Blend High School - Memories Yearbook (Blend, IL)

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CLASS HISTORY, Cont'd. May 10, the long awaited day, had finally come. The gym was decorated as a Parisian street scene. The moat Impressive decoration was the Illuminated stars which glittered In the dark. The height of the banquet was reached when balloons, of all shapes and sizes, were released from the celling. Another highlight of the banquet was the announcement made by Mr. Philippe, our band Instructor, that the band had won first place In the band contest at Macomb. To climax our third school term we met at the school and Journeyed to Hillsboro where we picnicked. After a brief vacation, our class again resumed Its studies for the last time In the B.T.H.S. As Elite seniors our responsibilities Increased. We were In charge of the Carrier under Mr. Marcaccl’s sponsorship. After the semester exams It was agreed upon at a class meeting that our class would publish an annual. During the last semester of our senior year preparations were made for graduation Individual pictures were taken; Invitations, rings, and gowns were ordered. All of the students who entered school four years ago are not here now. Somewhere along the way we lost Joe Vodka, Wesley Frltzchi, Jules Borlo, Ella Mae Laurie, Benny Rocker, John Lolle, Prances Davis, and Gerry De Pauw. Although they were unable to finish school here, we shall always consider them a part of our class. ( Ln.ss (Colors- Blue avTfc TUhite. (flltiLSS iPloxuer— Anh’rirtur Beauty; (£fia Motio- Ttfe EletCb, (Others Jffollow.

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W© entered this great institution of higher learning in the fall of 1944 as quiet, timid Freshmen. The first few days were marked for most of us by unforgetable experiences, such as initiation, losing our way to classes, and forgetting our locker combinations. Con- sciously, we gazed about in the dreary corridors only to be greeted by the dismal, unearth- ly stares of the much amused upper-classmen. As lowly Freshmen we gained the limelight by starting various fads. Some of these were: exchanging shoes, wearing pigtails, collecting pennies, eating between classes, and wearing bow ties. These seemed childish to our upper-classmates but to us it was fun. The days before our first exam were hideously perplexing, but when it was all over we found it was not as hard as we had expected. Since we had an insatiable desire for learn - ing, many of us were privileged by being on the honor roll. Throughout our high school years, our class has continued to generovsly contribute its share of students to the honor roll. As early as our Freshman year many of our classmates showed their athletic ability. Of course, they did not make the first team, but they participated in the many Freshman- Sophomore games. At the close of the Freshman year the entire class motored to Lake Carlinville where they picnicked with Mr. Tenikat as sponsor. The day was spent boating, swimming, eating, fishing, hiking, and playing baseball. After a short vacation most of us returned as sophomores. The Sophomore sewing class under Miss Gaydos organized an S.O.S. club (Society of Sewers). They had their annual Moth- er-Daughter Banquet and Fashion Show in May. In appreciation of Miss Gaydos' efforts the S.C.S. club gave a dinner In her honor. As Sophomores, some of us, were chosen to serve at the Junior-Senior Banquet. The theme of the banquet was a garden scene, and as servers we dressed appropriately, wearing pastel, printed Irindels. The evening was an immense success. Thr close of the school year was again marked by the annual picnic, which was held at Hillsbo:o. Up n returning In the fall of '46 as aggressive Juniors, we undertook a magazine cam- paign t raise funds for the Junior-Senior banquet. The four leading salesmen were Donna Wyskocl x. Jack Bertagnolli, Richard Zarr and Phyllis Taylor. Because of our exc e 1 1 ent salesrac ishlp ability, our class was given a honorary plaque from the Curtis Publishing Co. T' obtain additional funds for the banquet,our Junior class presented a three-act farce entitl d Love Your Neighbor. The synopsis of the play Is as follows: Tessy Vashki, (Jo June irro), who loves her Iowa home town, is about to marry Ozzy Fredrick, (Donald Crum), Chica o glamour lad. The Vashki household buzzes with wedding preparations, a pair of vo- ciferous twins,(Irmaline Plana and Bettygene Nebesnick), a tuba-playing kid brother, (Jack Bertagnolli), and of all things, bees. The bees belong to Johnny Jones, ex-marine,(Ben Dun- can). After one of the bees stung Tessy on the lips, Johnny tries to remedy the situation by kissing her. Tessy and Johnny are hitting it off famously when Ozzie returns to find the ex-marine administering a second treatment by way of osculation. Discovering that Tea jy, whom he has fallen for, is engaged, Johnny assists with the wedding rehearsal. The wedding Is Interrupted when Tessy discovers that Ozzy s aunt, (Joan Yatcko), is trying to force Johnny out of business. When Dixie,(Doris Perona), a honeysuckle from the Deep South, arrives asking for her husband Johnny, Tessy again resumes her plans for her marriage to Ozzie. They are at the I do stage when Johnny yells run for cover—the bees are loose. The final round involves a boxing bout, the fire department, and the return of Dixie to dis- cover she has her Johnny Joneses mixed. In a kaleidoscopic finish, Johnny gets Tessy, Ozzy gets one of the twins he's been sweet on all along, and the bees get smoket out, along with everyone else. The remainder of the cast included Donald Triplo, Donna Wyskocil, Josephine Ingrando, Pauline Herman, Clarence Zimmer, Jacqueline Edwards, John Misik, Jack Chulick, Bob Bednar, Virginia Home, Olga Wasylenko, and Camille GIrardi.

