Williamsburg High School - Tattler Yearbook (Williamsburg, MA)

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Prophecy for the Class of 1957 lt is the year 2057. Here at the Crossroads the members of the class which graduated from Williamsburg High School QRa.h!j on June 21, 1957, are having their one-hundredth Qand last, annual class banquet. The Grim Reaper has just claimed our last member, John Merritt, in time for the occasion so that now, after death, our class is to- gether again in its entirety for the first time in one hundred years. Due to his scientific experiments, John had sorely neglected his social obligations on earth--except for the period previous to his marriage. Now that he has been unexpectedly released from his work on longevity, he plans to make up for the time lost by really living it uP.u As the last arrival, John is seated at the head of the table, the place which had been reserved for the last to arrive at the Crossroads. John is now tapping his glass for silence, he is about to propose a toast. On this immortal oc- casion let us raise these glasses of heavenly spirits to the Class of '57, assembled, bodiless but not spiritless, for our first complete reunion in the hereafter. Surrounded by these shadows supemal and memories of the past, let us pledge our everlasting and undying unity as a class. Our earthly dreams now evaporated, we pause here at the Crossroads, our eternal destiny before us in the nothingness. A toast to our Class of 1957! Oh I'll take anything you have, Jeanne Watling is telling the waitress. Still ready for anything is Jeanne, who spent her younger years working in a television studio. As she grew older, however, she found that she could make more money as a medium for seances. ln this capacity, Jeanne was able to keep in touch with everyone, and so, at the class meeting before the banquet, we elected her to write the history of our class this last one hundred years. Busily giving Jeanne the details of her past life is Betty Beals, whom we all remember as innocent, sweet, co-op- erative. Betty started her career as a nurse in a New York hospital. However, a plague settled over Argentina and volunteers were needed. Innocent, sweet, co-operative Betty volunteered and was dutifully caring for the plagued Argentinians when a young radical in the government swept her off her sturdy feet, and married her. Betty then turned radical, and became a leading radical party member. Now, Betty says she's through with politics. She has an appropriate dinner partner in Rudy Wittshirk, the lad who had the most revolutionary ideas when he was in school. Back in 1957, everyone considered Rudy the class, school, and town radical. But time had its effects, and after spending some twenty-five years as a foreign correspondent in the Middle East, living in the midst of the most rebellious rebels, Rudy decided to change his way of life and settle down. He hadlaccumulated quite a for- tune from stock in the Egyptian oil fields by the time he came back to the United States so he had no trouble find- ing a young, perky wife who took care of him until a few years ago, when he joined the other members of his class here at the Crossroads. lt is interesting to note that his wife was a cousin of another classmate of our, Jeanette Sampson. Jeanette be- came a hairdresser and went to Los Angeles to open her own beauty salon. She was so successful at that that she opened a dressmaking shop next door to her beauty salon, where she introduced the vogue of co-ordinating hair styles with clothes styles. Jan returned to the Western Massachusetts region about seventy years ago for a vacation, and she renewed acquaintances with her high school beau. They were married and returned to Los Angeles where Jan and her husband happily lived until recently, when they joined us at the Crossroads. That fellow seated at the end of the table is Dave Smith, a lean, dynamic businessman. His departure caused a crash on Wall Street from which the stock market is just recovering. Too full of energy to retire while still young, Dave operated huge enterprises until his one hundred and first birthday. Dave is still fond of repeating his favorite expression, The devil finds work for idle hands. Seated next to Dave Smith is Nancy Wells whose ambition in 1957 was to sell pencils. We all laughed then-- Nancy selling pencils! But she became an airline hostess, and on one of her flights, she met a wealthy pencil manufacturer who had always wanted to marry a blond airline hostess. And since Nancy had always wanted to sell pencils, they were married. Within the year the pencil manufacturer died, leaving his pencil business to Nancy. Every now and then, just to make sure that pencils were still selling, Nancy would remove diamonds and fuxs, don ragged clothing and perch herself on a chair at a street corner to sell pencils. When Nancy was about ninety-three, she jabbed her hand with a pencil and never recovered. Helping herself to more meat is our other Nancy, Nancy Hillenbrand, who had a great love for horses. This af- fection did not diminish throughout the years, and between 1957 and the time when she came galloping up to the Crossroads on a beautiful palomino, Nancy had owned and operated fourteen race tracks, three dude ranches, five stables, seven riding rings, and two horse farms. The money to run all these came