Mansfield High School - Hornet / Green Years Yearbook (Mansfield, MA)

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Somewhat chastened, I continued down Main Street. On one side, I found Peter Di Giampietro’s Record Store and on the othex, Mary DeClemente’s Dress Shoppe. I went into the latter and found a fashion show in progress. Cathleene Cullen came out modeling sports clothes. Lena Blandori showed the stylish stouts, and Priscilla Shepard looked stunning in one of Mary’s newest evening gowns. Next, I visited Peter and had the opportunity to shake hands with Irene Macomber and Dorothy McKee, who were in the shop autographing records by the dozen. Irene and Dorothy had become famous through their grown-up version of the Moylan Sisters. When Peter saw me, he asked me to sign a few of my records. Dorothy, Irene, and I drew quite a crowd of fans, so many that the chief of police, Donald Vickery, came along with a couple of his henchmen and broke it up. Peter, sorry for our embarrassment, gave us each a copy of The Mansfield Daily News, edited by Miriam Miulson. On the theatre page I discovered that Norma Gleason had the leading role in a Broadway play, Why Little Girls Leave Home (in three parts) by Dorothy Dustin. I also read that Vivian Chafhn had written the musical comedy starring Jimmie Fowler and Louis Nelson, Mwtt and Jeff in Jerksville. The sports page revealed that Everett Crook had been named the champion professional basketball player with John Reid as a close runner-up, while Etta Wellman had received fourth place in the women’s tournament. Priscilla Briggs and Eleanor Murphy copped top honors in the roller skating doubles. ‘Those hours they use to spend at The Rollerway were never wasted. Of special interest was the debate that had taken place in a committee of Congress the day before. Senator Barbara Dean had opposed a tax on cosmetics, proposed by the Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Chase. “The debate was sharp,” said the article, “but when Secretary Chase referred to their earlier days at the Mansfield High, they fell into each other’s arms. All was forgiven and the tax was forgotten. At the dance Gena DiMonte and Priscilla Phillips arrived in uniform. ‘They were the first two women to enlist in the feminine branch of the U. S. Navy. Some years before, Representative Paul Scialoia had succeeded in passing a bill to create a Women’s Auxiliary Fleet in case the mermaids ever tried to lure our sailors from their duties. Dorothy Plausse also attended the dance. She wore a riding habit, for she had just taken part in the rodeo at the Boston Garden. There must have been at least two thousand people at the dance in the new high school auditorium. Quite different from the old days when my orchestra was lucky to draw two people! About ten o'clock, Joe Teixeira, a Western Union messenger boy, handed me a telegram from Russell McCann. “YOUR CONTRACT PAWTUCKET— SLO P=REBUSE SEUR LHEReRESPONSIBIEDVY—s DORAL OV HER: ENGAGEMENTS CANCELLED—STOP.” Regretfully I informed the boys in my orchestra that we were right back where we had started three days ago. “Well, fellows,” I said, “I don’t know about you, but for me this has been a profitable trip. I’ve seen so many of my former classmates. And let me tell you,” I added, “‘it’s no small feat to attract two thousand of Mansfield’s leading citizens to a high school dance. No other orchestra has ever done it before.”

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hhanotinia Dish tAran Viansfield Public Library r ‘ re i oe Aihlacne nN Manstieid. Widss. 07048 looking for a photographer, Paul directed me to Charlotte Patriquin’s studio, which he said was near Dick Horton’s Art Shop. I decided to visit Pat’s place and have some publicity pictures made of my band. But alas and alack! When I got there the next morning, Doris Fowler, Charlotte’s secretary, informed us that Charlotte was competing in a contract bridge tournament. However, we did visit Horton’s Art Shop. At first I thought the place was on fire, but the smoke actually came from Dick's pipe. Coughing and choking, Chappie and I followed Dick inside. He carefully put the finishing touches on an advertisement for Jantzen bathing suits, and then sitting back and dragging cheerfully on his pipe, he began to tell us what he had been doing the last ten years and how some of the other members of our class were employed. Dick told us that Bill Beatty was in the trucking business and was now known as an accomplished rug-cutter at Lakeview Ballroom. Another classmate, Ralph Cutillo, had taken up chemical engineering in a big way. “As you probably know,” Dick remarked, “it was Ralph who developed the synthetic tires used on your bus.” All this was very interesting, but my orchestra was due in Pawtucket in four hours, so Chappie and I had to leave. For dinner at the hotel we had some delicious American dishes prepared by Mary Munro, Dot Barrows, and Helen McKay, three famous women chefs, who had received their training in our own high school cafeteria. When it came time for the bus to leave, I couldn’t find Eddie. It soon developed that he had really been offended the night before and had taken the bus to Mansfield to see if he could find anyone to console him. ‘The only thing my orchestra could do was to follow him there by train. ‘That we did. Arriving at Mansfield, we were greeted by a crowd of enthusiastic high school students, who presented a petition for my orchestra to stay in town and play for them that evening. No man with his heart in the right place could ever refuse the pleas of the Mansfield High youngsters, so I consented. From Donald Morse’s telegraph office I sent Russ McCann a wire informing him of the situation. Then I went out to see the town. In place of Musto and De Lutis’ stood a new beauty parlor called Mary and Ruth’s Salon, run by Mary Creeden and Ruth Bolton. Going farther down the street, | ran into Stan Allen, who by this time was a dead ringer for Doctor Kildare. He was accompanied by his nurse, Dorothy Dill. The First National Super Market was no longer standing. In its place was the First International Super Duper Market, managed by Robert McKillop and Bob Maurer. Bob proudly displayed his exotic fruits imported from the tropics and, incidentally, told me that Clarence Leonard was head boiler man on a South American freighter. “Too bad,” I remarked, “that Walter Klenk hasn’t been heard from since he left in his rocket ship for a trip to the moon.” “He'll be all right,” Bob said confidently, “with Freddie Flint as pilot.’ Bob then excused himself to keep his appointment with the dentist, Tony Flammia. Hurrying out of the store, | bumped into Mary Horton and Mary D’Afile, who were on a private secretary's holiday. After I had apologized and given them two free tickets to the dance that night, they let me rise and charitably brushed me off.

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Mansfield Public Library | La Mansfield, Mass. 02048