Leominster High School - Magnet Yearbook (Leominster, MA)

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THE 1939 MA From the music salon, drifts the sweet music of the piano, played by Nina Bisceglia. Sud denly, the room is filled with the harmonious voices of Lois Kendal], Mary Mammone, Dorothy Lowe, Dorothy Harris, and Norma Brown, singing once again in fond memoriam, the school song. Again the lava swirls and swishes and this time I find myself a spectator in the Metropolitan Art Studio, operated by Yvonne Fife and Lola Firmani. Posing for a profile portrait are Mary DiMassa, Marguerite Benoit, and Grace Hart. These beautiful pictures are then printed as advertisements in Fern Hardy and Dot Hopkins’ weekly magazine, “The Gentleman’s Home Companion”, boasting a great staff of reporters; such as, Theresa Haire, Claire Burns, Eleanor Bonville, and Angelina Bilotta. The emulsion suddenly bursts into a spasm of violent bubbling, and over the sides are spilled the laughing forms of Claire LaFray and Mary Robinson, leading their Latin Students by the hand to show them the beauty parlour of Nancy Roche (whose assistants are Evelyn Mager, Katie Welch and Rose Steinmetz) where the Roman style of coiffure is practiced. Another bubble escapes over the side, and upon it ride Nancy Mills, Jane Beers, and Ruth Smith, medical advisors, on their way to the hospital to visit their former class-mate, Dorothy Martin, who is just recovering from a broken finger suffered when she was showing her employees how to operate the old-fashioned L. H. 8S. typewriters. As the girls hurry down the hospital corridor they collide with Anna O’Toole, Louise Casey and Rita O’Mealey, who are assisting Dr. Longo in the administration of an anesthetic to patient Enda Loughlin, who objects to having his dog vaccinated. Gloria Marquis, in collaboration with Ruth Peters and Anna Massoni, have opened a private secretarial school. The new shorthand method used in this school has been perfected by Doris Tuttle. As I look into the ominous liquid, a strange scene is depicted with Beverly Wilson, Eleanor Farwell, and Gertrude Buskey working diligently on a reproduction of the old Leominster High School. Peering from one of the half-painted windows in Room 38 is Paul Holzhauer, supporting Bill LaPrade out the window by his hands. Suddenly Bill drops and dashes for the street where he is confronted by Toni Lanza’s champion basketball team of Marjorie Murphy, Rachel Miner, Doris Pelkey, Arlene Pierce, Janet Ray, and Claire Murphy. A coastal liner ploughs toward southern waters, under the watchful eye of Fred Andrews, first mate. Among the passengers on this vessel are Thomas Houde and John Peterson, aero- nautical engineers, who are travelling for a furlough to the Brazilian plantation of Paul Grammont. Vincent Bartimo is at present perfecting an automatic shoe-delivery machine for Fontaine, Manzello and Company. Mathematician Marcy is surveying the palatial estates of the former Madeline Melanson. Strawberries are in bloom, and we see a well-known strawberry planter, Arthur Simard, attempting to sell his wares to Joseph Siciliano, the proprietor of the Snow Flake Ice Cream Parlour. Valerio Spinelli, a contractor, is seated in a booth. A faint tremor of ecclesiastical music rises to the starry sky as we see the former history teachers, Norma Peterson and Marjorie Thurlow, with radiant faces, lifting their voices in song to the heavens, as the members of the National Choir. The witch’s voice peters off into a low moaning as he relates that a new crop of librarians has just been hired in Leominster. These include Louise Plette and Doris L. Powers. Also in his last breath he says that Beverly McCann and Jeanette Gariepy are faring quite well with their little manicurist shop on the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue. The voice stops. The contents of the cauldron swirl with mystic currents as in the reflecting pool we see the militant form of Captain Jack Yager pacing the bridge prior to commencing the long voyage across the seas of time wherein lies the future of the Class of 1939. : 29

