Morton High School - Top Hat Yearbook (Hammond, IN)

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ub-zero weather cou e elo ina B-r-r-r-h! It’s cold in d ' em d’are hills. Not only in “d’em hills” was it cold, but right here in our town. The weather in the northeastern section of the U.S. at the start of the new year reigned as the worst since 1874. There were 43 consecutive days of temperatures below the freezing mark. A push to turn down thermostats to 65 degrees urged many people to “bundle up” in their own private homes. One Morton student, junior Nancy O’Brien commented, We wore heavy sweaters all the time when it was advised to turn thermostats down. It wasn’t so bad, really. I heard somewhere that the slight chill was good for your body.” Along with the sub-zero weather and chill factor came snow. Good ' ol snow. But too much of a good thing isn’t so good. Some 20 inches of snow fell during the coldest period of weather in over a century. Northern Indiana Public Service Company’s request to use only 50% of total energy in most businesses pressured many places to close. The Hammond Public School System was just one out of many in the Region forced to shut its doors. Both faculty and students found their semester break extended three days at Morton because of a request by NIPSCO officials to shut down. “I just enjoyed the extra time to catch up on my sleep. You know how it is. Go to bed at 10:00 and get up at 6:30. That’s not too much time sleeping for routine school days,” said sophomore Todd Hochstetler. Layoffs at plants and at jobs came because of the artic weather. Some Governors’ parents were affected with this as some 6,000 workers had been laid off because of natural gas cutbacks. Over half of the workers at An excessive accumulation of snow in the region caused one lady to spend more time cleaning her car off than she anticipated. Rand McNally got laid off. The Nabisco plant had cut its power to only one-third the total output of an average day. Inland Steel, U.S. Steel and Youngstown Sheet and Tube cut down on employees work hours and closed early for a few days at the request of NIPSCO to conserve energy. Carson Pirie Scott and Co., even closed down on Jan. 28. Tow trucks help clear the streets of stalled cars after a blizzard the night before. The heavy snow caused many people to spend the night in their cars. “Hey! Slow it down. Where, ya goin — to a fire?” Yes, indeed. Some Morton students found themselves ditching class to get an eyewitness account of the fire at the Midwest Chemical Solvent plant, just east of the school across Cline Avenue in Gary. The students got a glimpse of one of the longest burning fires in this area in quite a while. A spectacular fire, fueled by hundreds of chemical solvent drums stored at the company burned throughout the day before finally coming under control that night, Dec. 21, after injuring two firemen. Thick black smoke belched into the sky and was visible past Calumet bites Region

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Cold hits. cigciifi Our nation progressed through this year totaling quite a bit O of “news.” Was there or wasn’t there an • epidemic? First, many raced to • be vaccinated with the swine flu • shot. Then, after discovering • that some people who took the • shot got the Guillaime Barre B Syndrome which caused paralysis in some people, no one got ■i shots. Later, after some elderly B people in Florida got the flu, the vaccination program was p re-instated. 10 ' S “I have the right to die. If B want it, let it be done.” This was death-row murderer Gary Gilmore’s wish as he pleaded for e execution in the electric chair. After weeks of approving and disapproving his “wish” by J federal courts, it was finally granted, Gary Gilmore was wine llu. executed Jan. 17, 1977 in Utah. Restoration of capital punishment became alive” again. Since the Gilmore incident other prisoners have been awaiting execution. Shown over eight consecutive nights in January, “Roots” captured the hearts of millions in the U.S. Never in the history of television were there more viewers for a TV program. An estimated 130 million people saw the “triumph of an American family.” More people watched ‘Roots’ than the other ’76-77 TV landmark — the immortal “Gone With The Wind” — shown for the first time on TV. Indiana became the 35th state to ratify ERA in January. Four more states are needed to ratify.

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City, III. and Valparaiso, Ind. The grayish black smoke and orange fireballs forced Gary fire crews to use Hammond’s water supply to fight the blaze because there were no hydrants in Gary near the great fire. The plant collected chemical wastes.from various companies in Indiana and Illinois. A Gary fireman said he thought some of the chemicals could be petro solvents, keytone, and alcohol. Oddly enough, the fire broke out on the last day before Christmas vacation — perhaps it gave students one last memory of 1976. An explosive fireblast ruins the Midwest Chemical Solvent Recovery Company making the smoke visible for offer 30 miles. Po ible clo inQ invite picketer After considering problems of declining enrollments, increased operational costs, racial and ethnic balance, and school transportation, the Hammond School City announced that four elementary schools will close: Miller, Riverside, Porter, and Washington Elementaries. Superintendent Willard Congreve said amond the considerations given while drawing up boundary plans were distances children walk to school, the degree to which school communities can remain intact,” and safety of children crossing intersections. Protesting, petitioning to the court, and boycotting schools characterized the parents’ concern for the future of their children. The School Facilities Study Committee came up with suggestions for the use of the school after they would be closed and students redistricted; one idea — Mothball” them for future use. Looking ahead, one may start to think that if the renovated buildings were turned back to schools, would the same thing happen again??? Local — 23