from the race tracks. Nancy's horses won many awards, and Nancy's name is still greatly respected among those who know anything about horses. Here's a guy who had the best chance of arriving here first, for he had the best equipment. Fortunately, Don Lii- matanien's early driving experience fgained while careening down the Chesterfield Road in his Ragged Rocket 88's trying to make it to school on timej enabled him to become the top racing driver on the five continents. Don's motto while in the driver's seat was-- Keep your foot rammed through the floorboards at all times. Some observers feel that this driving principle was first developed while Don was attending Burgy High. Another classmate who has made speed his profession is Walt Barreling Boucher. Even after he retired from ramming experimental rockets through the heat and light barriers for the Air Force, Walt continued testing proto- types for the North American Aviation Company and held down a desk job as vice-president besides. Walt isproud to claim that in his long career as a test pilot, he made only one mistake--forgetting to close the door of the last rocket he piloted! No, Pat, I don't want my bread, you may have it. Pat Moynahan still likes to eat. She, you know, took a camp- ing trip the summer after she graduated, on this trip she met an attractive young forest ranger. The rugged life of a ranger's wife must have appealed to Pat for she married him. She seems to have no regrets about having had to live in such isolated regions--all we hear about are the wonderful skiing and snowshoeing in the winter, the swim- ming and fishing in the summer, the beauty of living independently of the rest of the world. Pat always did want to be independent. Just as achieving independence was Pat's earthly goal, so it seems to be her goal here for she has already announced that she hopes her assignment will take her to some remote region where she can sit inquiet contemplation.

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in 20, Henrietta Ronka Class dreamer Enjoys outdoor movies most, being alone least. She is really old faithful and certain to be a success as a sec- retary to an important man in 1967. Her most frequent statement is Let's go to Amherst. Know why? Russ is there! S .Q Oh, how she hates to get up in the morning! When she says Oh, do I love that! she's probably referring to that dia- mond on her finger or a new Chevy passing by. A quiet girl now, she'1l be married in 10 years and probably not so quiet. .UM Nancy Hillenbrand One most apt to be late Likes lots of fun but not getting up in the moming, so she'll no lg K doubt still be sleeping in 1967. Her iavorite question is What is ' that? and her favorite pastime is arguing with Mrs. Thomas. ' 11- Kind of short now--we think she should be a driver ed. instructor. ' , F - Q5 4 L 6 M's best customer, for it wouldn't he Dave without a ' .- fin' ' V cigarette. Beats me he says, beats us how he can be so QT .0 9 slow moving, but in ten years he may be on the ball. Oh, 4, faligxk 1 - I, ,Q almost forgot--he despises quiz shows! seisf-4 , 'Q s .4 Jeanne Watling and Dave Smith Two easiest to get along with likes girls and hates hair braids. He wou1dn't look natu- ral without a crew cut. l-le'll exclaim Beans! when there's nothing else to say. Right now he is B.M.O.C. ' .,, ' bin in ten years--who knows--maybe he '11 be wealthy. 'jj -P I 7. 4. 19 WM Sam Bowker Neatest boy I Alison Lupien Most variable disposition If you like math, hate spinach, sport an Elvis Presley haircut, say Haven't got time , you and Alison have a lot in common. He is tall now, will be still taller in ten years and still laughing, we hope! 19

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1 I June Braman has hardly touched her food--well, she stays slim that way. June was the first of our group to be married. In 1965 she and her husband Ernie moved to Wyoming where they had charge of running a large cattle 1 ranch. When the owner of the ranch died, they bought and expanded it, and June reports that when she left, the ranch was doing very well and the cattle appeared quite content. Fran Vayda, one of the cutest members of our class, started life with a bang after graduation from W.H.S. After J- she and Steve were married, they devoted all their energy to setting up a chain of restaurants and nightclubs. Fif- Y teen years of hard work paid off, for by 1972 they owned establishments throughout the country and were able to spend every summer traveling in Europe, North America, and Australia, and every winter in South America, Asia, and Africa. Every leap year they used to return to Williamsburg where their permanent home was. Fran thinks that after traveling around the world so often, being ordered to establish residence, at the Crossroads was indeed a re- lief, she was getting tired of living out of a suitcase, even if it was a big one. Her fighting days over, Beverly Brooks now sits with us at the class banquet, she hasn't lost a bit of her military posture. One of the three Haydenville girls in our class, Bev started her career with a real bang--she joined the WACS and was a member of the first all--woman field artillery. We are all familiar with the fact that Bev didn't exactly look the other way when there was a rnan around, and out there on a training field there were plenty of men. As you would expect, Bev