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THE MA 1939 But now the mystic porridge clouds again, but as it clears once more— I see a great building which has the symbols “1939” on its conerstone. Yes, the structure was begun 10 years ago and now contains Louis Cocci, ‘‘Herr Direktor” of the institute, who is a great scientist like Louis Pasteur, only Pasteur beat him to it. Warren Johansson has the whole second floor covered with bugs, worms, flies, and a heap of rocks in one corner that looks like a road project; he’s the noted entomologist who discovered that a gnat does sing. On the third floor are Alfred Davison, Deane Foster, and Richard Fricke busily engaged in their capacity as machinists, watching huge machines do their work for them. The scene suddenly fades, but a violent stirring of the boiling mass brings a suggestion of the top floor. Aha! Here in the conservatory (greenhouse) is George ‘“‘Rosebud”’ Hersey, who is the very famous horticulturalist (gardener) who crossed a sunflower with a goldenrod for no reason at all. Also on the roof I see Louis Donais and Rodrigo Caffoni, sketching everything about them, for they’re commercial artists, you know. But still higher in a little tower is William Gettens and Co. with Frank Foster, Emery Hanson and Howard Genano, who have just introduced three-dimen- siona], technicolor television on the market. There was another little tower to this building but experiment No. 1939 of Clyde Davis blew this part to another vicinity. Away down on the office floor I see Nelson Kouns, Francis Farwell], Robert Eaton, and Augustus Jancaitus doing accounting work for the great institution. On the ground floor I see Fred Gordon, Robert Garrity, and Raymond Comeau managing a thriving department store. Gabriel Gentile has just taken an elevator up to the chemical engineering department to apply for a job. And now once more the seething mass in the cauldron boils over and clouds the vision; as it clears again we hear the third witch speak in a loud appalling voice. I see an airport where super-salesman Donald Albrecht is trying to get an order for 100 ‘“‘money-back”’ guaranteed parachutes. A moment later the drone of a plane is heard and a huge plane makes a graceful landing. Out steps the air hostess, Ruth Burridge; and also the globe trotting journalist, Eva Glasheen; the noted radio songstress, Ruth Fischer; and the very famous opera stars, Marjorie Duval and Marjorie Killelea; and pilot, Anthony Angelini. As this group hurries off the field, a stunt plane operated by Dorothy Hirst, lands and lets out its passenger, Elizabeth Hood, night club singer. The whole gang now has a reunion with the two air-base nurses, Janice Goodale and Claire Bissonette. At this moment Wallace Cunningham, dentist, and his assistants, Loraine Drury and Winifred MacLean, hygenists, come into the administration building trying to charter a plane to go to pull a tooth of Mickey Mouse’s in Hollywood. While waiting, someone turns on a radio. Who is talking but Gloria Kay, reading the annual report of the Mass. State Department of Public Health, of which she is president. As soon as this program is over a press-radio bulletin informs the listeners that Earl Johnson is now in the finals for the international married men’s bowling tournament, with Norman Lyon in second place. But another stirring of the fuming cauldron brings a vision of another part of the globe. I see Francis Gordon, state policeman, tearing along a state road after some crazy speedster. Upon catching the fool, he finds it to be Robert Bothwell, high official of the U. S. Army, who persuades “‘Stretch” to forget the whole thing. On the sea, with the U. 8. Navy, I see Arthur DeCarolis, Edward Gillis, Joseph Auffrey, Antonio Caiazzi, Bernard Capone, Vincent Bartimo, Louis DePasquale, Dello Funari, Richard Julian, and Oscar Kramer. They are sailors of the latest ship in the U. S. Navy, which has reached its completion through the efforts of Benedict Gargulinski and of Robert James, manager of the Highland Daily. On board also is Chief Leo J. J. Comiskey of the Internationa] Detective Association, who is searching for the famous Beatrice Andrews, and Arlene Boudreau. 28

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1939 The Magnet S taft The ‘““Magnet’’, under the able supervision of Miss Mary E. Colley, and Miss Mary Johnson, enjoyed a pleasant and prosperous year. Besides being a member of the Central Massachusetts Interscholastic Press Association (C. M. I. P. A.), the ““Magnet’’ has the added distinction of having its editor, Miss Margaret Pickford, the president of this organization. Some of the members of the ““Magnet’’ went to the meeting of the C. M. I. P. A. in Winchendon last November and to the spring meeting in Athol this May. At Christmas, the “Magnet”? held an exclusive Christmas party for its members and con- tributors in the school gymnasium. A large factor in the success of the ‘““Magnet’’ were the members, who co-operated in every way possible. Those on the Executive Board are: Margaret Pickford—’39 Theodore Cote—’40 Salvatore Novelli—’39 Dzvid Bassett—’40 Kathryn Welch—’39 Wallace Cunningham—’39 Antoinette Lanza—’39 Richard Arnold—’40 Marjorie Killelea—’39 Gloria Kay—’39 Rose Steinmetz—’39 Rodrigo Caffoni—’39 Clarice Mercier—’39 30