O.K. - if we all went to two different grammar schools: Halsted St. and Merriam Ave., (clever names, eh?), then why does this 8th grade graduation photo show all of us together and is captioned "Class of 1970, Halsted Street School?" I can clearly recognize some people who went to both schools, so I just can't wrap my little pea brain around this one... (My apologies to the folks who were pictured on either side of this very long, scroll-type photo. My scan-bed won't fit it all on...)
I can clear that up for you Peggy. Merriam Ave. only went up to 6th grade so after that we all ended up in Halsted for 7th & 8th grade together. It depended on where in Newton that you lived when Merriam Ave. was built as to whether you went to Halsted or Merriam from K-6.
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ReplyDeleteWow! There sure were a lot of us. Halsted was my parents high school, part of which was torn down to make our playground (parking lot). I remember going to Britt's or the Diner for lunch during school.
ReplyDeleteI also remember going with Mr. P and Ed to buy things for a computer board or something. I had no idea what they were talking about, but they let me tag along anyway!
Peggy is doing things to me in this photograph that I cannot appropriately describe in a forum of this kind that requires some kind of decorum.
ReplyDeleteAnd, as an aside, I'd like Linda Santagata Deebs to wear the exact same dress to the reunion, if she could...
Yes Maggie, I remember going to the "Green Room" for lunch almost everyday and playing songs on the good old juke box! "Spinning Wheel" was my favorite song to play...and I believe I ate the same thing for lunch everyday...egg salad sandwich, french fries, and a cherry coke! Wow the memories are flowing back now. And Ed, wasn't it you who went with my brother Tom and Mr. P to Jamaica?
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ReplyDeleteWait a minute, we didn't ALL come from two grammar schools! Lots of us came from outside the borough. My computer skills are sadly lacking, but I'll try to scan a pic from Fredon.
ReplyDeleteSabrina Lay: Fredon is in Warren County, right? ;-) How's my favorite eighth-grade Newton Presbyterian Church dance partner doing?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of the Presbyterian Church, I went there recently -- sadly, for a funeral -- and sneaked through a side door into the empty "gym" there to see how it had changed (from basketball games and dances when I was about 12-13). Amazingly, I don't think that room has changed one bit in 35-40 years.
Sabrina, I do stand corrected. Of course what I meant to say was all of us Newton kids - but even that might not be correct. Some parents may have chosen to leave their kids in the hands of the penguins due to their extraordinary discipline methods. So, my apologies for mis-speaking. I didn't mean to sound insensitive toward the out-of-towners. As a metter of fact, my best friend in high school was from Green Township. And, if you are unable to post your picture, please forward it to me, and I'll post it on behalf of all those "sending district" NHS folks. As a matter of fact, that would be another great quiz. How many were there - and who can name them all?
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know exactly how many of us there were in Halsted class of 1970? I keep looking at the picture and can probably name almost everyone in there, but it just seems like such a huge amount of us! While looking at the picture w/Joe earlier, I hesitantly showed him which one I was! I was hoping Peggy that I was one of the ones on the side of the picture that got cut off. No such luck! I really hate how I look in this picture...the hair!!!! Yuck! I guess I must have changed my looks drastically as Joe asked me out on a date 6 months after this picture was taken and we've been together ever since! Diane said she has some pictures from the dance at the Presbyterian Church after our graduation. I'm hoping to stop by her house one day soon and get them so I can post them.
ReplyDeleteIt helps that I played eighth-grade basketball against most of these school districts, even though not every school had basketball (but all of them wrestled, I think):
ReplyDeleteOther than Newton...
Andover
Fredon
Green
Sandyston-Walpack
Didn't Byram's grammar school split up its kids between Newton and Hopatcong H.S.'s -- before there was a Lenape Valley H.S.?
Margaret Ann Dolan were you not a young Catholic Lass at one time? Do not cast aspersions on the penguins and those parents who chose that educational methhod. Not only am I a McDonald but me mother was a Flanagan! So you see there was no other option for me. I had to beg to go to N.H.S because Mom was Hellbent on sending me to Pope John. I never speak ill of the penguins for the fear that the teachings are true and they would beat Hell out of me for all eternity in Heaven.
ReplyDeleteMike:
ReplyDeleteWhat about Stillwater?
Did Layton kids go to Newton?
And, Branchville - or did they go to High Point? (Was there a High Point in 1974?)
So many un-memories, so little time to cram for the reunion!!!
Tom:
Yes, I WAS a Catholic girl, but I never went to parochial school (except on Saturday mornings - ugh)! I'm just saying (from previous e-mails) that there seems to be more than a little baggage associated with the discipline methods espoused by the penguins. And, I'm not afraid of 'em.
Ooop, sorry, Ellen! I forgot to include the answer to your question. 166 Halsted St. School 8th graders in the whole picture. I counted 'em for ya!
