Part 16 – Bridgeville High School, 1960

The Bridgeville Area Historical Society’s “Second Tuesday” series had its sixteenth and final workshop dealing with the history of Bridgeville High School this month, focusing on the Class of 1960. This was the final class of Bridgeville High School; the following year marked the opening of Chartiers Valley High School.

The 1960 Class dedicated its Yearbook, the Lincoln Log, to all the classes that had preceded it at Lincoln High School, beginning with the Class of 1925. In addition to listing the names of all the graduates of each year accompanied by their class photographs, the Yearbook includes other valuable historical data – a list of all the May Queens, history of the founding of various school organizations, etc. It has become a valuable historical document.

In 1960 Mr. C. J. McMahon was Supervising Principal, Ed Lisi was Principal, and Jack Wight held some sort of position between the two of them. Many long tenured faculty members were still active – Gloria Lutz, Jane Patton, Ruth Montague, Frances Krenz, Trula Holman, Dorothy Crichfield, and Alma Weise – to name a few.

Anthony Koszarsky was Class President; Margaret Alice Koch, Vice President; and Barbara Toney, Secretary. Barry Delphus was Treasurer; Joann Vogliano and William DeBone were Co-Social Chairmen. It is interesting that Miss Vogliano could be called a chairman in those days; when did we switch to Chairperson? I counted 109 Seniors in the Yearbook, making this easily Bridgeville High School’s largest graduating class.

Barbara Toney was May Queen; Joann Vogliano, Maid of Honor. The Yearbook noted that this tradition began in 1934 with Mary Vidoni, succeeded by Mary Schulte the next year, then was discontinued until 1939 when Betty Crawford was crowned. She was followed by a succession of Queens for the next twenty years.

“Time Out for Ginger” was the Junior Play for the 1960 Class; their Senior Play was “Mr. Co-ed”. Researching the names of all the class plays would be an interesting project, as well as a mirror on popular culture in those days. The Yearbook also included the obligatory photographs of beautiful young people at the Junior Prom and Senior Ball, two more popular culture icons.

According to the Yearbook the Student Council was begun in 1942 with John Graham and Bill Liggitt among its sponsors. It is credited with initiating the Honor Roll and “The Bridger”, which quickly gained Jane Patton as a sponsor.  William Barbish was the Editor-in-chief of the first Bridger.

Ray Donelli was sponsor of the Student Council in 1960.  Arthur Martini was its President.

The 1960 edition of the National Honor Society boasted twenty-seven members, twenty-three of them young women! The Yearbook includes a Photograph of the very first BHS National Honor Society in 1930. A proud member of it was Alma Weise.

Another interesting bit of history recorded in the Yearbook discussed the evolution of the Library. In the early days of the Lincoln High Building a small room adjacent to the office contained a modest library, maintained by the English teachers. The 1939 extension provided enough additional space to provide a room for a proper library and dedicated librarian, Dorothy Riley. When she left to become a missionary to Native Americans in the Southwest, Dorothy Jones (eventually Dorothy Crichfield) moved up from Washington School and became a beloved fixture as librarian.

The Hi-Y was founded in 1931 by James Frantz. Its objectives were to “ create, maintain, and extend standards of Christian character and leadership, throughout the school”.  The list of sponsors for the next three decades includes Jack Wight, Bill Liggitt, Jack Citron, and John Hall, and ends with Louis Zemanski.

The Letterman’s Club was started in 1948 by Coach Bob Hast to recognize athletic excellence. Fred Donelli, Bob O’Neil, Joe Stalma, and Ron Lesko were its first officers. By 1960 Coach Harry Buzzatto was its sponsor.

There were many other active clubs in 1960. Howard McCracken sponsored the Chess Club; Ron Kuisis was its President. Gloria Lutz sponsored the Future Teachers of America; Margaret Koch was President. The Nurses Club was sponsored by Joan Williams.

