Richland High School - Portal Yearbook (Johnstown, PA)

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Well, Class ot l948, we did it! Here we are AS WE WERE BEFORE CLASS POEM My fear in youth: that life was as a poet Implied it was: roads crossing in a wood- And I might take the wrong one or wrong turning, And so could not come out the way I should, Might never quite develop, having failed To drink some joyous elixir of life, Or not grow wise, because my luck detourecl The common lot, its sorrow and its strife. But like tomatoes picked when they are green Or winter pears and apples on the shelves, Mellowing though cut off from sun and rain, We bear the cause of ripeness in ourselves. Like passengers on ships that sail the seas, We may stop off at various ports of call, And be the richer for our souvenirs, Or stay on boardg but still the ship will reach A common destination for us all. -Margery Mansfield. disgusted manner, These Freshmenl It made me participating in our own commencement exercises. lt's much diFlerent from being down in the audience. The salutaforian and the valedictorian are about to give their addresses. l really should be listening, but my thoughts keep drifting back ,... I remember our Eighth Grade Commencement exercises here in the same auditorium. That doesn't seem four years ago. How excited we were to be entering high school at lastl The summer wore away. How proud we were to be Freshmen, at least until we found out what being a freshman meant. We were shunned, ignored, and pushed to the side. Frequently we heard some lofty Senior, for apparently no reason at all, exclaim in a thoroughly angry then, but remember those hrst days of school? We entered the wrong rooms, banged doors, bumped people, ran down halls, and never, never apologized. You know how the freshmen this year behaved? Well, we were like that. That year the boys were in Mrs. Dyer's home room, No. lO7, and the girls were in Room lO2 with Mr. Wissler. We occupied the side seats in the auditorium, and we were the last to enter the gymnasium for basketball games. Our class could boast of seven who had won American Legion Awards. Violet Baumgardner and Marlin Miller were so honored from the Geistown building, Alyce Vitzenty and Wilbert King from Mine 37, Lelah Gearhart who had moved to Rich- Twenty-three

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HARVEY SHULL-Another of our good looking Senior boys MELVIN STULL-Quiet . . . a good bet for a high grade in . . . nice build . . . the blond girls of this school seem to any subject . . . easy going until . . . good prospects as a attract him . . . especially one Mardell. future farmer . . . in fact he's one now . . . FFA. MARY SIPEfNo bigger than a minute . . . sweet as sugar GEORGE TESH-A regular guy . . . always cheerful . . . . . . Dick knows . . . cheerleader . . . everyone thinks even in enemy territory . . . but we'lI miss him from the Honey's swell . . . school? . . . she likes it but doesn't team . . . so will the team . . . everybody's friend. say so. EDITH SMITH-Tall, with a swell personality . . . pet pastime? ROBERT VALENTINE-Swell personality . . . if you're not . . . doing her bookkeeping . . . thinks shorthand is as hard Sonny's friend it isn't his fault . . . an asset to the Senior to understand as heiroglyphics. class . . . can he roller skate? . . . yes, sir! BETTY LOU SPEICHER- Spike is always ready with a ioke ALYCE VITZENTY-One swell girl . . . brains . . . she has . . . really likes baseball . . . as for studies . , . they're her share . . . hear someone singing? . . , that's Alyce . . . one big headache . . . unless you study. you can always have fun when she's around. WILLIAM STRAUB- Peppy . . . sportive . . . has a smile GAIL WAGNER-A dainty small fry . . . dark, wavy hair . . . for everyone . . . is kept busy thinking up excuses . . . our hard-working PORTAL editor . . . still finds time to do for being absent. assignments . . . usually tops the honor roll. REBECCA STRONG-Pretty brunette . . . tall . . . always WILLIAM WIRE-Another redhead Senior . . . with a ten-shade pleasant . . . ambition? . . . nurse . . . has her fingers blush . . . Looks. dancing ability, Bill has both . . . crossed . . . friendly with everyone, including Bill. always adds to the fun . . . of others . . . Becky adds A to his fun. Shull E. Smith Straub Stull Valentine Wagner Sips Speicher Strong Tesh Vitzenty Wire OUR REGARDS TO THE FACULTY. Twenty-two

