Agawam High School - Sachem Yearbook (Agawam, MA)

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a grand time at the “Teen Town Trot and we netted a sizable profit to be used for the prom. Dolores Rivers, Gerry Hauff, Gladys Johnson, and Lillian Paro furnished a very pleasant part of the entertainment. Do you remember the prom, the dance we had all been looking forward to since our freshman days? The auditorium became a formal garden complete with classic columns, marble balustrades and exotic plants. It is surprising that there was a flower left in the neighborhood for the front of the stage was banked w ith Iris and ferns. A moon glow'ed softly and stars tw inkled down at us as we danced to Ray Sparrow’s music. In June we were proud to be represented at the graduation of the Class of iQ45 by Jean Wilcoxson and Lllen Letendre as Junior Marshals. Eddie Deloghia had left us to join the Naval Air Corps at the end of our sophomore year and during the junior year three more members left our class for the armed forces: Donald Campbell. Paul Diduk, and Bernard Keeley. Our senior year saw champion teams in both football and basketball. Stew ie Safford and Tom Aitchison, co-captains of the football team, were elected to the “All Western Massachusetts Team . In our annual basketball game w ith West Side, Jimmy Fenn saved the day with his spectacular plays in the last few seconds of the game. Marie Paro became secretary that year while our other officers remained the same. The Class of 46 always had a prominent part in musical events. In our senior year Gerry Hauff played the coveted lead in “The Pirates of Penzance , while Lillian Paro, Dolores Rivers, Jean Wilcoxson, and Norman Gauthier had important roles in the cast. In our junior year Marilyn Binns had won first place in the school oratorical contest and second place in the Valley-Wheel Contest. Jeannette White brought honor to us as seniors when she won first place in the school contest. Jimmy Fenn made an excellent president for the “Student Council” during our Senior year. In the preceding year Bob Backstrom had been treasurer and Evelyn Peterson, w ho served as secretary the senior year, had been treasurer of the council. The Class of ’46 broke two records in Pro Merito membership. We had the largest number ever elected from a class, eighteen members, and our mem- bership included all four of our class officers. Even though one of the worst blizzards of the winter was raging the night of the “Kid Party , over fifty brave souls were able to witness the graceful ballet by Norman Gauthier and hear Wally Provost’s “one-man symphony . Having original ideas, we chose for our senior play an old-fashioned melo- drama, Silas, the Chore Boy”, produced in “gay-nineties style complete with barker and entr'actes. It required all the ingenuity and many weeks of hard work by our class artists to produce backgrounds for three different scenes. We had a busy spring term with last minute work on the year book, club parties, another prom, and banquet plans. Before we realized it June was upon us. As we marched down the aisle, we hoped that we looked dignified in our caps and gowns at the first peacetime graduation in five years. ELSIE WOOD PHYLLIS CAMPBELL

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REMINISCING Do you remember the day we became freshmen? Although we were very- strong in numbers we felt small and insignificant among the sophisticated upper- classmen. At our first class meeting Jimmy Fenn became president; Ellen Letendre, vice-president: Ann Keeley, secretary; and Flub Sands, treasurer. As a class we had no social activities that year but many of our classmates were prominent in musical organizations and athletics. How proud we were to have Bernie Keeley play on the first strings of both the basketball and football teams. After a quiet freshman year we were eager to participate in the various clubs of the school. The Dramatic Club Christmas play that year was practically a sophomore production. Play scenery and party decorations began to show the influence of the many artists in the class of ’46. Shamrock Shennanigans”, the first social event of our sophomore year, was a huge success. It was there we first realized that we had a magician among us when Hank Dickinson completely baffled us with his performance. In Charlie Bailey’s original skit, St. Patrick sailed in from Normandy and triumphed over the snakes of Ireland. That year the school produced the Stage Door Canteen , an entertainment to help the war effort. Among the sophomores who contributed were Joe Tan- goed w ho played his accordian, and Bob Backstrom, a member of the all-star band. We retained Ellen and Ann as vice-president and secretary respectively, electing Hub’s brother Raoul as treasurer and Bob Backstrom as our new' presi- dent. In our Junior year we re-elected these same officers. Because of the hard work of the Junior Cabaret committees, everyone had

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JUNIOR CLASS OFFICERS President, DUANE PATCH Secretary, CATHRINE MANOS Vice-President, ALICE WASKIEL Treasurer, ROBER'l STEPHENS