The Brookville Area High
School
Class of 1957
50th Reunion
October 6, 2007
Invocation
Larry White gave the invocation before dinner.
Greetings
Announcements
Pete Savitz called Dan Fiscus on Saturday afternoon to send his best wishes to the Class. Pete was only with us for one year, but he says that he has always considered himself a member of the Brookville Area High School Class of 1957. For those of you who don't know Pete, he lives in San Diego, CA, where he is a criminal defense lawyer. He and Bob Bushey were our "California Cats."
The special Class of 1957 cake. Dave Daughtery's daughter owns a bakery, "Sweet Dreams." She make a huge sheet cake on which she recreated the picture of the Paul Darling junior high building and the senior high school building in icing. Dan Fiscus provided the picture for the cake
On Friday night I was asked several times how many were in the Class of 1957; my answer had been "about 120." After consulting the yearbook, I learned that there were 141 in the class. Of this number, 32 are deceased.
Schedule of Events for the Evening
Greetings from the BHS Class President, Joe Strano, and Gordon Van Steenberg representing the Eldred Township High School
Alice Gayley - "Major Events of 1957"
Dave Hidinger - "Major Events of the last 50 Years"
Lighting of the Memorial Candle.
The Program
Acknowledgements of the Reunion Committee
First, we acknowledged the committee who planned the reunion weekend. For his hard work and leadership, Dan Fiscus was presented with a gift certificate from the Gold Eagle. Kay Allshouse Farrell was recognized for assembling and printing the reunion booklet; she received a 1-pound box of chocolates from Dan Smith's. Like Kay, Marie Quinn Lockwood received a box of chocolates for her work in taking notes at each meeting so Dan could keep us out-of-towners informed about the committee's actions and progress.
The Class of 1957. The Statler Brothers sang about us; they said we had a dream. And we did. We dreamed of being nurses, engineers, educators, farmers, homemakers, lawyers, musicians, business men and women, and ministers. Others dreamed of a life in public service as firemen or law enforcement officers.
And for the most part we achieved our dreams. Or we followed the Statler's advice and changed our dreams to meet the needs of the world as it changed around us.
Greetings from Representatives of the Brookville and Eldred Township High Schools
Gordon Van Steenberg gave a very funny talk about the life and times of the Class of 1957 at the Eldred Township High School.
Joe Strano, President, Brookville High School Class of 1957, had a rather lengthy presentation planned but it was cut short by the NBC (New Bethlehem barbershop Chorus) which was scheduled to entertain us at 7:30 p.m.
Continuing after the entertainment I told a joke:
"At Plylers last night Chuck Keough told me a story. Seems a few months back he and Barb attended a cocktail party, and Chuck got to chatting with a gentlemen whom he described as being "about 6' tall with ramrod straight military posture." Chuck thought he looked to be in his mid-50s. As they were talking the conversation turned to work, and Chuck volunteered that he was retired from the insurance business. The other gentlemen announced that he was a retired Marine Corps Colonel and had been retired for 30 years. This startled Chuck so he asked the Colonel how old he was.
The Colonel responded: "I'm 81 years old."
Chuck replied: "Well, you're in amazing physical condition. What do you do to stay in shape?"
"I get up every morning at 6:30. I do 100 pushups, go out and run 10 miles, and, when I return, I eat a healthy breakfast. Every afternoon I go to the gym and work out."
Chuck said "That's amazing," followed by: "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"
The Colonel said, "Ask away."
"When was the last time you were with a woman?"
Colonel: "1957!"
Chuck: "That long?"
The Colonel glanced at his watch and replied, "Well it's only 2230 hours."
Major Events of 1957
Alice Gayley
On October 3, 1957, the Russians launched a 180-pound satellite into the sky named Sputnik. As it tore through the night air at 18,000 miles per hour, it opened a new frontier for exploration, and the Space Age was born.
The European countries signed the Treaty of Rome and the European Economic Community was established and the Common Market created.
IBM developed the first high-level computer programming language called FORTRAN.
The 1957 Nobel Prize for Literature went to Albert Camus of France.
