Higgins Junior High School - Tatler Yearbook (Thompsonville, CT)

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A. D. Higgins Junior High School these, thirteen made the team, which had a fine season, winning four games and losing two. The team looked for- ward to an even better season in the eighth grade with Provencher, Romano, Orefice, Gregorski, Nosal, Gongola and Gove returning. High scorers on the team were Gregorski and Provencher. The girls were thrilled when they learned there was going to be an intra- mural softball league. With Mr. White as coach, six teams were formed with the Higgins’ Hitters winning the cham- pionship. Baseball practice started in the middle of April with many candidates report- ing. The team was picked and won its first five games before being beaten by Hazardville. Sparked by the hitting of Spanswick and the pitching of Rinaldi, the team tied Hazardville for the Junior High School League honors. Seven lettermen awaited the next year; Scalia, Russotto, Gregorski, Provencher, Bro- mage, Curcio and Gove. The seventh grade was happy to be invited to see the Class Day exercises and all welcomed the talents left by the upperclassmen. We were all sad to see our friends in the eighth grade go, but as we started our summer vacation, our spirits lifted at the thought that we would be the eighth graders next year. After what seemed a very short vacation, the one-hundred eight v d us found ourselves back as those very eighth graders, feeling grown up and trying to act that way. The first important project was the organization of the home rooms with the election of officers for each room, and soon after this the Student Council for the entire school was organized under Mr. White’s direction. Elected to guide us through the first half of the year were President, Vivian Wezowscz; Vice-President, Joseph Orefice; and Sec- retary, Karl Russotto. This group sponsored a well-attended dance in January to raise money for the March of Dimes. Glee Club was soon organized by Mrs. Mary O’Neil, who had the task of getting music out of us. The club pre- sented a program of carols at the Rotary Christmas Carol Sing and enter- tained at several assemblies. Mrs, Kathryn Dunn directed the Home Eco- nomics Club which had among its pro- jects a dance held in October and an enjoyable social with an interesting talk by Miss Kathryn Lin from Formosa. The Hi-Y Club was organized with Mr. White as advisor. This club sponsored a dance and had several worthwhile meetings. An outstanding speaker at one meeting wos Mr. Lewis Fox w ' ho talked about Religious Loyalty. Soon after the school year began, the annual magazine drive was started. Our sales totaled $2,482.72 with the eighth grade leading by a small margin. In the spring the winners, Joan Luczai, William Friday, Joyce Shea, John Gourlie, accompanied by Miss Delaney, wont to Boston to see a baseball game. The entire school saw ' a moving picture in March as a reword for selling so many magazines. So that wo might become more literary, our school library wos re- organized. All the books wore cata- logued, a card file was set up, and a new ' method of student withdrawol of books w ' as instituted. The proceeds from a dance helped to pay for new ' equipment for the library. We all had an opportunity to show ' our talent during the year. Six assem- blies w ' ere presented by the eighth grade pupils. An Armistice Day pro- gram W ' as given by the students of 8®. The guest speaker wos Mr. Arthur FitzGibbons of the American Legion. At Thanksgiving time we w ' elcomed another guest speaker. Reverend John M. DeZinno of St. Patrick’s Church, w ' ho brought us a Thanksgiving message. In February w’e enjoyed a patriotic assembly prepared by the students of 8 . The March assembly consisted of an interesting playlet by the class of 8” and an entertaining group of Irish songs presented by the 8 boys’ choir. Something different in assembly pro- grams W ' as the History Quiz conducted by 8 ’ at w ' hich prizes w ' ere aw ' arded the w ' inners. An interesting assembly w ' as presented in May by the Girls’ Domestic Science class of 8® to show ' the pupils the rights and w ' rongs about manners. Anxiety filled our hearts as the first report card w ' as issued to us on October 23. Some w ' ere pleased, and some w ' ere not. The same uncertainty w ' as present w ' hen our other report cards w ' ere issued to us in December, February, April and June. Everyone came dressed in his finest in December on the day w ' e had our pictures taken for the Tatler. During this month eighth grade officers w ' ere also elected. George Pare was elected President; Vincy Gennusa, Vice- President; and Marion Tkacz, Secretary, As Christmas drew ' near w ' e w ' ere all happy to do our part in the annual sale of Christmas Seals. The pupils w ' ere filled w ' ith Christmas Spirit and they enjoyed their Christmas parties at