The Commercial Club boasted sixty-nine members, all female, with Joann Vogliano as President. The Yearbook does not identify a sponsor. Looks like young, single male teachers missed an opportunity! The Girls Athletic Association was also large. Eugenia Cairns was its President; Mrs. Davis, its sponsor. The photograph of Thelma Davis suggests she would have been a perfect House Mother for some college girls’ dormitory.

Paul Sasson was President of the Science Club, a responsibility that warranted two sponsors – Sam Simone and Ruth Montague. Two apparently sponsor-less, officer-less clubs – the Junior High Club and the Senior High Club – appear in photographs in the Yearbook.  Their functions have been lost to posterity. The Dramatic Club was still active in 1960 although its officers and sponsor are not identified in the Yearbook.

Ruth Farrell sponsored the Future Homemakers of America. Its President was Barbara Gianni. Carol Caruso was President of the Y-Teens, another large 0rganization; its sponsor was Mary Jane Chemsak. We assume it shared the objectives of the Hi-Y. I always thought the two of them were a dating service.

As usual, Alma Weise sponsored a family of choruses – the Boys’ Chorus, the Girls’ Chorus, and the Mixed Chorus, as a minimum -- as well as special ad hoc groups of stellar singers when the opportunity arose. Unfortunately there was never a chorus for the “couldn’t carry a tune in a basket” crowd.

Earl Mincemoyer had built up the Band program to the point that the band had fifty-six members, an incredible number compared to the tiny organizations ten years earlier. Among the names of band members listed in the Yearbook are several familiar to me – Dana Spriggs on Bass and Jerry Novelli on Bass Clarinet. In addition, the band had an impressive complement of majorettes, who combined with the cheerleading squad and the school’s two mascots to provide an effective pep rally section.

The football team had another successful season. They won their first five games comfortably before losing to Class A Carnegie. They responded from this loss by routing Bell-Avon and staying in the playoff race. A final 6 to 0 loss to Avella eliminated them from that competition.

By 1960 football had become so complicated that the team required four coaches, Head Coach Ray Buzzatto and Assistant Coaches Carmen Tavoletti, Albert Budinsky, and George Smith. If memory serves, the number of players hadn’t changed. Buzzatto and Scott Township Head Coach John Duchess were competitors for the head coaching job at Chartiers Valley the next year, a dispute that was resolved by making Buzzato Athletic Director and Duchess Head Coach.

The few newspaper clippings available suggest that the stars of this football season were quarterback Jim Villani; running backs Ken Gazda, Bill Grossi, and Anthony Koszarsky; and ends Neil Kochosky and Ken Labik.

The basketball team was equally successful, winning their section by beating Snowden 61 to 55 in the final game. Overall they won sixteen games and lost four. Pat Malarkey was Head Coach, assisted by Lawrence Ragni. The photographs in the Yearbook feature Gary Burnisky in their action shots. They lost their first playoff game to Export 46 to 36, despite outscoring their opponent from the field.

BHS fielded teams in golf, soccer, and baseball in the Spring. Unfortunately we knew very little about these sports because each year the Yearbook has gone to press before their seasons began. We also know that two Bridgeville wrestlers competed as part of the Scott Township team this year, anticipating the next year’s merger.

A final cultural snapshot provided by the Yearbook is the list of patrons. Fifty-two businesses and organizations gave the Yearbook staff at least five dollars to help pay for publishing this valuable artifact. Heading the list was Universal Cyclops Steel with a donation of twenty five dollars. We kidded Bob Fryer, who was at the workshop, with the information that his father’s generous contribution of ten dollars was double that of the “Brand B” funeral home that was his competitor.

Another worthwhile research project will be recording the names of Yearbook patrons down through the years, an interesting review of the businesses existing in the years Yearbooks were published.

This has been an enjoyable series of workshops. We hope to be able to compile the information we have acquired about the high school’s history and publish it as a modest brochure.