Charles W Baker High School - Lyre Yearbook (Baldwinsville, NY)

Page 25 text:

CLASS PROPHECY The lights were just going on in the stadium as we entered. It was a big night for the home town, the first major league baseball game to be played in Baldwinsville. The league-leading Red Rock Pirates were opposing the Boston Braves. As 1 entered the locker room, manager John (Gieasy ) Wilcox was just giving his last minute instruction to Dick VanderVeer and Jack Russ, the leagues best double play combination. Just then trainer A! Telrault entered, took a couple of swallows from a bottle labeled lini- ment” and announced that pitcher Ed Kratzer had refused to start warming up until his salary de- mands were satisfied. Jack then sent A1 to find Bob Bitz and Tom Appleby, the local land barons. The manager opened the door and we walked onto the field. “Quite a crowd tonight, I remarked. “It would be bigger if there wasn’t a counter-attraction,” he answered. “ ’East Lynne with Paul Naumann, Jerry Auyer and Mary Wood is playing at the Palace.” He was broken off by a loud cheer from the crowd as a large delegation of local celebrities walked onto the playing field. Included in the group were Tom Adsit, proprietor of the world’s largest billiard room, and Lyndon (Moon) Snow, the world’s pocket billiards champion, also Hon. Edward Vought, chairman of the Common Council and Dominic Anthony Nicholas Carfagna, Esq, newly elected mayor. Mayor Carfagna, who is never at a loss for words, began to speak. Two hours and fifteen minutes later I was rudely awakened by the sound of applause which marked the end of the Mayor’s speech. As the party left the field, the ground crew appeared from the dugout and began work on the diamond. The crew was led by Doug Church driving an Allis- Chalmer tractor. When the ground crew finished, the National Anthem was sung by Barbara Bond, the star of the B’Ville Opera Company, organized by the great impresario, Gordon Rode. Just before the game got under way, Ron (Lippy) Aplin, manager of the Boston Club, was struck by an empty beer bottle, thrown by a slightly inebriated gentleman in the box seats. As he was carried from the field by two pretty nurses, who, Manager Wilcox told me, were two of my old school mates, Norma Harkins and Shirley foster, I heard him mumble something to the elfect that more people should get drunk at ball games. The drunk, who was now being escorted from the stadium by two burly police- men turned out to be none other than Jim Hanley, the local grocer. During the first inning of the game I noticed two more of my class mates, Jim and Bill Weston. They were busily carrying bats and catcher’s equipment from the Boston dugout. I walked over to Jim and asked him how he happened lo be in this business. He merely pointed to the large sign in center field and said, He did it. The sign read: “Walter N. Thompson’s Friendly Loan Service. Jim explained that last year he had borrowed $25 and inside of two months the interest bad grown to $825. So he had to work to pay off his debt. The remainder of the game was very dull except for an incident during the seventh inning stretch. Mary (Haywire) Johnson, the head usher at the park insisted that Mary Carol Pederson must pay a double admission because she occupied two seats. The argument resulted in Mary Carol’s ejection from the park. The game ended with Baldwinsville on the long end of 5-4 score due to brilliant relief pitching of I'red (fireball) Bellows, the local fireman. As the crowd filed out of the l’a|k, I couldn t help but think what a success most of the members of the class of ’48 had made of their lives, but I was in for a bigger surprise yet. 1 was just walking out of the stadium gate when I spied a well dressed man attempting to siphon gas from the tank of a parked car. I was just about to give mm a lecture on stealing, when I discovered that it was Charles A. Baker, the president of Standard Oil of New ork He explained that he was just tasting it to see if it was Mobilgas. Bake asked me if I wanted a ride downtown and I assured him that Ed be only too happy to ride with him (at the risk of life and limb). 24

Page 24 text:

