that Palomar played most of its games against teams from the Antelope Valley, Covina, Long Beach, El Centro and even Santa Barbara.

"We spent a lot of time traveling together in station wagons," said Bosch, who went on to play at UC Santa Barbara on a basketball scholarship.

Both former basketball stars, who also played together at Escondido High School, said Palomar played a crucial role in their lives.

"The two years here enabled me to develop, especially when I started lifting weights," said Bosch.

"For some of us, Palomar College was the only way we could better our lives," said Ruggles. "And for many young people today, it is still the best option for higher education."

Karen Floyd, who began attending Palomar shortly after it opened at Vista High in 1946, said the college felt more like a high school in the beginning.

"It didn't feel like much of a college because we only had about 50 students, and classes were held from 3:30 to 10 p.m. after the high school day had ended," said Floyd.

The college moved to its current 250-acre San Marcos site in 1950, but even then it was far from a thriving college environment.

"The first week they didn't have working bathrooms, so they ran buses from campus to a filling station down in San Marcos at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m.," said Norma Anderson Maynard, class of 1951. "The campus was wide open spaces, with nothing but tiny Quonset huts donated by the military. All the big buildings here now make me feel lost."

Carl Nelson, who graduated from Palomar in 1950 before the college moved to San Marcos, remembered playing for Palomar basketball and baseball teams that suffered many lopsided defeats because the school was so small.

"Some of the teams we played had more guys on them then we had at our whole college," said Nelson.

Pat Archer, a longtime political science professor at Palomar who retired in 2003, said Saturday was significant in another way.

"Today is a reaffirmation that Palomar College has been very successful in working with the community and providing the region a well-trained work force," said Archer, who helped organize Saturday's festivities. "Many former students have very fond memories of Palomar, and that is an indication that the college has been a very successful learning institution."

Nancy Chadwick, a member of the college's governing board, agreed with Archer.

"This celebration is important because it demonstrates that Palomar College has grown with a rich history of responding to the community," said Chadwick. "We are now at a point where we can talk about the first 60 years, and also what we are going to do for the next 60 years."

Yearbooks and memorabilia were on display in the campus library. A few hundred yards away in The Dome, campus clubs and academic programs set up information booths that help paint a picture of where the college is headed.

There were also drawings of buildings the college hopes to erect if voters approve a $700 million facilities bond in November. Most of the San Marcos campus was built in the 1960s, which makes upgrading the facilities a necessity, according to campus officials.

Other events included rides on tethered hot-air balloons, a planetarium show, a fashion revue of apparel from the last six decades, a folk opera, a demonstration of glass blowing, a rock-climbing wall and tours of the college arboretum.

Hundreds of people stood in line for hamburgers, hot dogs, bratwurst, baked beans and potato salad just before noon. After lunch, they headed for dessert tables featuring cake, brownies and chocolate chip cookies.

Only a few current students attended Saturday's celebration, but David Halttunen said he was not surprised that many of his fellow students skipped the event.

"The 60th anniversary is not very important to students, because it's more of a community thing," said Halttunen. "It gives former students and other people from outside a sense of what's going on at Palomar."

Contact staff writer David Garrick at (760) 761-4410 or dgarrick@nctimes.com.