Fairmont High School - Maple Leaves Yearbook (Fairmont, WV)

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Inside room 22 is a whole new world. Algebra, Eng- lish and American history have no bearing on this room. What matters here is if you can successfully drive at the speed limit down Fairmont Avenue while trying to operate the wind- shield wipers. This is the world of Driver’s Ed. From here, inexperienced, nervous students are bravely tak- en into the wheels of Mr. Byron Duncil and Mr. Joseph Cavalier, who, equipped with an extra brake, begin the instruction. Except for the one incident where a nervous student got “carsick” on his first day of driv- ing lab, Driver’s Ed. students come out smelling like roses. Instruction in driving can prove to be a very valuable thing, whether or not it comes from school or a private lesson, but all the classes in the world cannot prepare a driver for every- thing. For a few examples, read the following . . . Getting Around: Driving Passion Face it. Getting around is necessary. But as the official driving age approached, it got a little embarrassing to be chauffered around by mom and dad. So, on any given Tuesday, the state police barracks on Country Club Road could be found full of brand new sixteen-year-olds nervously scratching out answers on the test and confidently driving out Fleming Avenue. To many, this was a goal. It was almost an honor to carry around a driver’s license and it certainly was a convenience. The license estab- lished a certain amount of independence. And it was fun. After the initial nervousness and paranoia about the tests passed and the quickie-picture was taken, many were ready to roll. Once the piece of plastic allowing one to drive on the roads was acquired, then obviously a car was next. Usually mom and dad were generous and allowed the free and unlimited use of the car anytime one needed it, right? Right. (Did you catch the sarcasm?) Actually, many people have a system worked out with parents and or brothers and sisters and there’s a lot of give and take. If one were lucky enough (i.e. had a license and a car), then riding the bus to and from school could be eliminated. One could arrive at school and go off campus for lunch (instead of running to McDon- ald’s). I like driving to school because you can go out to lunch, you miss the hassle of getting up early to catch the bus, you can take your time coming home so there’s no rush to the locker and I get home about five to ten minutes earlier, depending on the traffic,” Junior Sherry Kuhn noted about the advantages of driving to school. So getting to school was no problem, but what happened to the car after arriving there? The logical answer was parking. Except for the Back Drive and Freshman Building lot, any spot around the campus was legal for parking. Well, this story is driving me crazy, so I am going to park my pen and and take a brake. A AVOIDING A RUSH to and from school can be done if a car is available. Junior Kelly Drummond shows her choice for transportation as she pre pares to drive home. A Whole New World Picking Up on Driving Out Junior Eric Tucker: “I’ll never forget my driving test. I passed the written, missing two. Then the next Monday, I washed the Cadillac inside and out for the driving ex- aminer. I was nervous and banged every barrel with the car ... an old Datsun was in order for next week.” Sophomore Pat Barrow: “One day my mother al- lowed me to practice driv- ing. About the time that I was ready to turn up our road, I looked in the rear- view mirror and there he was, a police car! I felt like there was a sign on the side of the car that said ‘15 2’.” Junior Rachelle Prud- nick: “I told my mom the other day not to talk to me while I’m driving. I can’t think and drive at the same time, and I still have trouble driving and waving at the same time. I tried it once and turfed at the Calabrase’s.”

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The Faster, The Better Fast Foods: An Eating Syndrome Forget a ‘Square’ Meal; A Pizza is Round In a town like Fairmont, being small and predominantly Italian, one would naturally expect to find a couple of pizza places. After all, there are two high schools and a college in the area, and isn’t pizza a universal favor- ite? But seven pizza places in a town with fewer than 25,000 people might be too much of a good thing. Take both Domino’s, for ex- ample. If they produce an aver- age of 440 pizzas a night be- tween them, and there are 180 school days a year, that makes 79,200 pizzas in one school year alone (A whole year would be 160,600 pizzas). And that’s just Domino’s! Now take the daily average of 220 pizzas and multiply by six (for each of the most popular piz- za places). That gives you the average total of pizzas. For Fair- mont, that’s 20 pizzas a year per person. Not bad considering that the average pizza bill (with a piz- za costing about $9) would be $180. What this boils down to is approximately $4.3 million a year generated by pizza! Then there’s the “O Syn- drome. Just take a look around for some pizza. What you will find is something like this: Scott- O’s, Domin-O’s, Mari-O’s and Colasessan-O’s. Even grocery stores are not saved from the “O Syndrome.” Gino-O’s is there. If the pizza places aren’t part of the ‘‘0 Syndrome,” they fall under the ‘‘Home Syndrome” — Pizza HUT, and Pizza HOUSE. Ordering a quick pizza, wolf- ing it down and slurping a few Pepsis was probably one of the most popular pastimes around. But remember, you were just putting food on the Domino man’s table. A DOMINO’S PIZZA for only $4.95 is only part of Fairmont’s $4.3 million. FINALLY ARRIVING in Fairmont. Wings ’n Things was brought to Lo- cust Avenue from Morgantown ON FEBRUARY 6. the doors of Rax opened and Locust Avenue was nev- er the same again. STAYING PUT for a while, McDon- alds was as popular as ever as a place to go after a game of for lunch. ONE OF the many pizza places in Fairmont. Mario’s joined the ranks at the location of the former WUV’S. Once upon a time, Fair- mont Avenue was just like any other street in Fairmont: quaint, tree-lined, peaceful driving from here to the mall area. But then some enter- prising young entrepreneur put up the first fast food restaurant, and that was the end. From then, the Avenue” has been one of the best spots in the area for quick cuisine. These restaurants are also pla- gued with a syndrome of their own, the “replacement syn- drome. Think back, and you’ll realize that once it was a junk food place, it was always a junk food place. Bordon Burger used to be in the same spot as The Golden Gate. (That is probably the oldest replacement.) 1890 Mill was Mister Donut, West Side’s Kentucky Fried Chicken (though still serving poultry) is now the home of Wings ’n Things. And probably the best known is Rax, now residing in the old Burger Chef building. But then there is that restau- rant” on Locust Avenue, near the college, that can’t keep one company in the same spot for longer than it takes to say “where’s the beef?” To trace the history of that place would take access to the geneological ar- chives in the Library of Congress. Originally, the building was con- structed for Wuv’s, which had a pretty good season. Soon after it closed, the ill-fated Durango’s opened, lasting until Wings ’n Thingscame into town. Finally.it has rested into the hands of Mar- io’s, which abandoned its former spot at Marion Square Shopping Plaza. Speaking of Marion Square, there is another restaurant loca- tion that has a knack for keeping new company. Buffet Royale gave way to the school-spirited Tavzelly’s, which soon also closed. If you’re in high school, and you have to eat, then a fast food place seems to always fit the bill: quick, good-tasting and not too expensive. A lot of people spend their time in fast food restau- rants, and if an eating establish- ment is going to deal in food that is fast, then it might as well be able to move around too. ± Eating in the Fast Lane: The Restaurants That Fed Us Up

