For roughly 30 years, the former Stuttgart American High School Alumni Association was held together by glue, duct tape, and by one person. Yes, that’s right, one person many of us knew simply by, “StalGal”. That person was Patricia Hein, Class of ’76. She did it all and did it all well. Many of our alumni would not have reconnected with old friends and, for some, the love of their life, had it not been for Patricia and the SAHS Alumni Association.​

To say that keeping the alumni association going by yourself for so many years is a huge undertaking, would be an understatement. Then came Atlanta 2014 where the longtime founder and organizer decided it was time to “pass the torch”. It was at the Atlanta 2014 reunion that she did so, turning the presidency over to its new president and organizers who would be tasked with overseeing the alumni association and with putting on the next reunion scheduled to take place in 2017.

First and foremost was determining the location. The Kansas City 2017 reunion took place and was a success for the new organizers. The alumni association was back on track and on its way on a new journey. But, after the short period (2014-2017), the alumni association began going through a big transition as no one had a finger on exactly what the future alumni association looked like.​

The breakthrough came in 2017 when that very point was raised by several actively involved and concerned SAHS Alumni Association members who asked the questions; “Where do we go from here?” and “How do we get the alumni association going?” There were more questions like, “How do we continue to celebrate the legacy of not only SAHS, but LAHS and PAHS as well?”

This group - formerly known as the Stuttgart Alumni Formation Committee - got the ball rolling by taking on the task and doing the necessary groundwork. They did the research, met, pondered, discussed, and even argued over many meetings and conference calls trying to figure out what could be done. One thing continuously surfaced; create an all-inclusive Stuttgart BRATS alumni association that includes Stuttgart, Patch, Ludwigsburg, as well as the current Stuttgart High School (SHS), where our legacy as Stuttgart Brats continues today.

After much planning by the Committee, and a little over a year later, came the official birth of the Stuttgart American Schools Alumni Association (SASAA). The Committee worked to develop a bonafide association that culminated in it receiving non-profit, 501 (c) (7) status on March 19, 2019. This is something neither of the previous associations of either school had done.

This was a huge turnaround in our Association and and something we should all be thankful for and proud of. In addition to becoming a non-profit, we established our new Association headquarters – Nashville, Tn. The legalities, creation of the bylaws, meetings with lawyers, and conference calls were done all while planning the 2020 Nashville Reunion.

As an organization, SASAA does not imply that you or any other Brat “change your colors”, “change your mascot” or call yourselves anything other than that which you proudly are and always will be; a Stallion, a Panther, a Pony, or even more importantly, a Brat. From the very beginning, SASAA has promoted and encouraged unity and “coexisting”, and that is what we will continue to promote moving forward. #StuttgartUnited