Musical Tastes

What are the albums (remember vinyl?) you had WAY back then, that you still enjoy today? Are you still listening to the same genre of music that you enjoyed back in the 70's? How have your musical tastes morphed over the years?

This is still one of my favorites. My tastes tend to run toward the bluegrass, folk, country-rock genres; although I now also enjoy more jazz and rhythm and blues than I did growing up.

My iPod will be running constantly during my cross-country road trip to our reunion - and mostly music (although I promised myself I would give audiobooks another try).

My favorites? I'll be singing along with Asleep at the Wheel, the Byrds, Commander Cody, Greatful Dead, Jackson Browne, John Prine, Leon Russell, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Ry Cooder, Van Morrison, and Waylon & Willie, among others.

Who are your musical heroes? Does Tony's band take requests? Enquiring minds want to know!

Who's Your Favorite N.H.S. Teacher?

As I hear from various teachers in the reunion replies -- many of whom I never had as teachers -- I'm amazed over how I seem to know many of them better now, 35 years later, than I did in high school.

Who was your favorite N.H.S. teacher? For me, it's hard to pin it down to just one. But if pressed, I'd have to say Mrs. Kathryn Bedell. In both her history and English classes, she put things in my head that eventually went on to help me both professionally and personally. The way she taught shaped the way my thought process worked, and that might be the best compliment for a teacher.

(Honorable mention goes to Señor William O'Neal. His Spanish classes were simply fun for me, and even now I have distinct memories of them. Because of him, I can still scratch out a bumbling, basic conversation with someone I encounter who speaks Español.)

Sad News About Mr. Christopher Duane, Language Teacher

I just received a note from John Lontos, our teacher and class adviser, about the recent death of Mr. Duane. Many of you, I'm sure, will be saddened by the news of your Latin and French teacher's passing. He had been living in the senior residences, Bristol Glen, on the end of Ryerson Avenue. He was 93.

I know that Mr. Duane was one of the most respected and well-liked teachers at Newton High.

FROM MR. LONTOS:

Mr Duane passed away last Wednesday the 17th.

You recall he taught Latin, among other languages, at Newton. Many of the class may have had him for a teacher.

Funeral service is at 9am Wednesday the 24th, at Smith-McCracken Funeral Home, followed by a 10am mass at St Joe's catholic church. Visitation Tuesday, 23 June, 2 to 4 and 7 to 9. Might be nice to have some former students drop in.

New Jersey Herald obituary is here:
http://www.legacy.com/njherald/Obituaries.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=128777659

Speaking of cars......

Well, I have to admit that I didn't have "my own" first car until well after Joe & I were married. They were always Joe's cars or always registered in his name. I did, however, have access to all of Joe's cars. I never did drive this one, 1967 GTO, but of course I loved it and loved being the passenger in it! In this picture we were headed to my Junior Prom, 1973! Joe bought this car from Edmund Zukowski, teacher at NHS. About 5 or 6 years ago, I saw Edmunds wife Rose who informed me that Edmund again is the owner of this car. He was at a car show and saw it and he felt the need to purchase it again!
I remember being very upset with Joe one night as I recall that my brother Tom asked to borrow this car to go out with friends. I begged Joe NOT to let my brother use the car as I knew he wouldn't get it back in the same condition that he lent it to him in. But no.....Joe didn't listen to me. He always did have a soft spot in his heart for all of my siblings (and still does!) He allowed Tom to use the GTO and do you think it came back the same? Of course not....he blew out the rear end! Needless to say Mike, I was right then too!

Your first car

So, maybe I don't have a pretty picture of my first car, but I do have proof that early on in life, I was an upright, law-abiding, tax-paying citizen. Do you remember you first car? How did you get it? Do you have any good stories about it? Here's mine...
I bought my first car after I returned to NJ while taking a hiatus from my "first" freshman year of college. I had earned the money during my high school years as a cashier at Hayeks Market.
My favorite story about the car is going to Indian Ladder Falls (in the Poconos) with eight fellow passengers. (Remember when front seats were still designed as bench rather than bucket seats?) Upon our return down the mountain, I discovered that my master cylinder was out of commission - or sadly well on it's way... So, I promptly ordered ALL the other passengers into the back seat where I thought they would be more safe in the event of an unfortunate (and crunchy) stop. I can't imagine what oncoming traffic thought about a driver chauffering eight passengers in the back seat. I remember joking about our situation being similar to stuffing people in a phone booth...
Well, the fates were with us, and we all returned safely home , physically, if not emotionally unscathed - although I suppose I should take some credit for my expert emergency braking ability.
What's your car story?

And the Award Goes To...

I received a copy of this 1970 New Jersey Herald article from Ed Rzonca, and it made me laugh.

(I hope you’re all able to view it; you might try using the view-zoom or enlarge functions on your computer. Or, just clicking on the image of the newspaper article will very likely work, too.)

Take a look at not only the names of the students who were recognized for things at the end of eighth grade at Halstead Street School in Newton, and not only what they were recognized for, but also some of the sponsors of some of these awards. These days, an award sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution might draw demonstrations outside.

And we really had a Hawaiian Club in eighth grade? Who knew?

Now, I won an award for personality and common sense. If you ask my wife and daughters, they say I have NO common sense! The only reason I won this, and the prize was a $15 ShopRite gift certificate, is because I was seventh-grader Jeff Barnhill's campaign manager in his run for eighth-grade class treasurer. I gave a speech a few weeks earlier in the auditorium, and I did some bad James Cagney impression ... "If you don't vote for Jeff Barnhill, you're gonna get it, and you're gonna get it gooood..." -- Mr. (Ray) Scheer, the social studies teacher, laughed so hard and liked it so much that he made sure I eventually got some kind of award for it. (Jeff Barnhill did win the election for class treasurer, by the way.)

But perhaps the most humorous line of this entire article, and I’m not sure quite why this tickles me, is this in-depth kind of reporting at the awards ceremony: “Kitty Gray read ‘If,’ a poem by Rudyard Kipling.”

Quiz: Name This N.H.S. Musician

Me and another classmate are fairly sure we know who this is. (Of course, we may be wrong -- obviously, it's happened before -- me being wrong in naming N.H.S. people in photos.)

I don't think this quiz is deserving of a reunion prize, because unless the person himself (it's a boy, right?) steps forward and says it's him, we may never know whether any guesses are correct or incorrect.

Rock on!