Vernon High School - V Echo Yearbook (Vernon, OH)

Page 19 text:

Just twelve years ago in September, 1947, forty-two six year old children entered Mrs. Karr's first grade. Twenty-one of the forty-two still remain with us, and they are Roy Bailes, Larry Bates, Barbara Bloss, Daniel Braden, Paul Burbach, Gordon Collins, Diane Draa, Norman Englebaugh, Betty Griffiths, Frank Hiland, Margaret Hillyer, Dorothy Horodyski, Raymond Jackson, Merle Langley, Joe Mack, Ed Meloni, Roberta Reeves, Tom Tupper, Alan Watson, Jane Wells, and Ronald Wilson. There were so many of us that the very first day we had to be moved into a larger room. After get- ting settled we began to learn the background for the 3 R's. In 1948 we were promoted to the second grade where Mrs. Queale was our teacher. The thing that we remember most was the Christmas tree we had that year. It was a branch from a tree, painted silver and decorated with the ornaments that we made. This year Gordon Myers and Howard McMahon joined us. In 1949 Mrs. Jennings received us into the third grade room. She certainly had a hard time pounding the time tables into our thick heads, That was the year that Judy Bush became a member of our class. The fourth grade was a memorable year, because Mrs. Lucas had the thankless task of teaching us how to write with an ink pen. This grade has the distinction of being that one in which Norman Englebaugh got his name of Inky , because everytime we used our ink, he got more on himself than on the paper. Mrs. Hunter taught us in the fifth grade. Here we leamed who the musicians of the class were, for she taught us to play the harmonica, In the sixth grade we had Mrs. Seaholm as our teacher. I think the most important event that year was our trip to Pittsburgh to the Planetarium, the museum and the zoo. We next entered junior high school and what an experience that was! Mr. Furr was our seventh grade advisor and Mr. Whipkey, our eighth grade advisor, These two years were those in which we got into the most trouble. It seemed we were always getting blamed for something. It was in the seventh grade that we acquired another permanent member, Jerry Devine, and then in the eighth grade another, Richard Bloom. Well, when we finally became Big freshmen, we weren't as big as we thought we were, and Mr. Watson soon woke us up to that fact. We sponsored our first dance this year and were quite successful. The next fall all we did was move to the other side of the room and become soph- omores with Mr. Watson still our advisor. We had another dance that year and built up our funds in our treasury quite satisfactorily. When we left the tenth grade and ventured on to next-to-the-last year of school, we didn't think it would go as fast as it did. Mr. Gelsomino was our advisor and with his help we accomplished quite a bit. We put on a play, Miss Mischief, sold autograph books, sold candy in the hall at the noon recess, and had the concessions at the home basketball games. In the spring we received our class rings, had a dance, and enter- tained the seniors at a very successful Prom at the Mahoning Country Club. In the same year the girls' softball team won two district trophies with Jane Wells and Roberta Reeves from our class helping. John Forsha and Merlyn Smith joined us this year,

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1 THOMAS TUPPER Lark Basketball 1-2-3-4 Baseball 1-2-3-4 Track 1-3 National Honor Society Beta Club 2-3-4 Co-Editor Yearbook Chorus 1-3-4 Prom Committee Bowling 1-3 ALAN WATSON Vite Class President 4 Class Secretary 3 National Honor Society Beta Club 2-3-4 Basketball 1-2-3 Chorus 1-2-3 JANE WELLS Janie Softball 1-2-3-4 Track 1-2-3-4 Cheerleader 2-3-4 National Honor Society Bowling 1-3-4 Junior Play Queen Attendant 2 Chorus 1-2-3 RONALD WILSON Moose Basketball 1-2-3-4 Baseball 1 Bowling 1 Chorus 2

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And here we are at last in our senior year with graduation approaching. We have Mrs. Glowe as our sponsor whois guiding us along the route of making a yearbook, acquainting us with the many tests for scholarships in the many colleges, preparing for our senior play, getting ready for our senior trip to Washington, D. C., and finally helping us to be ready for the big event - graduation on May '20, 1959, These past twelve years have been the best years of our lives, even though they were pretty tough at times and without the guidance of our parents and teachers we probably wouldn't have made the grade. We owe them all a great big Thanks! and we hope to repay them by becoming conscientious citizens in the future. It is the year of 1979. Let us look in on the Senior Class of 1959. They all look quite different from what they did when we last saw them. The first one we visit is Roy Bailes, who is the center on the Boston Celtics, He has grown a bit since we last saw him, in fact, he is six feet seven inches tall now and still has his bright red hair. who is that little man? Of course, it is Larry Bates! We see that he is still driving his old Dodge. It is a miracle that it is still in one piece. He claims he has won the Indianapolis 500 a couple of times. Oh, we know who this is! It is Richard Bloom and his famous wife, Brigitte Bardot, He is the envy of every man in the United States. Let's visit Barbara Bloss. She is the champion boxer of the world - woman boxer, we mean. She keeps in shape by fighting with her husband, Tom Horodyski. Why, here's Danny Braden, We can't mistake him. He is now very famous for his invention of chairs for kids who sleep in class. Could that thin man be Paul Burbach? Why, yes, it is! He lost his weight while he was a calisthen- ics instructor in the United States Navy. Our next visit is to Judy Bush. She is now a model on the Big Payoff. She models fur coats, no less. If you are wondering how she got the job, Bud is now the M.C. How is Gordon Collins these days? He now weighs 250 lbs. and is owner of Louie's Tavern. We hear that he always donates blood to the Red Cross. Who are those two men? It must be Jerry Devine and Joe Mack, Shall we see what mischief they have been up to lately? They have sold their invention of a moon rocket to the govemment and are becoming quite wealthy. Joe said they invented it when they were trying to find something that would outrun Red Davidson's Ford. Ah, here comes John Forsha, who is now the Speaker of the House, thanks to Mr, Gelsomino's guidance. This beautiful lady approaching is Diane Draa, After she finished her time in the U. S. Air Force C? Q, she married the owner of the Chunky Chocolates, Norman Englebaugh has become a horse jockey. He rides in the Kentucky Derby every year. Here comes Betty Lou Griffiths. She is still at the switchboard in Orangeville, but now she own half the company, She is now considered the best news reporter in Orangeville Margaret Hillyer owns the other half of the company, She now keeps her shade up so she can see Mr, Sakey when he goes past. Frank Hiland has become quite famous since we last saw him. He is the well known