THE SCRATCH SHEET VOLUME # 19
A. AL
B. ON THE TRAIL OF JIM WERT
C. RICH ADAMS SELECTED CLASS OF 60 SPEAKER, OTHERS
NOMINATED
D. DAN FERRO REPORTS ON PLACES TO VISIT IN
E.
JOE FRIGIOLA REPORTS ON THE LATEST
F. MEMORABILIA
A. AL
Just as sports were a daily part of our lives, so music motivated us, directed us, inspired us, entertained and taught us. Westminster Chimes every quarter hour told us the time, classical music accompanied us to lunch, martial music directed our footsteps in the battalion on Friday afternoons, organ music and hymns inspired our reflected thinking in the Chapel and at Vespers. “American Bandstand” every weekday on Channel 6 showed us the latest dance moves and had us singing the popular songs of the day, and those of us with crystal radios clipped to the light switch listening to WIBG (Jerry Blavat and Hy Lit speaking the latest slang) put us to sleep—when we weren’t whipped by Meathead Richardson’s “heavy” metal belt. Music identified products (“Use Ajax, the foaming toothpaste-b-b-b-b-b-b-b, Floats your teeth right down the drain-b-b-b-b-b-b-b”), or Joe Diorio’s mantra, “TAFON, no fat, Bullock—all fat”, or announced the arrival of Annette Funicello on the Mickey Mouse Club (“Who’s the leader of the club that’s meant for you and me?…”) that fed our lustful fantasies.
THE CHOIR
In
Miss Stack was seated nearly six feet below Dr. Banks in the organ pit, unseen by the assembly, on a small piano bench facing multiple keyboards, nearly 100 stops, and dozens of foot pedals that she played at once, with both hands on separate keyboards and occasionally pulling out stops to change the tone of the organ’s sound, while both feet played the foot pedals. She had mirrors in front and behind her head, angled to see Dr. Banks as he conducted the Choir.
Over the years when our voices changed, our seats in the choir changed as we were grouped with others in our vocal range. Most of the older boys sang tenor or baritone, and constituted the Glee Club. There were few if any basses, since Dr. Banks pushed us to sing in our upper registers. The sound of the organ backing 150 voices reverberating from the curved wall behind us created a powerful sound that enveloped those in the audience with numbers like “God of Our Fathers”, “The Goodnight and Christmas Prayer”, and dozens of familiar anthems heard in our churches over the past 50 years.
THE BAND
Instrumental music at the Hum was a substantially different experience than that of being in the Chorus. Making music with an instrument required that you learn the language of music: to learn to read the notes (full, half, quarter, eighth, sixteenth, etc), the Clef (the key and the beats per measure), and the diacritical markings (“piano”=softly, “Coda”= repeat the phrase, “<” crescendo = gradually get louder, “>” decrescendo= gradually get softer) usually in Italian. Your body had to instinctively adapt to your instrument (mouth, posture, hands, ears and eyes) with the tone and tempo to blend with everyone else playing, and to the conductor who controlled it all.
Entering fourth grade, anyone interested in playing an instrument reported to the 2nd floor Armory (Band Room) to be members of the Drill Band. There, Mr. Bob Morrison (’24) had us choose an instrument and stand together in a section (woodwinds, brass, and percussion). Naturally, everyone wanted to play the trumpet, the sax, the guitar, the drums, or the piano—the really “cool” instruments—and pointed out that only the orchestra had strings (goodbye guitar) and there are no pianos in the marching band (goodbye piano). Some boys left, and the rest of us were shifted to other groups as needed by the existing Drill Band. Within a week, we were all given instruments and lesson times to meet with our sections and be fitted for battalion uniforms. It was made clear to us that once we began with an instrument, it was ours to care for and maintain, and we were graded for our lessons. We were then free to try to squeeze a sound out of the instrument. Most of us played our instruments for eight years until graduation.
As time passed and we sharpened our instrumental skills, we all had an appointment on Friday afternoons to lead the battalion up and back the main road with the Concert Band, and to perform at special musical events at the Hum and at other local schools for assemblies. Some of us were brought into the Swing Band, which met twice a week on the second floor in Founders’ Hall to play dance music for the socials.
Many of the attributes we learned in the Band were the same
that we learned on the athletic field: persistence, teamwork, and
skill-building that served us well later in our professional lives. PLEASE
NOTE: WE WELCOME ADDITIONAL
CONTRIBUTIONS ON MUSIC IN THE HUM FROM ALL OTHER MUSICIANS IN THE CLASS. PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO ROCCO.
B. ON THE TRAIL
OF JIM WERT
Our “master of lost persons” Dennis Gries has sent some reports:
Started off with his report that an obit appeared in the
Pottstown Mercury (
Facts all seemed to fit. It appeared to be an obit for
a sister (Arlene Lamb - age 70). But, obit said that her brother “James
Wert III” predeceased her. In our Corinthian, James D. Wert was
from
Using more sleuthing he found a number and left a message
for a Thomas Wert, listed as another brother in
A few days ago, still in March, Dennis reported that he did
receive a call from Thomas Wert who was a 1966 grad of Girard. Tom
confirmed that his brother, Jim, passed away on
This gets us to 102 of the 102 graduates of the Class of 1960 - all accounted for. Nice job, Dennis.