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PROPHECY The night la cool and refreshing, the atara are gleaming softly, and the moon ia a huge, golden diac in the aky. Aa I ait alone, my thoughts wander, and I find myself wondering about my claaamatea. What shall become of them when our high school days are over? Where will they be and what will they be doing a few years from now? Suddenly my head begins to whirl and I feel myaelf flying through space. The uni- verse spins around me, and everything seems blurred and somehow beyond my grasp. Around and around it goes, until everything is one huge ball of darkness. With a last ter- rific lurch, the world rights itself again and I begin to breathe easily once more. Then-I gasp. No longer am I sitting on my own front porch, safe at home. I am in a large city, with traffic whizzing around me and tall buildings looming darkly against the heavens. It is late afternoon and the men and women are coming home from work. A trolley clangs to a stop, and a young man carrying a lunch pail boards it. Eugene Koniak’s factory Job makes him pretty tired. He slumps down into a seat for a brief nap, but is interrupted by the entrance of two secretaries who take the seat in back of him and proceed to giggle at nothing in particular It looks as though those two Inseparable companions, Joan Yatcko and Olga Wasylenko, haven’t changed a bit Another girl hurries in and joins Joan and Olga with glad cries of recognition. Doris Perona is a telephone operator now, and she Is Just dying to unload all of the latest gossip on someone As the trolley rolls off, I find myself before an enormous hospital. Suddenly a white ambulance screeches to a stop and the white-clad attendants rush a man on a stretcher up the stairs. As they carry him past me, I seem to recognize him. Why, of course, I do. It’s Donald Kalvin, the great oil king. He was Just hit by a rotating gusher. I follow them Inside and into the operating room. There the great surgeon, Dr- Donna Wyskocil is preparing her instruments. A nurse, whom I recognize as Camille Gir- ardi, hands them to her. Scalpel, sponge, hammer, saw----------yes, everything is ready The operation Is about to begin when a man carrying a gun almost as big as himself rushes in. It seems as If Bob Bednar, the famed big game hunter, got his directions slightly mixed. Just as I leave the hospital, my attention Is attracted by a loud hubbub coming from the courthouse. Judge Jack Hickey is presiding at the bar. (The bar of Justice, that is.) James Passero, the traveler of life’s highways, has been charged with vag- rancy. His lawyer, Melvin Gerardo, is gesturing emphatically, a bunch of grapes In one hand and a law book in the other. Suddenly he turns red, then blue, then purple. Is he angry? Is he threatening? No. He almost choked on a seed. On the Jury I see Benny Duncan, the man who built the first railroad across the Pacific Ocean. In one comer of the room, aits a girl rapidly typing everything that is being said. Gilda Di Paolo enjoys her Job as court stenographer very much. Suddenly she stops, confused. Daml She forgot to put a ribbon In the typewriter. I continue on my way until I come to a factory where everyone is busily at work. I enter an office marked private and there I see a man I once knew as Jack Chulick. He is now the successful manufacturer of Jet-propelled motor scooters. At the moment he Is In conference with another big business man, carpenter Jack Bertagnolll. Mr. Bert- agnolli is trying to sell Mr. Chulick on the idea of making plastic motor scooters. Jack Bertagnolll has been highly fortunate with his light-as-a-feather plastic houses. There Is only one slight flaw in them. Every time a storm comes along, the houses are blown away. This could become rather annoying. All of a sudden the door bursts open and a distinguished-looking man, wearing a loud plaid suit and yellow spats, strolls nonchalantly in. The two business men wel- come him cordially. Donald Crum, the mad genius, ia plotting his new 4-lane highway to