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

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A. D. Higgins Junior High School Richard Fecteau. The deck hands are very busy trying to steady the boat. Chester Lempitsky is throwing a rope from the ship to Barry McNelly on the docks. Thomas Arroivsmith, John Mes- semer and Thomas M urphy are rushing around in preparation for custom inspec- tion. And there is F.B.I. Agent, Charles Maggio, looking for some jewel thieves again, I suppose. The gang plank is down at last and the passengers have started to disem- bark. The first off the boat is Dr. Barbara J. Jones, the famous surgeon, who performed an outstanding liver operation on “Princess Tippitittimouse”, the former Joan Buoniconti, now of Lower Glamourania. With Dr. Jones is Joan Kurley, the outstanding nurse of the year! Down the ramp come Monsieur Car- men Catania and his wife, Marilyn Sperrazza, French hair stylists. They mentioned that they had attended the world wrestling matches in Sweden, where Jean Mancuso took the champion- ship away from Barbara ‘Slim” Cimino who is now brokenhearted. Poor James Lyko, the referee, was left bald after the hair pulling results. Madame Caroline Cogtella, the famous Paris dress designer, and her best seam- stress, Rosalie Colca, are here to plan the trousseau for Faith Mallinson, who will soon mary Richard Bragg, Junior Sena- tor from Connecticut. What’s that? It was dropped by that deck hand ! Oh, a program of the Russian Ballet. Well, what do you know? Carolyn ‘Twinkletoes ' ' Leone is leading ballerina in the new Ballet, “Frog Pond”, which was written by Carlo Carlone. The leading male dancer is Fred “Light- foot” Gavey. Others in the cast are: Karen Gates, Shirley Ellis, Gerald Giles and Charles “Sideburns” Hopson. Some important person must be ap- proaching from the noise of the crowd. No wonder! It is none other than John Devine, President of the United States, rushing to confer with Secretary of State James Zirolli, who is just return- ing from Timbucto. He will leave im- mediately to visit Ronald Freeman, the Ambassador to Spain, who is now vaca- tioning at Francis Walenta ' s Fishing Lodge in the Rockies. Here comes Kathleen DiMaso now. She is followed by her business manager, Carol McFall; assistant business mana- ger, Patricia Tough ; and private secre- tary, Marion Lamana. As they leave the ship the band plays, “Dig Me Daddy- 0,” a new song written by Thomas Gates. Among the members of Stan Kupiec’s Band we recognize Joseph Ravosa and Donald Grippo, the silver note trumpeters; Richard Krusinski, the cool clarinetist; and Neil Tammero the dreamy drummer. And now, back to Claire! Hi Again! There is Paul Hayes with his pet monkey. How he has changed! He is now in charge of the Bronx Zoo and tells us that m.any of our friends are working there. Patricia Targonski is dietician for the animals; Albert Ouellette waters the elephants; and William Zeronsa is official fly-catcher of the zoo. He has a new intricate machine which catches flies by the dozens. I have just learned from John Thibo- deau, dock policeman, that Susan Lewis, HIGGINS GLEE CLUB

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1’he T ' atler Class propljsrg Hi Folks: This is Claire Polek, your roving re- porter, for the New York Times, and my assistant and former classmate from A. D. Higgins School, Kathleen Legienza, now head photographer for the paper. We are here to collect material for our column, “What’s Doing?”, and are broad- casting over station N.E.W.S. at the same time. This is a very exciting moment at the New York Harbor, for the great Metro- politan Opera star, Kathleen DiMaso, is soon to arrive from her world tour on the U.S.S. Higgins “57”, constructed by the noted firm of Paul Bonanno and Company and designed by Matthew Blaszko. By the way, Matthew is married to the former Elaine Jemiola, Miss America of 1968. Throughout the ship are beautiful paintings by Mary Ann A rnone. Here to meet the Prima Donna are many former friends and classmates. Among these are the famous movie actresses, Siisanne Beyer and Jo-Ann Lamagna; the new singing quartet, “The Four Squares”, consisting of Alphonso Nosal, James Zych, William Ball and Richard Typrowicz; and the girls’ soft- ball team of Thompsonville, Conn, of which Gail Lees is manager and Dorothy Porcello, Diane Molyn, Bertha Prajznar and Nancy Renolds are players. Oh! No! Are my eyes failing me? No, it’s true! Thomas Ragno is their water boy! While we are waiting for the boat to dock, Pll switch over to my partner. Kathleen Legienza, who has been busy snapping pictures of different person- alities around the pier. O.K. Claire! I just had the pleasure of meeting our old classmate, Robert Cuscovitch, and his wife, the former Jacqueline Santoro. He is now a great cattle rancher in Texas. The forelady on his ranch is “Wild West Debbie Coolen” who does a good job of bossing the cowboys, among whom are James Wile and James Blowen. I was talking to Enfield’s new Chief of Police, Wallace Bennett, and his bride, the former Marion Lange. He is using helicopters for crime detecting. He has them in the sky at all times. Ah, here comes that new sprinkler system on wheels, with Joseph Wojcik as driver and Michael Ryan as gadget controller. Look who’s Here! Why, it’s Carl Piemonte, Mayor of New York. I hear he is going to present the “Key of the City” to the new Olympic Champion Discus thrower, Dennis Bielitz. Hurrah, for Dennis ! The tugboats are pulling the large ocean liner into its place. Gerry Luke is at the helm of the “Debbie I” and Leon Janik is pilot of the “Andrea”. I can just about distinguish the Captain of the Vessel — Oh Yes! It’s David Mongon. Behind him, Leonard Montano, the radio operator, is standing. On a lower deck is the chief cook, Edward Ingraham, surrounded by two dining room stewards, Edgar Baskerville and an army officer involved in Nike opera- tions and two of his assistants, pre- sented a fascinating film on guided missiles and answered our many enthus- iastic questions after the film. During the year we were again called upon to construct projects which were displayed at the May Exhibit. The Exhibit was a great success. The students who made the honor role were announced by Mr. White just be- fore spring vacation. The two highest were: Valedictorian, John Devine and Salutatorian, Kathleen Di Maso. One of the last activities on the pro- gram was class day. Seventh and eighth grade students were present to hear our prepared speeches. Exercises included the Class History, Prophecy, Will, Sta- tistics and the awarding of varsity letters. Finally, our class social! The picnic! Bright and early, buses arrived to take us to Mountain Park. We sang and shouted excitedly all the way. The roller coaster and whip provided the most thrills! We had a great time; but didn’t like the thought of leaving Mount Tom. After eight years of hard work our big day finally came . . . Graduation! Decked out in our best clothes, we proudly received our diplomas, which marked the end of our elementary edu- cation and the beginning of our high school days. Class Historians: Carol McFall Mary Ann Maciolek Faculty Advisor Ralph Cerrato

