Westerly High School - Westlyan Yearbook (Westerly, RI)

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The Senior Year Book — 19S1 Class History Net many graduating classes have a real need for a history. Perhaps I’m conceited in saying so but I think we do. In our three years in high school our class has made quite a name for itself. At the first everything was normal and then— well, I had better let the record speak for itself. On first coming together in our sophomore year we chose Dave Stenhouse and Bill Scott for president and vice president, Heidi Gould for secretary, and Lennie Andrews for treasurer. Even before the coming of autumn had chilled the air, it became evident that we were out to dominate sports. Football Coach Andy Lentine, in his first year at Westerly, was almost overwhelmed by the rush of candidates. Out of the first thirty-three players, twenty were sophomores. Among these. Bill Scott, Frank Tate, Don Gingerella, Sam Cillino, and Fred Savage were standouts. The class was also well represented in the band by Dave Pinardi. Oiva Ylonen, Richard' Strong, and Shirley Harding. Sophomores in the twirler corps were Dolores Siciliano, Ruth Talbot, and Ann Carr. In basketball, Don Gingerella and Dave Stenhouse made the first team as Westerly took the Class Championship for the sixth straight time. Simultaneously with the appearance of the first robin of spring. Coach Mudge greeted many sophomore baseball candidates including Bob Gingerella, Dave Stenhouse, Lou Massucci, Fred' Savage, and Len Andrews. On the scholastic side of the record Jackie Carlesi won first prize in the Martha C. Babcock Essay Contest. Summer came and was quickly over as in our thirst for knowledge we eagerly awaited school. We were surprised and alarmed to learn that Dr. Bacon, who had been Westerly’s superintendent c ' schools for years, was retiring, but Dr. Tuttle, who succeeded him, soon won our respect and confidence. Dr. Tuttle wasn’t the only newcomer in our junior year, the other being the new football coach, John DiGangi. He didn’t remain a stranger for long as his personality and fine soprano voice made him well known overnight. For our class leaders we voted Bill Scott in as president, Dave Stenhouse as vice president, Patty Urso as secretary, and Lennie Andrews as treasurer. In sports, junior players were to be found everywhere. In football the team finished' with a record of four wins and three losses. The basketball team, dominated by All-Stater Dave Stenhouse, took Class B again and received a Boston Garden invitation. In baseball Westerly won the Class B Championship for the first time in many years. Junior members of the team were partly responsible for this feat. Many of our classmates had a chance to display their non-athletic abilities this year in The Frolics of 1950.” Coach DiGangi did a fine job in putting together this extravaganza. Another non-scheduled event in which our class had a prominent part was the school census. The object of this census, which was conducted by Mr. Foster’s and Mrs. Morrison’s history classes, was to determine the future of Westerly’s educational system. At the end of the year Joan Barrett and Gwen Crandall took second and third prizes, respectively, in the Martha C. Babcock Essay Contest. As always, September was here before we had acquired a good suntan, and we were back in school as seniors. We chose five able class officers to lead us in our last year. Paul Meyer became president; Bill Scott, vice president; Dolores Siciliano, secretary; Louis Masucci, treasurer; and Donald Gingerella, class marshal. Co-Captains Bill Scott and Don Gingerella led the football team through a season in which the leagueless Bulldogs searched as far away as New Haven for games. All of the forward wall and three of the regular backfield men were seniors. This was also the year basketball was reorganized in Rhode Island, with Westerly being moved into Class A. With such able seniors as Captain Dave Stenhouse, Ernie Stenhouse, Sam Antoch, and Donald Gingerella on the squad, Westerly took the State Championship in an undefeated season. This is just a brief and unfinished glance at our achievement; many names and individual honors have been left out for lack of space, because the turnout for every sport, contest, and job has been great. The class of '51 can be sure it has left a record of which it can be proud. ANDREW TARASEVICH, Historian.

