East High School - Exodus Yearbook (Cleveland, OH)

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 Then at last, in the fall of 1952, we picked the tools and materials to build a successful 12A semester. Looking back, the time we once thought was passing slowly had actually passed quickly. The construction job we had begun in January, 1950 was almost finished. First we selected those to lead us in our final and most important semester. The chosen ones were Ed Koporc, president; Tom Kotnik, vice president; Rosemary Romano, secretary; Ronald Bond, treasurer and Bill Eneix, sergeant at arms. Committees were formed for the yearbook, senior dance and prom. In charge of our highly successful Falling Leaves Dance . were Effie Vassos and Howard Kretzer, co-chairmen; chairmen of the prom were Evone Anderson and Steve Stoyko. January, 1953, and our immediate construction job is completed. Our high school goal has been at- tained—we are graduating. Does the real construction end here? Certainly not, for now each of us faces a much bigger job, the job of making a place for ourselves in the world. We sincerely hope, though, that the class we have built will go out with better structures to continue to build those things that have made the name of East High great.

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lavatories. The genial Mr. S tilling er, in his reply, addressed us in the terms of the letter which we signed Dirty 10B s. . .M Anyhow, we got the soap. Yes, now the foundation was beginning to take form. We were eleventh graders, proud of our newly acquired rank. We must begin to build the structure proper. The vision we held was large and inspiring. Larry Ruffin was one of the first to bring fame to our class, when he won a two thousand dollar scholarship for an essay written in the Rotary Club competition entitled, What Boystown Did for Me. Rose Clark and Rosemary Romano were playing in the band. Harlan Ellison and Carole Morgan each won first prize for material entered in Horizon the official school magazine. Lorraine Ferguson and Norma MacNeil, two future nurses, assisted in the school dispensary. Helen Allbery helped as tearoom cashier. Loretta Mencin, Carole Morgan, Ray Gibson, Barbara Parish, Donna Armonas and Arlene Christen were appointed to edi- torial positions on the Blue and Gold newspaper staff. In the 11A, Miss Ida F. Budde, who had been one of our homeroom teachers as well as a wonderful German teacher, retired to her home in Cleveland Heights, and we lost a thoughtful friend. Dean Dudley, Ray Gibson and Loretta Menein held the attention of the school when they appeared in the leading roles of the last annual play to be cast in the old auditorium, OFF A PEW- TER PLATTER. During the same semester, Bettie Osborne had the lead in the operetta, TRIAL BY JURY. Also sing- ing in the production were Janet Sefcik and Effie Vassos. All these activities were adding to the structure of class and school spirit, but more and better things were yet to come. In the 11A the greatest of all honors was bestowed upon three members of our class when they were inducted into the National Honor Society. They were Evone Anderson, Carole Morgan and Mary Ann Shively. In the 12B seven more members of our class were admitted to this select organization. They were Loretta Mencin, Betty Bruce, Rosemary Romano, Andy Okulovich, Hank Rocco, Tom Kotnik and John Relic. As 12B’s we became suddenly aware that graduation was really close. Watching the 12A s, many of us were thinking, Next semester I'll be worrying about yearbook pictures, class announcements, and prom. . Little did we realize how very near that time was! Days seemed to fly, and, meanwhile, members of our class were earning more and more honors. Carole Morgan was named Mantle Orator and was awarded the Latin Medal for her outstanding work in that lan- guage. Barbara Parish’s journalism story won first place for the state of Ohio, in the interview division of a national writing contest. Loretta Mencin was elected May Queen attendant. We held our election of officers for the 12B semester and these people were chosen to lead our class. Hank Rocco, president; Tom Kotnik, vice president; Rosemary Romano, secretary; Beverly Koshel, treasurer and Andy Okulovich, sergeant at arms.

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A TRIP TO TOMORROW It was a cool morning and the sun was brilliantly shining, reflected on the moist dew of the grass. How well we remember that morning of May 16, 1963. There was a knock on the door and the porter came to pick up our luggage. This was the start of our first tour of Europe. On board the plane to New York City, we met our hostess, Mary Sluger, who informed us that our pilots were Vic Kovacic and Dennis Kuby. After getting off the plane in New York City, we took a limousine to our waiting ship. As we were on our way to the ship, we passed the Waldorf Astoria where in bright lights was the name of the famous singer, Carole Morgan. We just made it to the gang-plank as we heard the purser, John Relic, call, All ashore that are go- ing ashore. We were shown to our quarters where we prepared for the long voyage. Not having eaten since early morning, we made our way to the dining room. Much to our surprise we found that Bob Henry was the head cook. The waiter, Ken Piunno, came to take our orders. As the captain, Phillip Simon, was visiting with the passengers he stopped to chat with us, too, telling us that our first stop would be Lisbon, Portugal. Going up on deck, we saw Beverly Pacileo and Kenneth Stevens swimming in the ship’s pool. Play- ing shuffleboard were Edward Prelock and Barbara Parish, and, as usual, who should be sunning herself but Rae Merkle. As we made a round of the deck, we saw lounging in the deck chairs enjoying themselves Edward Sabath and Norma MacNeil. We were very surprised to see so many faces from the Class of January, '53. While we were talking to them, we all seemed to share the same enthusiasm of the Cleveland Indians winning the pennant again with the great help of Ernest Lang and Russell Stich. After the boat had docked in Lisbon, a guide, Donna Swindell, was assigned to take us on a tour. She showed us Pracca do Commercio, one side of which faces the Tagus River. While talking about her govern- ment, we discovered that Betty Noble was the official representative to the U. N. from Portugal, and her two secretaries were Vera Puz and Janet Sefcik. Going back on board ship, we were also fascinated by the beautiful Portuguese coastline. The next stop was in the famous capital of Spain, Madrid. Plaza Mayor, one of the many squares of Madrid, was our first sight after we docked in that city. While looking about, we met Joyce Powell and from Joyce learned about the many heroic bullfights that had been staged on the very ground where we were standing. Also in Madrid on the Prado is situated the Royal Picture Gallery containing canvases by such masters as Gladys Smith, Loretta Mencin and Pat Robinson. The University of Madrid, founded in 1590 as the College of Dona Maris de Aragon, was of special interest because of the fact that there we met Tom Kotnik, the leading professor of Spanish in the University. Tired, we finally made our way back to the ship and noticed that the agenda now called for a visit to the most talked about city in the world, London, England.