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The Tatler Class Hfstory The leaves of hope rose high In the hearts of a brand new class, One September day of ’51 As through Higgins’ doors they passed. And the unknown school looked strange The halls and stairways o’er, Ts the band of newcomers found their seats In the rooms on the second floor. H OW truly this tells the story of our first venture into a new life as Junior High School students! We had high hopes of doing great things, and those hopes were certainly mixed with fear and ignorance of the large building we now know so well — there were so many rooms to remember, so many teachers. Like swarms of bees, we buzzed with excitement as we entered Higgins School for the first time as seventh graders on September 7, 1951. With all one hundred eight of us chattering, confusion reigned but everyone soon settled down to our first task of getting to know our new classmates and teachers. Student Council was organized soon after home room officers had been chosen. Keen competition for the offices resulted in the election of all upper classmen. Next on our activity program came the annual magazine drive. Paced by the eighth grade, the volume of sales and profit was the highest ever. High salesmen, Joan Bodley and Allan Mitchell of the eighth grade and Joyce Shea of the seventh grade, accompanied by Mrs. Fahey, attended a big league baseball game in Boston. During April, the school was entertained at a movie as a result of their fine work as salesmen. We were happy when we learned that the various clubs were to be organized. Among these were the Junior Hi-Y Club, Glee Club, Home Economics, Chorus, Newspaper, Camera and Art Clubs. At the first meetings, officers were chosen. “Meet Me at the Fair” was the theme song on September 12th and 15th when school was dismissed for the Eastern States Exposition and the Four Town Fair. We were glad to learn at the Four To ti Fair that our school had won first prize for safety posters. One out-of-school activity was the formation of a bowling league which met on Thursday nights and which had about sixty pupils as members. Twice during the year we had oppor- tunities to demonstrate our work to our parents and friends. During National Education Week we held open house and greeted many visitors. A feature of the week was a tea held on Wednesday afternoon. In May, our parents visited the Annual School Exhibit held in our audi- torium. The feature of the week’s exhibit was a special program held on Wednesday night with entertainment and refreshments. Although there were few assemblies, we enjoyed those we had. Room 7 presented a musical program with com- munity singing and orchestra selections. At another assembly we were fortunate at have Mr. Charles Parakilas, a Connecticut University student, describe for us a mock assembly of the Connecti- cut State Legislature in which he had taken part. From his talk we learned a great deal about the workings of the Legislature. In May, Mr. and Mrs. Louis Babbit, field naturalists, conducted an educational assembly in which they showed colored pictures and live specimens. In December Mr. White suffered a sudden attack of appendicitis and was rushed to the Springlield Hospital. We were happy that there were no compli- cations and he was able to return soon. Mrs. O’Neil was acting principal during Mr. White’s absence. The day before Christmas vacation there were gay parties in all the rooms. Refreshments and entertainment fea- tured the parties. Everyone exchanged gifts and wished each other a Merry Christmas. The ever-present report cards, those things which make us sit up and take notice of the way in which we do our work, were with us five times during the year. Some of the marks were good, but there was room for improve- ment in all of us. A Sports Dance was held with the profits to be used to buy athletic equip- ment. The dance was well attended and everyone seemed to have an enjoyable evening. Under the direction of Coach Shapiro, basketball practice got under way with about forty candidates reporting. Of

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The Tatler which the Glee Club and the Junior Chorus participated in carol singing. Shortly after vacation, a new Student Council was organized to guide us through the last half of the year. Council officers were Joseph Orefice, President; Michael Nosal, Vice-President; and Karl Russotto, Secretary. When it was time to pick our subjects for next year in high school, we were guided in our choice by talks given by members of the faculty of Enfield High School. These talks were given at a series of vocational assemblies. Again during our eighth grade year we had open house, at which time our parents and friends came to see the pupils’ work and play. The first open house was during Education Week in November, and in May we had a School Exhibit where the pupils displayed their own work. The 1953 Higgins School basketball team had one of the school’s best records. The team won the Junior High School League championship by sweep- ing all six of its league games, and it won victories over Suffield Academy and Enfield High School Freshmen. The play was sparked by teamwork and Gregorski’s high scoring. Seven regular baseball players re- turned to the squad early in the spring and contributed some excellent fielding and hitting to the team’s 1953 record. Although there were no girls’ athletic teams, the boys’ teams received much support and encouragement from their girl school-mates, led by eight peppy cheer-leaders. Our literary activities began with the formation of the Tatler Staff in Feb- ruary, with Howard Daly as editor-in- chief and Carolyn Harris, assistant editor. With the assistance of a large literary and business staff, the gradua- tion issue of our Tatler was prepared. Thoughts of graduation took first place in our minds in the spring and there was much to be planned and decided. Committees chose “Forward Forever” as the class motto, blue and gold for the colors, and the American Beauty Rose as the flower. In the midst of all our excitement, our greatest interest was in the announcement of honors. We were happy to find that George Pare had earned the honor of being our val- edictorian and Rosemarie Peraro our salutatorian. Class Day arrived before we realized it, and on that great day we heard the History, Prophecy, Will, Poem, and Statistics of our class. One of our most enjoyable graduation festivities was our class picnic at Mt. Tom Amusement Park. We had a grand time, but a feeling of sadness was within us at this final class get-together. On the night of June 16, 1953, we reached at last the goal for which we had set out away back in September, 1951. We had had many experiences — some pleasant and some unhappy — and these were the two kinds of feelings which filled our hearts. We were joyful because we had accomplished our task and were receiving our diplomas. Our sadness came at the thought of leaving Higgins Junior High. And now that our junior high school days were over and some of our dreams of that first September day had come true, as we ended this chapter of our personal histories, we thought — Lives of great men all remind us We can make our lives sublime. And we hope we’ve left behind us Footprints on the Higgins’ sands of time. Historians: Lynn Bloomquist Howard Bromage Prettiest Girl Mary Lou Wagner Handsomest Boy Donald Gongola Most Popular Girl Jean Rega Most Popular Boy Michael Nosal Quietest Girl Madeline Morrison Quietest Boy Francis Maciolek Most Talkative Girl Angela Gatto Most Talkative Boy Anthony Scalia Class Artist John Crosson Wittiest Girl Marion Tkacz Wittiest Boy Joseph Orefice Glamour Girl Jean Rega Glamour Boy Michael Nosal Class Musician Lawrence Kiszka Class Poet Joan Luczai Smartest Girl Rosemarie Peraro Smartest Boy George Pare Best all-round Girl Joan Luczai Best all-round Boy Robert Gregorski Best Girl Dancer Mary Lou Wagner Best Boy Dancer Robert Gregorski