Shelton High School - Argus Yearbook (Shelton, CT)

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01444 Jliu'a1uf-- ' more responsibilities, for we had reached the halfway point in the voyage. In September, 1946, as second class pas- sengers, we embarked on the third lap of the voyage and discarded the nickname, Slop- mores, so jovially bestowed upon us by the other students. Standing by to guide our ship on its course were Harvey Marsan, president, Mildred Kah- ler, vice-president, john Brewster, treasurerg and Mary Trcka, secretary. Many changes were made this year among the commissioned ofhcers. Miss Cecilia Noo- nan and Miss Beatrice Salipante very capably took the places of Miss Titus and Mrs. Flynn. Mr. Murray resumed his task of coaching bas- ketball, while Mr. Finn once again became our football coach. Later in the year, much to the surprise of the students, Mr. Esposito left us. They were pictures of sadness when they realized he wouldn't be able to tell any more of his good jokes. En route Miss Salipante left to return to port, and Mrs. Flynn was with us once more. Ah, yes! Changes were being made. Chew- ing gum in class was one of our favorite sports. One day in biology class, Mr. Finn announced that when caught chewing gum, we would no longer be compelled to write poetry. Later we found out that a rendition of a musical number was expected. It was fortunate for us, however, because it was then we first heard Ray Bassett sing out in that cowboy style of his. Did I say fortunate! Before we knew it, the time had come for the traditional Turkey Day Game. The team won a hard-earned victory, and the Victory Dance that night sponsored by the second and first class passengers was a great success. Our basketball season was also successful, and we got our bid to the tournament games. Although we were beaten in the first garne of the tournament, we wound up in third place in the league. ' Our new student council representatives were Vera Carlson, Jeanette Lechus,. and Henry Gemery. just about this time our pres- ident, Harvey Marsan, disembarked, and Guy Beardsley replaced him and capably fulfilled his new appointment. One day in class, Miss Rae, baffled by a mysterious pop which seemed to come from the direction of the windows, sent for Mr. Purcell. Finding nothing inside or out that would explain it, he abandoned his investiga- tion. Had something gone wrong with the radiators, or had the people in the room above been trying to rush the Fourth of July by tossing out flrecrackers? The biggest event of the year was fast approaching - the junior Prom. There was much bustling, and finally things began to take shape. The theme was Stardust and all the committees were busy fitting their plans to the theme. Finally the night came. The boys donned their tuxedos and the girls were very excited at this opportunity to dis- play their gowns. The ship's grand ballroom was attractively transformed into a roof gar- den surrounded by skyscrapers. It was a very successful affair and the number of peo- ple who attended far surpassed that of pre- vious years. Yes, all who went will be sure to remember the gay time they had, and the decorators will not soon forget their experi- ences with the blue dye of the crepe paper. As we again put into our summer port, our destination seemed very close and when, on September 3, 1947, we set off on the last year of our voyage, commencement was al- most in full view, and we were privileged passengers. To our captain's staff we welcomed Miss Coombs, Miss Martin, and Miss Healey, who filled the vacancies left when Mrs. Cook and Mr. Glendon resigned their posts. Our president for this term, Edward Bal- ade, left us in the middle of the year, and Mildred Kahler, vice-president, took his place. Mary Taylor was elected as secretary, and Stephen Chuckta, our football hero, was treasurer. With these: able shipmates in charge, we sailed smoothly into our senior activities. October 2nd found the Social Studies classes examining the documents aboard the Freedom Train. Inspired by these emblems of democracy, Phyllis Saxton, Francis Ryan, Beverly Brown and Patricia Woods entered an essay contest entitled, I Speak For Democ- racy, and on the evening of October 2ist, read their contributions over a New Haven radio station. This same evening the Shakespearean play, A Merchant of Venice, sponsored by the

