Guilford High School - Menunketuck Yearbook (Guilford, CT)

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CLASS WILL We, the members of the class of 1943, of Guilford High School, per- fectly sound of mind, do make, ordain, and publish this, our last will and testament. I, Victoria Benzi, do will and bequeath my ability to go steady to Helen Collins. I, Pauline Bragdon, do will and bequeath my typing ability to Gloria Sanborn. I, Edwin Braun, do will and bequeath my quietness to the Freshman boys. I, Robert Bremmer, do will and bequeath my arrogance to anyone who will take it. I, Arnold Capezzone, do will and bequeath my indifference to Charlotte Welch who takes things too seriously. I, Lucille Cianciolo, do will and bequeath my ability to write shorthand to Elwood Burton. I, Arthur Cohen, do will and bequeath my ability to keep appointments regardless of time to Thomas Whiteman. I, Joseph D'Amico, do will and bequeath my noisiness to Violet Lord, who is seen but not heard. I, Martha Davis, do will and bequeath my ability to sew to future Home Economic classes. I, Edwin Dudley, do will and bequeath my knowledge of history to Elmer Russell who really needs it. I, Frances Dudley, do will and bequeath my dancing ability to Betty Van- derwarker, who is doing O. K. I, Donald Fletcher, do will and bequeath my talents to the Air Corps-if they will take them. , I, Patsy Fonicello, do will and bequeath my basketball abilities to future Guilford teams. A I, Amy Fowler, do will and bequeath my height to Bobby Scussell. I, Donald Hulbert, do will and bequeath my ability to clown to jack Simpson whose style could stand improvement. I, Curtiss Johnson, do will and bequeath my ability to get into the Marines to Charles LeMontagne. I, Bette Landon, do will and bequeath my ability to get along with males to any wallflower coming up. I, Vida Lazarevich, do will and bequeath my dependability to John Koch. I, Bernhard Leinfelder, do will and bequeath my ability at Physics to a certain group of three Juniors. I, Donald Lemley, do will and bequeath my qualities as manager to Artie Jenkins. I, Thomas Loomis, do will and bequeath my ability to bluff my way through any situation to Frank Tichy . I, Joseph Morasky, do will and bequeath my athletic abilities to Harold Griffin- fContinued on page 191 16

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CLASS lllSTORY In the fall of 38 the future Class of 43 found its place in the Guil- ford High School . The Freshmen officers were: Howard Spencer, president, Thomas Loomis, vice-president: Vida Lazarevich, secretary, and Martha Davis, treasurer. Taking part in all school activities, we entertained the student body with a successful Masquerade Dance. Four boys, Bucky Spencer, Al Heston, Tom Loomis and Herby Newton, were able to make the basketball squad. The fight they displayed showed that the Guilford spirit was not lacking in its lower school members. The first three fellows were placed on the baseball squad. Al- though they kept the bench fairly warm, they played good ball when given a chance. Thus having put our shoulders to the wheel, we began to buckle down to serious business and started working in earnest as Sophomores. Elected pres- ident was the ever popular, Howard Spencer, vice-president, Herbert Newton, secretary, Amy Fowler, and treasurer, Joseph D'Amico. Among us were some good actors and actresses, Albert Heston and Vida Lazarevich, who participated with others in the school in a state-wide one-act play contest held in Danbury, Connecticut. The same two, with the addition of Tom Loomis and Herbert Blaha, helped make the annual school play a success. Our four athletes came through on the basketball team and played good ball no matter how strong the opposition. Soccer was inagurated this year but only three Sophomores were on the team . The annual Sophomore Valentine Dance, under the chairmanship of Vida Lazarevich, was the second highlight of our social calendar. The fall of 1941 found us back at school, with one addition to our class, in the person of Helen Parmelee. Officers for the year were elected at the first meeting. The president was Donald Fletcher, vice-president, Achille Vitalig secretary, Vida Lazarevich, treasurer, Arthur Cohen. This year's sports opened with soccer, and Loomis, Ed. Sullivan, and Ed. Braun found positions on the team. Basketball came next and the class of 43 contributed a great deal of the talent. Spencer, Loomis, Vitali, and Fonicello found positions on the var- sity and Nettleton, toward the end of the season, came from the second string to play with the first team. We also did well in the entertaining field, sponsor- ing record dances which were financial and social success. The Junior Hop, al- though not a financial success, was a complete social success and considered the highlight of the year. The year of 1942. AH! here it was, the one that was to see so many changes-that year we had looked forward to for so long!!! We were SE NIO R S ! ! ! Class officers were: president, Donald Fletcher, vice-pres- ident, Patsy Russo, secretary, Edward Sullivan, and treasurer, Arthur Cohen. Another member ,Joseph Morasky, from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, was added to the class. Because of war conditions there was no Guilford Fair in 1942 and the Senior Class sponsored a refreshment stand at the Future Farmers Fair in Madison. This was a great financial success and the profit realized pulled the treasury out of the red. But-something had happened back in December 1941 which was to change the lives of many of our class members. That was WAR ! Many of our classmates put aside their books and enlisted. Many changes also took place within our school. The school day was shortened to compensate for the fuel shortage. The school was turned into a registration center for rationing with many senior girls as registrars. Our course of study was changed. New courses were added: pre-flight, radio code, and others that were to help the war effort. But looking at the lighter side of the year, we find the seniors again took honors in the field of sports. Football was added to the sports curriculum this year, the team being captained by Joseph Morasky. Then came basketball. The team was made up of nine senior boys and one junior. This team went to the semi-finals in the State Tournament in Hartford. When work on the Yearbook was begun, a new system was devised to finance it. It became 1Continued on page 192 15