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1’he Tatler judo expert, is now a guard for the British Crown Jewels in London. Dolena Besse and Bonnie Garrow are married to American diplomats and are now living in Athens, Greece. Patricia Massaro, or I should say Lieutenant Massaro of the United States Waves, is stationed in Hawaii. Kathleen DiMaso just told me she had a ride in Thomas Tornatore ' s jinricksha in Tokyo and heard Judith Collins play the violin in Shanghai. Incidentally, did you see, in this morning’s paper, the announcement of Lois Martin ' s engagement to Richard Bourheau, who is the present Water Com- missioner of New York City? Her mother is giving a big party tonight in honor of the couple. Joseph Calcasola is catering for this big event. His famous waitresses, Sharon Beard, Grace DiRosa, and Lucille Sika, dressed as various flowers, will serve the dinner. Roberta Colletti, Powers model, has her photograph on the cover of the latest “Life” magazine. In the same issue is a flne article about the new atomic hats designed by Judith Child. Our surf-board team, composed of Carol ‘Here I Come, There I Go , Adams, Susan ' ‘Trixie Bent, and James Carzello, is arriving on this ocean liner too. They will represent us at the Olympics and will be joined later by Jo-Ann Romano, the hundred yard dash runner; Geral- dine Giles, the broad jumper; and Francis “Giant Golden, the pole-vault- ing champion. Harvey “Rubber jaiv Gemme and Nancy Gannuscio will be our team in the Bubble Gum contest. Harvey’s record is a bubble as large as a basketball! We hope Nancy can beat that! There’s Stephen Gregorski, owner of the huge “Greggy” Circus. It is now playing in Madison Square Gardens in New York City. I understand James Daly and Bonita Lineham are the star aerial acrobats, Ronald Wells is the lion tamer, Michael Okraska is the fire and sword swallower in the side show, while Nancy Bessette charms the snakes. Michael Pacholski is the funny man who makes everyone laugh with his antics. Edward Waskiel and Raymond Fiore, from the United Nations Security Coun- cil, are here to meet their co-worker, Richard Matulewicz, who is returning from a meeting of UNESCO in Switzer- land. His secretary, Catherine Vail, accompanied him. Here is the engineer of the ship, Russell Bellico, and his assistant, Ken- neth Chaine. Noel Freeman, Missionary for several years in Africa, is just stepping down the gang plank. He is greeted by John Filo, head of the African Missions. Frances Eddy, who has made a name for herself as an international good will teacher, is returning from a trip around the world. And there is Helen Eddy going to meet her. Helen is now the Principal of the new grammar school in Enfield. Carolyn Parlin is carefully guarding her famous ’cello. She has made the headlines both as a musician and an artist. Take over, please, Kathleen. Hello again! Well, if it isn’t Gary Coolen, who piloted the first successful rocket-ship to land on the moon. The Commanding Officer of the trip was Richard Strom, assisted by the noted scientist, Mary Ann Maciolek. Paul Pochron designed the rocket and Ernest Harrington was the radio operator. Dennis Piranian served as chef for the trip, while Linda Rumill was the stewardess. Charles Scavatto was the mechanic in charge of the delicate de- vices. Clyde Hurley, of the Washington Weather Bureau, acted as weather ob- server. The rocket, upon its return to earth, landed in Turkey, so the group returned by ship to this country. Pro- fessor Maureen Mullen of Yale Univer- sity, will write a book on the experiences of this group. Rhoda Per sky, I see, is returning from a meeting of kindergarten teachers in Rome. Close behind her with his in- evitable brief case, is Ronald Bennett, the renowned criminal lawyer. Waiting for custom inspection is Rosanne Porcello, the ultra-modern Liberace. She has just received a golden record for her recording of “Serenade in the Antartic”, composed by Mary Pierce. People tell me it is very cool! Charles A. Sabia, who has succeeded Edward R. Murrow on “Person to Per- son”, plans to visit Carol Pacholski in her Floral Conservatory on tonight’s telecast. Her fine collection of birds, trained by Joseph Jacaruso, will appear on the show. On the same program. Mr. Sabia will interview the Scintillating Simula Sisters, Martha and Muriel — sensational comm.ediennes of the year. On next week’s broadcast. Sergeant Phyllis Snyder, in charge of the Nike Battery in East Windsor, will be his guest for the first part of the program and Seraphina Verdina on the latter part of the show. Seraphina just had her first book, “The Donkey Rides a Man”, pub- lished. It is illustrated by Elaine Pierog. Amiong others in the news today is Dau ' n Strecker who has discovered a m.ethod for inspiring and reviving sleepy — Continued after pictures