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6244 The Class of 1948 aboard the S. S. Shelton began its voyage on the rough seas of sec- ondary education in September, 1944. All were ooking forward to the time when on the merit of our passport, Report Card, we would move to t e third-class deck, then to the second and finally within four years at- tain the prestige of first-class passengers. A As our leaders for this first year of the voyage we elected Robert Kopasz, presidentg Barbara Wakelee, vice-president, Vera Carl- son, secretary: and Alvin Bennati, treasurer. Doris Snedeker, Walter Piorkowski, and Rob- ert Penny were chosen to represent us on the Student Council. Both groups proved them- selves worthy of their appointments, and de- serve much credit for steadying us during this hectic period. The upper-class passengers, taking advantage of our uncertainty in navi- gating these strange waters, dubbed us The Comedy of Errors. Our social activities aboard ship consisted mainly of a Teen Town held every Monday night, where our clubs were organized and a dancing .session enjoyed afterwards. Under the direction of Mrs. Frager, the Freshman Dramatics Club presented several plays for the enjoyment of the fourth-class passengers. The main event of the year was the Freshman Social. For this occasion the deck was set aglow with lights and decorations depicting a spring scene. Why is he always looking out the win- dows? Why is he always walking in the hall? These questions were answered when it was revealed that Mr. Tyrrell had told Robert Merrill to wait in the passageway un- til he arrived. It' seems that Robert Merrill was the only boy in the junior Business Train- ing class and this was Mr. 'I'yrrell's way of preventing the blame for any talking from alling upon him. Many other unforgettable incidents occurred during our first year, in- cluding Mr. Esposito's colossal experiments performed for his third period science class. Poetry has been called the language of romance. Well, perhaps this is trueg how- ever, when Miss Farrell tried to create inter- est in the story, Ivanhoe, by having us write poems, we found that this is not always the case. A typical example of the results of this undertaking was: Bois Gilbert is dead, From a conk on the head. Time marched on, but not fast enough for Danny Simonetti. He appointed himself time-keeper. Then, it was simply a matter of setting the clock ahead a few minutes. lt's safe to say it now, Dan. You've made the grade! ln june we arrived at the Port of Summer Vacation, 1945. Here we put in for ten weeks to allow for much needed repairs. The following September, the S. S. Shel- ton set sail on the second phase of her event- ful journey. Shipmate guides were elected as follows: Charles Husti, president, Alvin Bennati, vice-president, Vera Carlson, sec- retaryg Robert Kopasz, treasurer. Under the capable guidance of our class adviser, Miss Tisi, we conducted a dance called The Harvest Hop. Streamers of yellow, brown, orange and black hung in swirls from the ceiling. Cornstalks, haystacks, cats and a huge harvest moon decorated the walls. The soft lights and the music of Frank Marti's orchestra created a truly en- chanting atmosphere. During this year we selected our class rings. Beverly Brown and our class officers were chosen to represent us on the committee for this selection. We spent many hours in our English class reciting poetry and all of us shall remember Harvey Marsan's excellent recitation of Da Besta Friend. Back on board were Mr. Tarbell, Mr. Finn, Mr. Murray, and Mr. Freiheit, who had been on a special mission during the war YCHFS. Mr. Finn, a great lover of poetry, believed our first year biology class was made up of many potential poets. Each time someone was caught chewing gum, the writing of a poem was in order. Only the class will re- member how many times the students showed their poetic ability! Members of the third class took advant- age of the many clubs available to them. Stu- dents of foreign languages spent many pleas- ant hours participating in the Spanish and French Clubs, while those interested in acting put their talents to use in the Dramatics Club. We all saw the many sweaters, skirts, and other articles that the ambitious Needlecraft Club members made. Some students joined the Philosophy Club. As the months slipped by, we assumed

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- ..tf. F A efau - - eaniinuecl senior class and the Student Council, was pre- sented by a group of professional actors at the Derby High School auditorium. Fortune must have smiled on the ship's athletic activities this year, for we ended our football season with a brilliant record and, possession of the Sydney Blumenthal Trophy for one year. In basketball we attained the second highest place among Class B schools in Connecticut. As the first-class passengers on the ship, we held seats this year in the first rows in the auditorium. It was here at our Thanksgiv- ing Day assembly that the calmness of our voyage was momentarily interrupted by the appearance of no less an alarming spectacle than a group of fierce Indian warriors! Peace was restored when beneath the war paint we discovered Guy Beardsley, john Brewster and Russell McLean. Despite unusually stormy weather during the winter months, the ship plowed steadily onward, and the arrival of spring saw the Phyllis Saxton Mildred Saxton Vera Kahler Margaret Canganelly Anita Webb Millicent Block Robert Penny Robert Kopasz Stephen Chuckta Francis Ryan Daniel Simonetti 25 seniors passengers in a flurry of preparations for the play, Welcome, Danger, which was presented in April and proclaimed a great success. Those achieving highest honors for their scholastic work were Phyllis Saxton, John Brewster, Elizabeth Schmidt, Aurelia Balles- ter, Mary Trcka, and Beverly Brown. In june, a few days before reaching Port Graduation, the senior class banquet was held - our last social activity as a group. Then with diplomas in hand we left the S. S. Shelton, june 25th, happy, yet somewhat reluctant to place behind us those wonderful days of our voyage. Committee: ELISABETH Sci-iMin'r FLORENCE CALLA1-IAN EUNICE Piusco MARY TAYLOR Faculty Adviser: Miss RUTH LEE Gaul GJ 7fae Sendai: