Berlin High School - Lamp Yearbook (Berlin, CT)

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schools. Jeanne Britney also helped to make the state conscious of the unusual talents possessed by the students of Berlin High School. Jeanne was the winner in the local oratorical contest spon- sored by the American Legion and she repre- sented us in the district contest held in Hartford on March 15. While she was not the winner, we were all proud of her. This was our school’s first participation in such a contest and we were pleased that it was a Senior who won the local contest. The committee in charge of the yearbook, headed by Jimmy -Sokoloski, worked feverishly during the months of January and February and on March 15, our book went to press. The Senior play, “A Case of Springtime,” was given on May 16 and 17 under the direction of Mr. Hardy and Miss Lynch, ft was a riotious play and revealed much hidden talent in the Senior class. May quickly passed and, before we realized it we were preparing for the Senior Ball on June 7. This was the last dance given by the class of ’46 and was one long to be remembered. It was liter- ally, “out of this world,” and the committee, headed by Elizabeth Vigra, spent many hours planning it. With tears in our eyes we attended our last classes at Berlin High on Friday, June 14. This, our last day together in class, made us stop and think of all the pleasant memories gathered in the portals of our dear Alma Mater. The next few days were especially busy for us with rehearsals for Graduation and Commencement week activi- tes. Our banquet was held on Monday evening, with Dick Spring acting as chairman of the dinner. Tuesday morning we had a class day assembly and in the afternoon we had our class picnic. Wednes- day night was the big event, the end of our happy stay at Berlin High, our Graduation. Class pnofiheci Dear Diary, J une 19. 1956 Today the Alumni dinner for the Class of ’46 was held in the old Berlin High School. Most of my friends were there and I had a delightful time. After dinner, I slipped up to the library and collapsed into a chair to read the Alumni Guest Book. My head was whirling with newly learned details when I laid the book back on the table two hours later. Imagine my surprise to discover, among the personal notes of the Guest Book, that: The Berlin Strato-Works is owned and operated by none other than our own Douglas Hallin. I always knew Douglas would find a harbor for his wandering soul. Sy Waznia is Doug’s best strato-liner mechanic. The Republican’s leading nominee for president proves to be Frances Skinner. No wonder Teddy Szymanowski simply refuses to understand why the Democratic party didn’t nominate him for president after the “Daily News” remark that he was by far their party’s best bet. I was surprised to learn that Miss Venus, the new “Conover model sensation, is really our own Virginia Niedzialkowski, and equally surprising is the fact that Lorraine Cote has been voted “Business Woman of the Year” by “Finance.” David France, often called second only to John McCormick, once dreamed of being a bobby-sox swoon king. And now I discover that he is the leading tenor of the Metropolitan Opera Company. Can you imagine? Ann Konefal and Helen Schnitzke are still running the little “Red and White Store”, very efficiently. Romona Austin is on the verge of pulling her hair out. Being manager of the Kensington Pharmacy is a big job, especially since Joe Paskiewicz keeps threaten- ing to quit his job and Norma Della Bernarda wants to join her friend Norma Mariotti, who is managing a correspondence course for beginners. David Dean has put a wonderful idea into effect. He was rather tired of deliver- ing mail via bicycle, so he has installed pipe extensions to every home from the post office. Now Kensington has very, very prompt deliveries. 24

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garden in Spring. A white picket fence separated the dance floor from the tables where refreshments were served and crocuses were placed around the floor near the fence. To reach the dance floor, the couples had to pass through an arch that was part of the fence. Lorraine Rakowski and Virginia Niedzialkowski were responsible for these novel decorations. Our Junior year was marked by two world- shattering events; namely, the death of President Roosevelt in April and the declaration of V-E Day. in May. Very impressive assemblies were held in the auditorium on both occasions. It was a com- pletely subdued student body that witnessed these services. School was dismissed early both days, with many students making straight for their churches. The girls planning to join the Motif Club removed their rouge and lipstick for one day late in May and endured the pains of irritations. This gave the boys a chance to see what the g irls really looked like. 1 ' hey all took it like real sports and were amply repaid at the end of the day when they were officially made members of the Motif Club. September 5, 1945 was a big day for the 49 seniors who registered as a class for the last time. We entered the building through the front door and proudly marched up to Room 8, our home room for this year. For the first time we were all to be together in one room. Everything seemed very bright that day, the war was over and we were Seniors at last. We really helped to “put Berlin High on the map” and, for us, it was a truly mem- orable year, one that we shall look back upon with fond memories. The first thing most of us thought about was initiating the Freshmen. Mr. MacLaughlin gave his permission and a committee was chosen to plan the initiation and also the barn ' dance that we gave in honor of the Freshmen that night in the auditorium. The boys stole the show that day and were cjuite a handsome lot with their faces made up with lipstick and rouge and wearing bibs. The girls wore their hair in pig tails and placed their rouge on the end of their noses rather than on their cheeks for this day. The reception in the evening was a social as well as a financial success and with ii the Seniors officially launched their year. In November, the editors of the BEACON, Jimmy Sokoloski, Elizabeth Vigra and Jean Fagan, accompained by Miss McBrien and Miss Lynch, attended a newspaper conference at N. Y. Univer- sity. I hey were later awarded certificates of merit for their participation in the conference. We participated in a stirring Thanksgiving assembly under the direction of Miss LeVan, our English instructor. The program was in the form of a choral reading and it had for its theme, “Current Racial Problems.” Our Christmas dance, which was a sport dance, was the first to be given in the school on a Satur- day night. The auditorium was decorated with evergreens and large red bells and a gaily-lighted Christmas tree stood in the middle of the floor. Our next social affair, “The Stork Club Dance,” a unique affair, was given in March. Everything was done to give the hall the appearance and air of the famous New York night club. There were cigarette girls and waitresses and the floor show, which was exceptionally good, presented chosen students representing Hollywood celebrities visit- ing the famous nightclub for an evening of fun and entertainment. Betty Hutton was there as well as Frank Sinatra, Jimmy Durante, Dolores DelRio, Veronica Lake, Alan Ladd and the hit of the evening, the four piece orchestra made up of Frankie Carle, Charlie Barnet, Harry James and Buddy Rich. The annual Magazine Drive was held in Febru- ary and the Seniors walked off with top honors. Peggy Pickett was in charge of the drive and Jimmy Sokoloski was the top salesman with Room 8 coming in second. Mary Ducll, our captain, did a fine job in getting every member to sell at least one subscription. March proved to be an exciting month for it was then that the Seniors held their first court ses- sion. The purpose of this was to penalize under- classmen found on the “Senior Walk”. The accused wore big signs for a few days prior to “The Stork Club Dance” and gave the Seniors excellent publicity for their dance. That was part of their punishment and, of course, the Senior Walk looked mighty clean after it had received a good scrubbing. It was in March, also, that the girls from the Motif Club spent a memorable week-end in New York City. They were accom- panied by Miss LeVan and Mrs. McNickle and for days before and after the trip the girls could talk about nothing but New York. The only sad part of the trip was that Frances Skinner, Presi- dent of the club, Peggy Pickett and Harolvene Esberg were unable to attend, confined to their homes because of the measles. On March 20, the Junior Meeting of the Air was broadcast from our auditorium. Graham Hall, a Junior, was the school’s representative and did a fine job. Marjorie Dehan, Senior representative, acted as guide to the visiting students. The entire school attended the broadcast. It was the first time our school had played host to students from other 23

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Jean Fagan and Elizabeth Virgra got together to publish Berlin’s only news- paper, the “Berlin Light Globe.” One of the featured articles in the Globe is Dorothy Giannotta’s poetry column, “The Poet’s Corner.” Admiral Sokoloski always pays the girls a visit when he is home on leave. The Gontarz law firm has been making the headlines shiver in connection with Baby Face Thomson’s murder. Richard Kristopik’s plan to harness atomic energy for mass milking production went over with a big bang when Edward Karoll tried to put the theory to use. (I hope the milk didn’t sour.) The Mayo Clinic has recently added Norman Brousseau to its staff. For amuse- ment in his spare time, Norman still plays with Jimmy Flood’s “Hotlick Kings.” Carol Holmes is presenting her delightful dance, “The Whirlwind,” in its world premier at the Trocadero in New York this month. Dolores Margnelli is one of Carol’s business managers. Jean Plude has made that new jingle, “You’re A Character,” the No. 1 song on “Your Hit Parade.” At ten o’clock every weekday morning, Lorraine Rakowski rushes to the WTIC microphone to give another of her talks on “Women’s Place in Today’s Politics.” Broadway is going wild since Patsy Sisti and Bob Pulito opened at the Radio City Music Hall as the “Double Trouble Twosome.” Dick Spring directs a famous veterinary hospital with Mary Williams as his medi- cal secretary. Lillian Ziel has been promoted to Chief Soda Jerker. After concoting a super de- light, she sends it down the counter shouting, “Roger.” Everyone in town should stop at the Meeting Hall to hear Sister Scotti’s sermon on “It’s Gotta Be This or That.” Her speech has been well prepared with years of experience to back up her statements. With Lucille Splettstoeszer acting as his private secretary, Arthur Ventres has proved that the dairying business can be and is a successful enterprise. Peggy Pickett and Ethel Wolf have become so devoted to science that they refuse to address anyone in English. They speak and write only in terms of chemical formulae and equations. The recently christened submarine, “Seadog,” added Roman Baldyga to her crew as captain. I really didn’t think Harry Gould was the type of person to go all out for poetry but all over the pages of the Guest Book he scrawled, “Where is Sylvia? What is she?” (I wonder.) After spending the summer in France, Harolvene Esberg reports that the French positively do not appreciate “Les Americains fran ais.” Lucille Barrett and Jean Thomson have recently opened a dress shop with the aid of Jean Venturo’s original designs. Marjorie Dehan’s radio program, “The Affairs of the World,” is very popular with the teen-age crowd. Vote for Britney! Yes, our timid Jeanne Britney is running for a Congressman. (I’ll bet she doesn’t catch him.) The movies are making society’s glamour boy, Norman Roy, a handsome offer. (All he has to do is smile and make love to Lassie’s granddaughter, and he gets paid for it.) David Nelson conducted the Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall last month and did a splendid job. Dick Brown has his application in at the C.R. L. office. He is going to pilot the first new rocket bus that comes off the the assembly line next month. M ary Duell and her family are leaving Berlin soon to move to Alaska. Mary’s reason— she wants to keep cool in the summer. Well, it seems wonderful to hear that so many of my former classmates at Berlin High School have achieved such great success in their various chosen fields. Plans were made today to hold another reunion in ten years at which time we hope to report even bigger and better advancements made by the Class of ’46. 25