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PROPlIEC'Y It was the year 1960. I was seated in a fast south bound plane, glancing at a discarded newspaper. The picture on the front page looked familiar. Why of course! It was Bernie Leinfelder, Bernie, our miniature Edison back at school, had finally done as we all had predicted. Perusing the article further, I learned that by accident, Bob Bremmer, his assistant, had upset a glass of milk into Bernie's bomb solution and turned the trick. Another headline which caught my eye praised Howard Spencer for his geopolitical post war plan. Who would have though that Bucky, our star basketball player, could someday be solving the problems of the world. Bucky's new theory had been accepted in preference to those plans presented by Winston Churchill and Clarence Streit!! As I read further on I found there were still other classmates who had become nationally famous and had made the head- lines. Willis Nettleton, who had worked up from a milkman to the extra- ordinary position of President of the League of Nations, had a conference with Vida Lazarevich, who was now at the head of the Woman Suffrage, concerning her point of view upon the position of women in industry. It seems that all our classmates had attained fame for there was a striking advertisement of the A. T. A. and Co.,which had now become a top-rate wo- man's clothing store. Amy Fowler, the first A , did the designingg Iola Tichy, the T of the company, was the business manager, and the last A was Anna Seifert, the head model. I felt sure that if I turned to the sport page I'd read about some classmate, for we had had several fervent sports enthusiasts. Well! Well! In Rumpus With Red Loomis , Red had attained his goal. His column contained his usual sports enthusiasm. And there in his column was Polly Bragdon's name- and Achille Vitali's. Polly, now the head coach at a popular girls' college, had led her basketball team to victory. Achille made a statement concerning the com- ing championship bout with Pat Russo. His trainer, Donald Lemley, said he was in tip-top condition. There was a man sitting in a front seat who kept looking back at me. He did look familiar. Finally he came back and spoke to me. It was Eddy Sul- livan. He told me that Donald Fletcher was the director of the Guilford Trust Company with Eddy Braun as his assistant. Ed Sullivan himself has a very successful string of drug stores. After our delightful conversation, I went back to my newspaper. In the Radio-Theater section I saw that the Imperial was featuring Herbie Newton and his Swing Band over the week-end holidays. There was a picture of his vocalist, Franny Flurge, the latest find in the musical world. I guess it goes with- out saying that we knew her as our old friend Fran Dudley. In the write-up of the band, I saw that Pat Fonicello was the fellow who produced the haunting melodies from that silver guitar. And guess what the attraction for the next week was? Vicki Benzi, the swell little gal who was our majorette and now was the rage of Hollywood, was coming for a personal benefit performance. And by the way, the current hilarious comedy, Topsy-Turvey , was headed in the art department by Arnold Capezzone. Now to the society page! Helen Parmelee was the editor and had writ- ten a very interesting column on our Child Prodigy , Edwin Dudley. Eddy, who had first graduated from college with flying colors, was now doing research work for his new book, Why The Bee Stings . Incidentally, his assistant was Donald Hulbert. Ducky also, in his spare time, acted as master of ceremonies, and sang in a popular night club. In the book review section, the National Book Club had awarded a five thousand dollar prize to Joe D'Amico who had written a thriller on the heroic adventures of Frank-bring 'em-back-alive Watrous. fContim4ed on page 191 17