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but I've always remembered the number ... 286 ... graduates at the N.H.S. '74 ceremony in June 1974 ... when Principal Edward W. Mahnken (a onetime neighbor of mine in Newton, me on Ryerson Avenue, and him on Plainfield Avenue) presented me with a letter from President Richard M. Nixon. It all went downhill for Tricky Dick from there, didn't it?
ReplyDeleteHey guys-
ReplyDeleteI have been following your posts with great amusement - to say the least!
On the issue of sending districts, Layton was in the Sandyston-Walpack sending district and no, Branchville was with Frankford at High Point. You may remember that my wife's family (Lance's little sister - Robin Torppey) moved from Andover to Frankford the summer after her Sophomore year (she was a year behind us) and she spent her last 2 years at High Point. I spent many a morning ferrying her to HPRHS, doing some crazy burnouts in the parking lot to impress those hillbillys up there and racing back to the student lounge for my first 2 or 3 periods of high school instruction. That 286 number clearly sticks in my head because I was #86 out of 286 in the class rank. (probably could have applied myself a bit more...and I am forbidden from telling my kids ANY stories to this day)
Let's get that Fredon photo posted Sabrina - I'm tired of looking at Halsted Street and Andover pics! I do recall that out of our Fredon 8th grade class of 34? kids, a huge bunch went to the recently opened VoTech, and another bunch of the well-to-do Fredon Dr.'s kids went to Blair, so it was not a big crew from Fredon, but of course, we did bring along plenty of the wrestling powerhouses from our half of the Stillwater-Fredon wrestling dynasty to augment the state-ranked NHS wrestling squad.
As you know, Walt, most of the boys at N.H.S. always thought of Robin as JACKIE Torppey's little sister. Or, of course ... as Marsha Brady! (That Jackie was a pioneer in the tanning lamp industry in the '70s, long before such salons ever opened and became commonplace.)
ReplyDeleteEllen I hold my breath every time a picture appears that I might have thrown out for good reason. The cyber space world is open to all. I am cut off of the 8th grade class picture, but my youngest son thinks he found me twice. :) Anyone with long dark hair he seems to think is me!
ReplyDeleteSabrina I was hoping to hear from you. Our sending district friends were the best! We had a lot of fun... Missed you the year you were an exchange student. Hope all is well!
I'm so excited to see all of you in July. Thanks for offering to post the Fredon photo, Peggy. I'm packing up my house & will have to dig around for that precious gem.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, Walt, our Fredon class got spread far & wide when we got to high school. Speaking of those class members, I invited Susan Hughes Hennessey to our reunion & she's looking forward to coming. She's more excited about our reunion than the one for Blair Academy. Halsted & Miriam students may remember Sue as Mrs. Hughes's daughter.
Debbie,I'm doing well. I really fell off the grid after we graduated & I moved to PA. It's great to be connected with you again.
Mike, I'll be practicing my dance steps to see if I can still keep up with you.
I don't want this to go to Mrs. Hughes's head. But she just MIGHT be the reason I went into journalism as a career. (Make your own newspaper project in eighth grade -- she probably knows that, since I was a guest speaker years after N.H.S. '74 at one of her Kittatinny H.S. classes.) Sabrina, if Mrs. Hughes is around, and able, let her know about this party ... she'd be a welcome addition among the teachers to the reunion on July 25.
ReplyDeleteOMG - I just realized where that thing came from! Several years ago, (and I'm talking this decade) the people who moved into my family's home on Franklin Street found a newpaper I had created (obviously in grammar school), and gave it to my brother, Mike to send to me. So, does anybody else have the newspaper they created in the 8th grade??? If you're lucky I might post a scan of some of it. It is humorous, but boy, was I full of myself!
ReplyDeleteI do not recall making a newspaper in 8th grade. If I did, I surely do not have it anymore. I do remember, however, taking home a little pink chicken after it hatched from Mr. Gerths science class. He injected the eggs with dye while in the incubator. I remember there were green, blue, and pink ones. After bringing mine home, it only lived for a short while. Mr. Gerth was a funny teacher as I recall.
ReplyDeleteHe would stand up in front of the class with the hose from the sink and it would be going all over the place while he was talking to us! Crazy!!
And while we're on the subject of teachers, which teacher am I speaking of? (I mean no disrespect as I really liked this teacher!!) Da...da....da..do you understand?
I just want to make clear that the teacher I am referring to in my last post was NOT from high school!
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ReplyDeleteYes Debbie, that is exactly who I was speaking of! I thought she was an awesome teacher too. As far as winning a prize, I guess you'll have to ask Mike since he's the one who started this whole prize thing.
ReplyDeleteIt was Mrs. Mildred Hughes who made us create newspapers in eighth grade at Halstead. I know, because it set off a light bulb in my head of what I wanted to eventually do as a career in life. (Little did I know, around 1970, that by the time I reached retirement age, there probably wouldn't be any newspapers!) Anyway, I owe Mrs. Hughes. An excellent, nice teacher and lady.
ReplyDelete[Sabrina Lay, if you're somehow still in touch with her, please let her know I wrote this about her. Thanks.]