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Thf. Senior Year Book — 1951 Class Prophecy “WHAT WE MAY BE” (With apologies to Shakespeare and Ophelia) It is the year of our Lord nineteen-hundred sixty-two when we come upon Professor David Pinardi, Dean of Classical Music at Tiawanna Tech. It seems that the Professor has recently been elected by popular vote of Y. W. C. A. poll, The Most Dangerous Bachelor of the Year.” Let us follow Dr. Pinardi on one of his typical daily routines. In his mad rush (a la Dagwood) to make the 8:43 bus to the University, he literally flattens his mailman, Robert McGibbon, who is just about to drop the mail into the mailbox. Not aware of this sudden impact, our Professor continues on his hectic dash to the corner bus stop. Waiting at the same corner for the bus is Jacquelyn Car-lesi, a very successful dental hygienist, who now is working for that renowned dentist, William Scott, formerly known as “Wild Bill from Potter Hill.” As the bus pulls up to the corner, the Professor climbs in and cheerfully greets John Chaffee, the bus driver. While walking down the aisle to the rear of the bus, he notices Margaret Bray, Mary Coughlin, and Louisa Wardman gay-ly chatting about the new Broadway production, “Three Gals and a Guy,” in which the three have leading roles. The play is produced by Ronald Panciera and Roger Grimes. He finds a seat next to that mad scientist, Andre “Instein” Tarase-vich. The two discuss the marvelous new cure for flat feet, invented by John Monti, the renowned medical practitioner. Glancing through his morning paper, Dr. Pinardi spies on the front page in bold headlines that Attorney Joseph Kozlin has again successfully defended that notorious jewel thief, Cliiford Smith. Also splashed in big headlines on the front page is the news that those two well-known inventors, Richard Hill and Hiram Barber, have just invented a revolutionary car engine. It has taken many years of careful research and manipulation, but the two finally have come up with their rubber-band engine for automobiles. Turning the page, he notices that Mary Ceplenski has just completed her concert tour in Europe and has returned to the States for further piano study under that great maestro, David Stenhouse, who is part time waterboy for Donald “Duck” Gingerella’s basketball team the “Quackers.” At the present time, Mary has almost mastered the intricate techniques involved in the execution of “Managua Nicaragua.” A few star players for the team are Frank Ruisi, Joseph Serra, Samuel Antoch, and Louis Ferando. The next game scheduled for this colossal team is the one against Barbara Sposato’s fighting fiive, “The Boston Bloomer Girls.” Two players on her team are Margaret Terranova and Virginia Ter-ranova. As our gallant Professor is meandering through the fine print of the society page, he notices that Joan Barrett has made her debut as a torch singer in Ralph LaPere’s night club, La Chi-Chi Clubbe. On the sports page, Dave comes across a few names of former classmates. He sees that Paul Meyer, Louis Masucci, and Fred Savage have made the Pro-All-American Football team and will play in the Cereal Bowl on New Year’s morning. He also notices that those two great high school track stars, Karl Johnson and Richard Mansfield, have again made sports headlines. In this year’s Olympics, Karl has broken the world’s record for the 100-yard dash by .999 of a second, and Dick has jumped one-quarter of an inch over the world record of high jumping. Not neglecting his favorite section, our Professor turns to the comic page. He reads with enthusiasm Edward Pinkowski’s comic strip, “The Adventures of the Wandering Arab,” based on the explorations of Robert Gavitt in the moldy wilderness of outer Shannock. Finally reaching the back page, he notices that the illustrious law firm of Cofone, Cofone, and Cofoni, Angelo, Peter, and Peter, respectively) with the aid of their very capable secretary, Ann Cofone, have attained another victory in the field of law. As the bus comes to a squeaky halt, Dave makes a beeline for the front exit, and barely misses getting caught between the two doors. After his narrow escape, he begins his two-block walk to the University. Having taken approximately one step, he runs smack into his old acquaintance, Vivian Clarke, who is Dean of English Literature at Kings-Lee Kollege. Just before he reaches the gate of the University, he spies “the Bobbettes” (Robert Brucker, Robert West, Robert Pellegrino, Robert Champlin, and Robert Twigley) selling peanuts at the gateway. Gayly chatting and chomping on their peanuts are Dorothy Reynolds, Helen Ruisi, Ann Carr,