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 o o % 0»o 00 o o Aoo ♦ ° 04 0 O .« 4 % y 0 4 00 • • O ♦ O V ▼ • Q° O 4O 0 A 0 4® ■ a Colltdcn 2S Contact Paper + Stuffed Animals + Coats + Books (Maybe) = A Locker After carefully spinning the dial to three preset and eternally memorized numbers, access to the locker is gain.ed. To some people, lockers are just as much a part of their decor as their rooms. However, the locker isn’t usually in very good shape at the beginning of the year. “It was all dirty and had stuff written on the door so I just put contact paper and carpet in it. There are stuffed animals in there too,” said Sophomore Lara Watts. Sometimes though students found it easier to carry all of their books with them or, against school policy, share a locker. “I hate it when the bell rings because it takes me a few min- utes to figure out which locker I left my books in,” noted Fresh- man Crystal Olesh about sharing a locker. Often lockers are used for ref- erence. Clocks, mirrors, sched- ules, notepads with homework and calendars help people make it through the day. “I’ll be putting my ‘Men of USC calendar up soon,” stated Sophomore Traci Tannehill. At least she’ll know what day it is. A home away from home is what this type of person must be looking for. Lockers are more than just a place to keep one’s books. They are a personal state- ment and an easy way to beauti- fy one small section of the hall. PEERING INTO HER personalized locker. Freshman Tracy Forcelli gathers her books. before the school day begins. A new policy this year stated that students USING ONLY ONE of the over 1.000 lockers in the school. Junior Larry Chambers catches up on homework Everyone knows where his locker is and how to get to it, but most likely, there aren’t too many people who know from where their lockers came and how they got there. For most people who have an “old” locker (ones built into the walls), the actual age of the lock- er would be about 55 years. The school was built in 1929 and lock- ers from a Milwaukee, Wiscon- sin, company were installed at the time. But in the ’60’s, St. Pe- ters High School became St. Pe- ters Elementary School and those high school students came to Fairmont Senior. That meant buying more lockers. The free- Even the Lockers Have A Heritage standing lockers that stick out in the halls were added to compen- sate for the new students. The school policy about shar- ing a locker wasn't always in exis- tence, and in fact, there was a could not share lockers but some took their chances anyhow. time when the school encouraged the freshmen to double up with a friend. Theoretically, the school should have 927 lockers in use for 1984. Actually, there are 1,100 lockers available at the be- ginning of each school year, which is just under the popula- tion count for the fall of 1976 when Mr. John D. Tennant Jr. became principal. So, like everything else at West Side, even the lockers have a proud history, and many years of service to the students. ▲ A Critical Analysis of A Locker To begin with, nothing really fits on that top shelf. Sure, one can put pencils and what-have- yous there, but there’s still wast- ed space. Of course, one can wad up a coat and shove it in there, but sure enough, when the door is slammed, dirt falls from the vents in the top and covers everything. The hooks must be commend- ed. They can hold a full-sized parks on one side and a stuffed backpack on the other. A true engineering masterpiece. Ironically, the lockers are theftproof — well, partially — since they're noisy enough that East Side knows when anyone tries to break into one. Some even stand guard over unsu- specting victims, record the com- bination and unscrew the bolts so that the door flies off in the own- er’s face. Primo. All things considered, lockers are a great luxury, but there’s always room for improvements