The Nobel Prize for Chemistry went to Lord Alexander R. Todd of Great Britain's Cambridge University for his work in "nucleotides and nucleotide co-enzymes." And if there is any one here tonight who can explain that...Please don't!"
In the U. S., Elvis was King, and the Civil Rights movement had begun. President Eisenhower sent Federal Troops to force the integration of the schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Edsel was released.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the initial version of "The Pill."
West Side Story and The Music Man opened on Broadway.
Caroline Kennedy was born.
Dr. Seuss published "The Cat in the Hat."
Humphrey Bogart died.
In the San Francisco Bay area, the counterculture movement had started, and the word "Beatnik" entered the lexicon. Jack Kerouack wrote his novel "On the Road."
In Liverpool, England, two guitar players met for the first time: Paul McCartney and John Lennon. And the stage was set for a new era of music.
Here in Brookville, at Wes King's Ice Kream Kastle, Aunt Jennie's, or the Whispering Pines we were dancing or listening to:
"Jail House Rock" and "All Shook Up" by Elvis
"Wake up Little Susie" by the Everly Brothers
"That'll be the Day" by Buddy Holly and the Crickets
"Young Love" by Tab Hunter
"Party Doll" by Buddy Knox
"Round and Round" by Perry Como
And, Paul Anka wrote a song for one of our classmates...”Diana” (Zahl Remaley)
The movies we watched at the Columbia Theater or the Moonlight Drive-In included:
The Ten Commandments
Around the World in 80 Days
Giant
12 Angry Men
Pal Joey
Love in the Afternoon
Tea House of the August Moon
and Elvis in Love Me Tender
The Academy Awards of 1957 went to;
Best Picture: Bridge on the River Kwai
Best Actor: Alex Guiness for his portrayal of the Colonel in Bridge on the
River Kwai
Best Actress: Joanne Woodward for her performance in Three Faces of Eve
The books we read in 1957 included:
"On the Beach" by Neville Shute
"Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand
"Kids Say the Darndest Things" by Art Linkletter
And I'll bet every woman in this room read Grace Metallius's "Peyton Place."
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama went to Eugene O'Neill for "Long Days Journey into Night."
And the junior Senator from Massachusetts won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography for his "Profiles in Courage."
On our mostly new TV Sets we watched:
"Gunsmoke"And now for the Wide World of Sports
In 1957, the Montreal Canadiens won Hockey's Stanley Cup by beating the Boston Bruins in a 4-2 series.
The Milwaukee Brewers won the World Series by beating the New York Yankees in a 4-1 series.
The Pittsburgh Pirates finished 7th in the National League.
And the Brookville High School Red Raiders had a .500 season. Some of the members of that team are with us tonight. Gentlemen, as I call your names, please stand:
Richard CrooksLet's hear it for the Baseball Red Raiders.
There were two other major events in the world of baseball in 1957: The New York Giants moved to San Francisco, and the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles.
In Basketball that year, the St. Louis Hawks won the NBA Championship by beating Richard's Boston Celtics 4 games to 2.
The Brookville Area High School had two Basketball teams in 1957. The Brookville High School Red Raiders and the Sigel Panthers.
Let's start with the Sigel Panthers who are here tonight: Jerry Coyle played Guard. Harry Lee Matthews also played Guard. And the third Guard was Gene Mineweaser. The Sigel Panthers were coached by Mr. Ray Switzer and Mr. James Doverspike.
From the Brookville High School basketball team we have with us tonight: Forward Rich Crooks and Guard Jerry Hepler. Our Center, Dick Park, could not be with us tonight. Henry Huffman was the team manager.
Golf
Doug Ford won the U. S. Masters Tournament at Augusta, Georgia, and Dick Mayer won the U. S. Open. We have one member of the Brookville High School Golf team here tonight: Jim Kutz.
Let's hear it for Jim and all the other golfers in the room.
Football
In 1957 Earl Morrall led the Pittsburgh Steelers to a 3d place finish in the NFL East...right ahead of the Washington Redskins!