married one of them--a general, no less. We are hoping that Gloria Baker has been able to provide our banquet with some tasty dessert. Gloria also joined the service, becoming a woman cook in the WAFS. Her specialty was baking, as might be expected from a Baker. Once out of the service, Gloria opened her own bake shop, and was very successful. I heard she joined us after suffering a severe case of ptomaine poisoning. Alison Lupien is giving Gloria a hard time in one of their daily arguments of Navy versus Air Force. It was inevitable that Alison would go Navy. Rising from the rank of third assistant deck swab to commander, he forsook his position as mop jocky for the controls of a sleek guided missile cruiser. In 1991 his cruiser Cranberry launched seven missiles to specially designated target areas in the Soviet Union. Harmless smoke bombs went off on the nose and warned the world that aggression will not pay! There's Sam Bowker reaching for a plate of mashed potatoes. Sam's dream of becoming an engineer was realized. In the year 1982 he became the head of the biggest building firm in the country. After twelve years of designing and forty years of labor, the greatest engineering feat of all time was completed. A six lane bridge across the At- lantic Ocean was opened in 2034--a huge memorial to the imagination and foresight of Samual It will not fall into the sea! Bowker. Over in the far corner, Neal Tennyson is fiercely debating between mouthfuls with the small group gathered around him. Neal's gift of gab and philosophic outlook elevated him to the position of a latter-day Walter Winchell fan early commentatorj. He was heard on radio, television, and had his own syndicated column in the newspapers. His world-wide audience numbered millions who must be wondering how they will get along without his controversial pree-dik-shuns and inside noozel Henrietta Ronka is used to seeing a lot of people seated at the dinner table, for after due consideration and con- templation, having spent three years working in the office of the University of Massachusetts, she decided to get married. It seems that the boy who became her husband was her high school sweetheart, however, being very ret- icent, she never mentioned him to any of us. Happily married, Henrietta has only one regret: that she wasn't able to see her sixteen great-grandchildren started out on as enjoyable and full a life as she experienced. Oops! The waitress just tripped over George Heath's baseball bat-- George never goes anywhere without it, he hopes to run into Mickey Mantle sometime and get it autographed. Baseball fans will never know if George Heath could have broken Mickey's home run record, before the baseball commission deadened the ball, George presented the most serious threat. He had to content himself with the highest lifetime average f.502j and the highest seasonal average f.648j. Still shy and modest, George always gives the same answer when asked how he managed to hit the ball so many times: ah dunno . . . Ah just shut mah eyes an' let 'er rip . . . Ah'm pretty lucky Ah guess. Gentleman Dave Breguet rushed over to help the poor fallen waitress untangle herself from the string beans, mash- ed potatoes, broken dishes and baseball bat. They exchanged smiles and Dave came back to finish his stogie. Dave developed strong arm muscles by pushing gasoline from the time he left school until he joined us here. It would seem that a person would get tired of pumping gas. Dave, however, had simple tastes, and he was content to man a pump for years. How can anydne do this for his entire life? Easy--when you're pumping five hundred thousand barrels a day as the president of the Mobilgas Corporation. Easy--when you're pulling in seven hundred thousand dollars a year after taxes! Local Girl Makes Good story could be written about Cornelia DeNood. The only one of us who had anything else to do with school after leaving college, Cornelia received her master's degree and then taught English at Harvard. Her marriage to a wealthy lawyer, however, changed her role to that of housewife. Cornelia still found time to write quite a few novels, THE TRUTH OF Tl-IE MATTER and SUITABLE FOR FRAMING being so successful that they were made into movies. A portion of our after-dinner entertainment is going to be supplied by Sylvia Ferron, Sue has had perhaps as ad- venturous a life as anyone, for she became an actress, her success on the stage the result of careful planning, six months to a year living with the kind of people whom the play was to portray, before she played in the Broadway hit DARK ALLEY, she lived from July to November with gangsters, molls, and drug addicts. Likewise, before the re-staging of TEA-HOUSE OF THE AUGUST MOON, she spent two summers in the Orient. The one play for which she didn't have a chance to pre-live her role was that in which she, along with the rest of us, is now making her very last appearance--Crossroads. lt is only since forsaking earth for all eternity that she has been able to expe- rience this life. Here, we are all, in a sense, preparing ourselves for our final roles. In a short time, our names will be called and we will come to the parting of our ways. Before the assignment of our eternal destinies, however, we are all going to have one last fling. Pass the gravy, please. by Cornelia DeNood, Prophetess Rudolph Wittshirk, Prophet