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land Township from Adams, Jean McGregor from St. Patrick's in Johnstown, and Gail Wagner from Oakland. That year found us busy with English l, civics, Pennsylvania history, general science, algebra, or agriculture, depending on the course we selected. Our class officers were Gail Wagner as presi- dent, Philip Corle as vice president, Violet Baum- gardner as secretary, and Richard Matey as treas- UI'6I'. Remember how easily the seats in the boys' home room could be moved, and how simple it was to crawl out of the windows. Remember, boys, how Brownie Donato used to entertain you at noon in your home room. He must have been a very accomplished dancer. Do you recall how the girls would plaster their faces with powder, give an eerie sigh, and gracefully faint in general science class? Remember how Mr. Miller, by taking his post in Mr. Van Dyke's study hall, averted a strike threatened by students who were not per- mitted to attend a certain baskeball game? We had a party at Christmas time, but some- how we never did get around to decorating the tree. However, we stood it in the corner and it did serve a noble purpose. A freshman didn't look so green when standing beside it. The floor was extremely slippery that night, and more than one person fell during the relay games. ln the spring we had a picnic at Liberty Park. Joanne Miller furnished our transportation by using her father's truck. The water was so cold that swimming was limited to getting your bathing suit wet and then making a dash for the dressing room. During the summer months we enjoyed our- selves, got a sun tan or worked, as the case might be. In the fall we came back to school as veterans. We were sophomores and felt good about it. That is, we felt good until that awful day when one of our teachers broke down and told us the meaning of sophomore. Why do teachers do such things? At the beginning of the school year in i945 we found that we had lost a few of our classmates and were honored by the addition of a few new members. That year we were known as sophies and received less attention than any other of our four years. We were not considered as green as the freshmen, nor were we as yet upperclassmen. Miss Dodd kept the boys under her protecting wing, while the girls again reported' to Mr. Wissler. We learned that thinking was prescribed in most of our classes. We found ourselves taking English ll, Modern and Medieval history, commonly known as M 81 M, biology, algebra, Latin, French, or vocational agriculture. We moved into the middle seats in the back of the auditorium, and gazed down, just a wee bit, on the Freshmen. Not too- much, though, for we could still remember our freshman year. Our class officers were: Wayne Allison, presi- dent, a newcomer from Walnut Grove, Philip Corle, Twenty-four vice president, John Nagrant, secretary, and Richard Matey, treasurer. A Hallowe'en party was held in a barn in Cornelia Park. While it was strictly a costume affair, Joanne Miller was the only one who came in proper attire. A treasure hunt was instigated, and many took it so seriously that they got lost, at least they didn't show up again at the party, Refreshments were served as everyone expected they would be, but the highlight of the evening came when Miss Dodd gave her personal interpretation of the irish llg' Going back a bit, do you remember the Bed- ford game that year, or rather the night of the Bedford game? What a night! What a moon! What a bus! The one the team rode in shot a bearing on the Pleasantville Mountain. From there to Geistown the band bus did double duty. Remember how some of the girls did their bit for the war effort-seeing the boys oft to the service with a high spirit and some red paint? That year we sold hot dogs and pop at our home football and basketball games, and thus made a beginning in our class treasury. How nice the band members looked in their new blue and red uniforms! That year we had quite a few outdoor classes, especially in English and M. 81 M. Quite instruc- tional they were, too. We learned a lot about mushball. There were slight disturbances when the boys wouldn't let the girls play with them, and some not-so-slight disturbances when they did. The war shortages were felt at Richland, too, we only need recall the drawerless desks in Room lO7. Books to the right of us, books to the left of us . . . but try to find your own. Do you recall the white lines that were painted on the hall floors? A system was devised whereby it took from tive to ten minutes to cross from one side of the hall to the other. This system soon gave way to an easier and more practical order. That was the year our athletic teams were first known as the Rams, as well as the year the PORTAL came into being. Recall how we sat in the auditorium all day waiting for the various groups to be called out to have pictures token? In the spring the whole high school had an all-day picnic at Idlewild Park, the first one held since before the war, and consequently the first one many of us knew anything about. School busses were used for transportation to and from the park. lt was certainly fun to see who went together, and still more interesting to see who returned to- gether. After watching the class of I946 being gradu- ated, the school year ended, and the time of vaca- tion arrived with all its accompanying pleasures. The summer between our sophomore and iunior years simply faded away, and in the fall we returned to find many changes at Richland, The first six grades were removed from the Geistown building, and it was given over entirely to the