The two top college teams that year were Auburn University and Ohio State University. Auburn had a perfect season and the Buckeyes of Ohio State went 9-1-0. The Heisman trophy went to John David Crow of Texas A&M. Pitt beat Penn State 14-13.
Here in Brookville, Coach Bob Walker's Red Raiders had a 7-1-2 season. The players from that team that are with us tonight are:
Asher Gailbraith, Halfback
Dave Hidinger, Guard
Jim Kutz, Center
Don Swanson, End
Larry White, Halfback
Cheerleaders
And our cheerleaders rooted our teams to victory. Cheerleaders with us tonight are:
Captain of the Squad, Harriett Rothrock Minnigh
Shirley Tomski Matthews
Suzie Michael Marcone
Another organization that was always present at the games was the Brookville High School band. Band members, as I call your names, please stand and tell us what instrument you played.
Kay Allshouse Farrell, Clarinet
Glenn Byers, Saxophone
Dorothy Campbell Crooks, Clarinet
Dan Fiscus, Saxophone
Norma Richards Brown, Trumpet
Harriett Rothrock Minnigh, Clarinet
Bill Wierbinski, Saxophone
Also with us tonight is a member of the band from the Class of 1958, Bob Shields, Trombone
And last, but not least, I played Clarinet...or what Bill Green and Denny Snyder called "My Dog Beater."
Our yearbook, The Echo covered both schools. Gordon Van Steenberg and I were the Co-Editors-in-Chief. Gene Mineweaser was an Assistant Editor. Kay Allshouse Farrell was the Art Editor, and Norma Richards Brown was the Business Editor.
The Editor-in-Chief of our newspaper, The Beam, was Diana Zahl Remaley.
Turning now to Academics
Dave Hidinger was our class Validictorian
Bob Love was the Salutatorian
Members of the National Honor Society with us tonight are:
Joe Strano, Dave Hidinger and Lucy Park Hepler.
Major Events of the Last 50 Years
Dave Hidinger
|
Date |
Event |
Facts, Comments, etc. |
|
10/04/1957 |
SPUTNIK launched. |
Russian word meaning “traveler”. 95 minutes orbit at 18,000 MPH. Fell out of orbit January 4, 1958. |
|
1962 |
Cuban Missile Crisis |
Kennedy faced down Nikita Kruschev. |
|
11/22/1963 |
JFK assassinated. |
Lee Harvey Oswald. Dallas. Jack Ruby. |
|
4/4/1968 |
MLK, Jr. assassinated. |
James Earl Ray. Memphis. “I have a dream.” |
|
6/1968 |
RFK assassinated. |
Sirhan Sirhan. Los Angeles. |
|
7/20/1969 |
“The EAGLE has landed.” |
Walked on the moon. Apollo 11. Neil Armstrong first; Buzz Aldrich second. Michael Collins in mother ship. |
|
10/17/1973 |
OPEC Embargo. |
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Arab countries. Lines for gas. First shoot-up in price. Odd-even to get gas. |
|
3/28/1979 |
Three Mile Island. |
Accident. Minimal release. Nail in nuclear power coffin. Power so cheap that we wouldn’t need to meter it. |
|
1/28/1986 |
CHALLENGER. |
Cold launch. Piston ring problem. |
|
4/26/1986 |
Chernobyl. |
Serious accident. Large release. Clinched the nails in nuclear power coffin. |
|
11/9/1989 |
Berlin Wall Came Down. |
Construction started on 8/13/1961. |
|
9/11/2001 |
Terrorist attack on NYC. |
World Trade Center towers, Pentagon, Shanklinville. |
Lighting of the Memorial Candle
Walter Spare, Lucy Park Hepler, Larry Shaffer, Diana Zahl Remaley, and Jim Kutz read the names of our 32 deceased classmates. Dan Fiscus lit the memorial candle, and we had a moment of silence to remember our classmates.
Door Prizes
Return to 50th Reunion
Return to Alice's Scrapbook
(c) Alice J. Gayley 2005-2007 (My stuff, my format)