CLASS HISTORY 1948—At last the year which we have looked forward to and dreamed about has arrived. Although we thought the day would never come, the four years we spent here seem short when we look back upon them. 1944— We started our Freshman year in 200 with Mrs. Sawyer and Miss Coolidge, led by Ronnie Barnuin as our President. Of course, everything was new and different to us, but the year was con- sidered a success with the dances presided over by Mr. Durgee, our advisor. The Junior High Prize Speaking Contest was held in the Spring of 1945, and Joie Fuess and Ronnie Aplin carried off top honors while Joan Gallagher and Alan Baker won second prizes. Bob Bitz won the Kiwanis Scholar- ship Prize, and Rosalie Reeves and Vincent Carfagna shared the honor of having their names engraved on the Latin I cup. 1945— No longer babies, we graduated down to the second door as sophomores in Room 106. Mrs. Wright and Miss Hosenfeld were our advisors, and Paul Naumann was chosen as president. At the end of the year w;e found that Vincent had his name on the Latin II cup. Our last get together as Sophomores was the class picnic at Fair Haven. 1946— As Juniors in Rooms 103, 105, and 107, we chose Mrs. Saffron as our advisor and Ronnie Aplin as our president. We had a most profitable year with a successful Christmas Ball, and gave as our dramatic contribution the mystery comedy, “The Phantom Bells”, directed by Mrs. Saffron. For our picnic we Juniors again went to Fair Haven in June. Vincent Carfagna again captured the Latin II and III cups. We attended the Junior-Senior Banquet at Howard Johnson’s in Dewitt with Mr. Getman as guest speaker, and as it was our duty, we gaily decorated the gym for commencement. During the summer the Baldwinsville Centennial was celebrated and many of the girls of our class were selected to compete for the title of queen. Mary Wood emerged as victor and Joie Fuess and Norma Harkins were chosen as members of her court. 1947— Of course, our four years were not all play. None of us can forget the hours we spent pre- paring for the dreaded regents and exams. Somehow most of us managed to pull through and here we are as Seniors sitting in Room 2, the Library Annex and the Cafeteria. Mr. Brown and Miss Winchell are our able advisors and we elected Bob Bitz president for both terms. We started the year with a bang by the profit from our magazine contest, and then sponsored “The Bobbysox Bri- gade” with both round and square dancing. Our Social Studies 12 class initiated for the very first time a Senior High Student Council and we elected Ed Vought, a newcomer to our midst, president. Also for the first time a Student Day was conducted with members of the Student Council reigning in the office and members of the classes taking over jobs as teachers. The Senior Play was our next undertaking, “East Lynne,” a thrilling melodrama which was packing ’em in when Grandma wore that same “New Look” before the turn of the century. The play was highly dramatic with its hero, heroine, and villain and was capably directed by Miss Winchell and Mr. Brown. A novel publicity stunt was staged a few- days before the play with members of the play cast traversing the streets of Baldwinsville in a horse-drawn surrey. D. Day took place when the Senior girls rebelled against the untidy appearance of the Senior boys, and wore their oldest and worst appearing clothes to school. The “new look” caused a flurry of excitement throughout the school. Our class is well represented in all the activities in school and the members are possessed with a variety of talents. Norma Har- kins, Rosalie Reeves, Mary Wood, and Shirley Ridall are some of our charming cheerleaders. Jack Wilcox, Dick VanderVeer, Ed Kratzer, Lyndon Snow, Ronnie Aplin. and others are cheered in foot- ball, basketball, and baseball. Naturally the girls have their sports, too, with Doris Meaker, June Howard, Rosalyn Reeves, Jeanne Ecker and others in the lead. Band. Chorus, Dance Band. Journalism, French Club, Classical Club, Student Council, Red Cross, and Art Club are all increased by our presence and Hi-Y, DeMolay, Tri-Y, Sub Debs, and Triangles are some of our activities out of school. We are looking forward to our graduation in June and the many activities it involves, the gala Senior Ball, the Junior-Senior Banquet, the Senior class picnic, and most of all the thrilling day when we receive our diplomas. 23 Shirley Foster

Page 26 text:

CLASS PROPHECY As we neared an intersection, I noticed a car speeding towards the intersection from the road on our right. Our car reached the intersection at the same time as the other. Baker stood on the brake pedal and barely avoided a collision. “Who was that maniac?” I asked. “Oh, that’s Carol Chamberlain,” he replied. “She runs a driving school for women.” Hearing this, 1 decided to walk the rest of the way to my hotel. So he let me off directly in front of a grill which seemed to be surrounded by pickets carrying signs which read: “Don Hammond unfair to customers—S.P.C.I. (Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Inebriater.) This group was lead by three former members of the class of ’48, Rosalyn Reeves, Janice Van Nostrand and Margaret Mc- Dermott. I hurried quickly away from the spot in hopes that they would not recognize me. After my narrow escape I decided to take a bus the rest of the wav to the center of the city. Just then one came along, so I hopped sprvly onto the first step, falling flat on my face. A voice from above me boomed, “If ya can’t stay sober, stay off the busses.” I looked up and saw Jeanne Ecker happily pushing crushed passengers into the back of the bus. She told me that Doris Meaker and Helen Hulbert wetfe also drivers on this bus which was run by Barbara Keefer. She also said that if I owned any property in this neighborhood, I’d better look out. “There’s a fire bug on the loose. The police, who. like their chief, are none too smart, believe the fires were set by Paul (hotfoot) Reeves who plays his Clarinet while the city burns.” The next stop was my hotel, owned by Miss Johanna Euess, the great hotel magnate. 1 stepped off the bus and walked into the cigar store next to the hotel. There, much to my surprise, I saw a young lady puffing on a large cigar. When the smoke cleared, I found that it was none other than Patricia Tillotson, the president of the First Trust and Deposit Company. Standing with her, were her two chief aides, Barbara LaPoint and Eleanor Kaye, the financial wizards. On the counter was a sign depicting the matinee idol, Allan Eidt, smoking an F.I Ropo cigar. Purchasing several cigars, I walked back onto the street. Here I met Duane Coville, Supervisor of the Town of Lysander, and the great electrical wizard, Robert Hayes Wilder, who informed me that Prof. Corinne Rosti had just been appointed assistant professor of Pots and Pans at the Frieda Smith Institute of Home Economics. Leaving this pair of great minds, I entered the hotel. I had just gotten inside the door when I spied a man completely surrounded by women. When I asked the desk clerk, who happened to be Dick Young, who this chap was, he informed me that he was Jim Fryer the famous football star from N. Y. U. Dick also pointed out a girl sitting in a chair in the lobby, who, he said was Jovce Pacelli, who is now touring the country with her all-girl basketball team. The star members of this squad are Rosalie Reeves and Barbara McArdell. Just then Jim Fyler walked by. Upon spying him, I said, “Don’t you remember me, Jim?” He turned partially around, looked at me and said, “I’m afraid so,” and walked on. After I recovered from this blow, I happened to notice a poster in the lobby, announcing that Mary Jeanne Delaney and her tumbling tornadoes, starring Betty Lou Huveldt. the queen of the big top, are coming to town. Included in the act were the famous lady wrestlers, Mary Sartwell and Mary Anne Glanville. I dedded that I’d seen enough so I walked over to the elevators. I pushed the button and a minute later the door of the elevator was opened by the pretty operator, namely Shirley Ridall. On the wav up, she told me that Lorin Marlin, the famous race driver had crashed into the railing at the Indianapolis Speedway this afternoon and seriously injured the railing. I was glad to get to my room and take my daily dose of Dr. Doran’s Soothing Syrup, which is guaranteed to cure rheumatism, bunions, house maid knee and also scare away such characters as Mel Edwards. On the wall of the room was a calendar with a picture of the famous dance team of Helen Bowen and Norman Gee. The calendar was printed by the Howard Publishing Company, run by June Howard. The second page of the calendar had a picture of Mary Regan, Evelyn Searle. Betty Luke and Dorothy Dimon. all-star members of the Olympic Chess team. Oh, well we can’t all be successful. I guess I’ll put my false teeth in a glass of water and go to bed. 25