Munster High School - Paragon Yearbook (Munster, IN)

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It was half past six when the piercing sound of my alarm woke me from my deep slum- ber. I really didn ' t want to leave my warm bed, but with my mother screaming at me and my little brother tossing pillows at my head, I had no choice. As I crawled out of bed, I quickly noticed that snow was piled high against my windows, making it almost impossible to see outside. I quickly dashed toward my radio to listen to WJOB, won- dering if I still had school. Boy, was I lucky! As I lis- tened to the Hammond station, I heard the announcer say, “No classes for all Munster Public Schools today.’’ For the first time since 1973, Munster High was closed for a snow day. As I listened on, I heard that all the Lake County schools were closed. I decided to slip back into bed to catch a few more hours of sleep. What a perfect oppor- tunity to rest up and watch all my soap operas. Before I had the chance to fulfill my big plans,” my mom informed me that I was on snow duty. I had to go out and shovel the whole driveway in the sub-zero tem- perature. It took me almost fifteen minutes to get dressed. I really had no energy to trudge out into the snow, but since my dad got stuck earlier that day, I decided to go. As I opened the front door, an icy gust whisked through the crack. I walked out into the drifts, not knowing where to begin. Snow was piled every- where. There weren’t even any car tracks on the street. The whole town seemed to be dead. Where were the snow plows? The only noise to be heard was the sound of the wind whirling through the snow covered trees. Although I shoveled at a steady pace, I wasn’t making much progress since the wind blew the snow right back onto the driveway. I finally finished the job. Snow-covered and practically frozen, I made my way back into the house to thaw out. I wish my dad would have bought a snow blower be- cause it would have made the whole job a lot easier. Five hours later, back ach- ing, sore throat coming on, and completely exhausted, I collapsed in the couch. To my disappointment, all of my soap operas were over. My only snow day off was completely wasted. Two weeks later the semes- ter ended and the schools in the town of Munster were once again given the day off. I re- member waking up the Friday morning that we got off for se- mester break. It was an exact replica of the previous snow storm. My day began with my mother urging me to get dressed and rushing me out into the snowstorm to go to Burgers, the local super- market, to stock up on grocer- ies before we were snowed in. When I arrived in the store, it seemed that the whole town of Munster had the same idea as my mom. You’d think that this was the only food left in the whole world, the way the people were stuffing their shopping carts full to capacity. I finished the shopping and tried to make my way up to the register. Thirty minutes had gone by, when I noticed that my ice cream had started to melt in my shopping cart, and onto the floor. On the way home, I heard the radio announcer proclaim that Indiana was a national dis- aster area. All of the major in- terstates were shut down be- cause of the snow. NIPSCO (Northern Indiana Public Ser- vice Company) urged all of the schools to shut down for three days. They also asked all busi- nesses to shut down because there was not enough natural energy. All the local steel industries closed, along with the local businesses. Many stores con- tinued to conserve energy throughout the winter by cut- ting down their hours. Throughout the winter, fuel shortages continued to threaten the nation. President Carter ordered all thermostats to be turned down to 65 degr- ess during the day and 55 de- grees at night. Well, three days off school was not all that bad. With many of the nearby shopping cen- ters being shut down and the freezing cold sub-zero weather, it looks like I’ll be hi- bernating next to the fireplace and catching up on a few nov- els I never had time to read. RIGHT: ADVERSE CONDITIONS While most people chose to stay indoors from the blinding snow, senior Tim Walsh battles the blizzard condition. 20 Winter of 77

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LEFT: CONFIRMED IDENTITY. With a nudge of re- assurance, freshman Jill Barath explains to soph- omore Tom Bosch that she is indeed Ida. the maid. BELOW: ALL FIRED UP Waking to find his clothes stolen, sophomore Jim Szeczepaniak storms into the living room ready to take his anger out on an innocent visitor, junior Judson Strain. ABOVE: FALL DRAMA CAST AND CREW. FRONT ROW: Mrs. Renee Ko- uris, Sheri Fehring, Karen Jancosek, Jenny Figler, Janice Levy, Carleen Burch, Sharon Lebryk, Jacques Brouwers, Kevin Crary, Debbie Rapin, Dave McKenna, Mai Dixon, Sanford Winter, Terry Moore. ROW 2: Kelly Fusner, Patty Gage. Molly Ahlgrim, Judy Kessler, Kerri Dunn. Belinda Komarowski, Denise Rapin, Kathleen Brennan, Amy Zucker, Chris Wil- son, Louise Waxman, Diane Mellady. ROW 3: Mary Melby, Dalia Si- f I dabras, Pam Kiser, Evie Shoemaker, Kathy Stavros, Pam Wlazik, Scott Vukovich, Tim Finley, Phil Kowalcxyk, Greg Zudok, Susie Gruoner, Bev Hudec, Sheila Hayes, Maureen Bryan, Ann Melby. BACK ROW: Sharon Kolodziej, Caryn Smith, Michelle Montes, Diane Watson, Jill Barath, Mike Young, Tom Bosch, Marianne Lanman, Scott Grooner. Blair Barkal, Jim Szeczepaniak, Judson Strain, Steve Silver, Mike Petrashev- ich, Bryan Pajor. Fall Drama 19

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LEFT: TRUDGING ALONG. De- spite the freezing temperatures, senior Chuck Hulsey takes a shorter route through the snow in order to make it to his class in time. BELOW: LIVING IT UP. Although ice and snow created problems for motorists, the heavy snow- storm provided free days of rec- reation for sophomore Sharon Mazanek. BOTTOM: STALLED OUT. One of the complications of the cold weather was a dead battery as sophomore Kurt Kappes and ju- nior Tricia Eggers try to revive a stalled car. -i Winter of ' 77 21