C. RICH ADAMS SELECTED CLASS OF 60 SPEAKER, OTHERS
NOMINATED
In a vote at the last full meeting of the reunion committee the committee selected Rich Adams to represent us as the Class Speaker at the Chapel Service on Founders Day. Rich has promised to keep his remarks in the 5-7 minute range. Rich is working on his speech but invites all classmates to suggest ideas or themes which he might incorporate. Contact Rich at: radams150@aol.com or at 570-287-7191. Myron Caplan will present our Class Gift at the ceremony, and Mike Quinn will handle the reading of the names of our deceased classmates. The entire ceremony will be webcast live on Girard’s web site. We will have more details on this in a future Scratch Sheet, and will attempt to let relatives of the deceased know about it.
D. DAN FERRO REPORTS ON PLACES TO VISIT IN
In my research to help our classmates extend the value and fun of their trip while visiting Philly for the Reunion, a couple of the guys encouraged me to share with you some nifty places and things to do that they have thoroughly enjoyed. Here they are:
(PC/Windows Users: Before
clicking on a link, hold down the Control key first)
The National
Constitution Center in historic
Another place some guys have recommended, that I too have recently visited is the Camden Aquarium, just over the Ben Franklin bridge. We took our autistic grand daughter there (her name is Skye and she is just 4 years old) and she absolutely flipped out with joy. She had the place memorized after the first trip and when returning, ran to her favorite exhibits within minutes. http://www.adventureaquarium.com/
Also in the general vicinity of the Parkway is the
One more fun thing to do is to take a Carriage Ride through Old
Philadelphia. Sit back, relax and experience
Here’s some links on other fun things to do while you are visiting for
the
Philadelphia
Mural Arts; Philadelphia Art Museum; Atlantic City Casinos
Philadelphia
Zoo: Ride the
Ducks!; Longwood Gardens; Jim’s Steaks; The Stoogeum;
Go Phila;
Philly Fun
Guide; Philly's
South Street; Chanticleer; Grounds
for Sculpture; Ghost Tour; Philly
Restaurants; Franklin Institute
Don’t forget to contact me if you have a special interest here in Philly
you want me to check out @ dferrosr@verizon.net,
or at 215-757-7276.
E. JOE FRIGIOLA REPORTS ON THE LATEST
Hi Folks:
Attendees at the March 19 meeting at my place included: Adams, Alberici, Chapman, Culver, Ferro, D'Amico, Kane, Houghton, Lane, Quinn, Seaman and me.
We reviewed the tally of Survey 3 returns (54 as of this date), the
number of Biographies
received (15 to date), and reassessed the 'likelihood of attending'
of those who haven't returned survey 3. We also agreed assignments to
call people for their Bio's. All contact volunteers are also asked to call
their assignees and encourage them to submit Bio's, with current pictures, to
Bob Culver. (See Kutschera's example in the last Scratch Sheet.) This is also a
time to reemphasize and encourage attendance at the
In early April. we will send out the names of classmates (and the number of their guests) for each of seven key Reunion Events (ie, the ones for which accurate headcounts are most critical.) By this approach we are seeking confirmation and hoping to enduce additional sign-ups.
Given the numbers we already have, it is clear that we need to switch the Class Dinner from the Library to Founder's Hall. The Library only accommodates a maximum of 95 people. We are estimating our crowd at 110.
The Hospitality
space is also at issue. After visiting the
Rich Adams previewed several minutes of the Mom's Experience audio 'tape' that he and wife Linda are producing from their interviews with Moms and older siblings. We agreed to air an 8-10 minute presentation at lunch on Saturday.
Bruce Seaman reported on the arrangements he is coordinating for Saturday afternoon's Hum Tour of Buildings and Tunnels. Four groups will rotate through 4 tour stops while a Girard staff member and a senior student will act as host/guides at each stop. Bruce will need four volunteers to move with the groups and keep them on schedule.
Rich Adams was voted Class Speaker. Ideas and suggestions for 'message points' should be sent to him. Do us proud, Rich!
The designation of our Class Gift is still being ruminated. Scratch Sheet #17 contained eight suggestions or comments that have surfaced so far. All are asked to re-read these eight and send any additional comments or suggestions to me. These will appear in the next SS before the select committee (Shoemaker, Evans, Caplan, Frigiola) make their recommendation.
Rocco gave an update on the plan for Corinthian II. There will be a section of Individual Profiles (mostly self-written) and a section of year-by-year reflections on our life in the Hum. The Profile section will be divided into three groups: 'cooperating classmates', deceased classmates, and 'uncommunicative classmates'. Much effort is required in collecting and/or creating these profiles. If not done successfully, publication will go well beyond Founder's Day.
Mike Quinn reported on the charges submitted to us by the Hum AV Dept. The total bill looks quite reasonable; under $500.
Rocco and Herm Woods are working on an oldies play list for the Dance. Send your requests to Rocco asap.
Bob Culver reported that the picture name tags are pretty much done. Except, some spouse names are missing from the Class List (posted on our web site, Girard1960.com). Check your's and send any needed information to Bob.
Next Meeting: Friday, April 16 at Rich Adams'
place in
F. MEMORABILIA
Don Johansen’s Wedding:
Duke Devlin, Giannini, Lane, Don,
Ms. Braun, later Mrs. Ernie Hartman