Monongahela '58 grads transcend time, many miles

Monongahela High School's Class of 1958 won't have another traditional reunion for two years.

But thanks to efforts spearheaded by Norma Mountain Haywood, Bob Roule and Dennis Yerkey, class members won't have to wait until 2013 to learn what's going on in their lives.

"It was suggested after our 50-year reunion that, since classmates contributed memories and photos so well to the souvenir book, perhaps a newsletter would be well received," Haywood said. "Many of our class members still live in the Mon Valley but others live elsewhere across the country and a newsletter is a good way to keep everyone up to date."

Haywood is one of those who lives outside the Mon Valley. A retired pharmacist, she makes her home in Burghill, Ohio. She serves as co-editor of the newsletter with Bob Roule, a longtime writer and retired newspaper editor who lives in Durham, N.C.

Dennis Yerkey, who lives in Jefferson Hills, assists with articles and is in charge of printing, while Priscilla Davis Webb directs database maintenance.

"It's the magic of modern technology," Haywood said with a knowing smile. "We stay in touch and work on the newsletter via emails. Our reporters — contributing editors, if you will — are anyone and everyone who wants to submit stories, news items, photos or anything else.

There's no reason to wait every five years to stay in touch, and we really don't limit the news to the Class of '58. Our class is a very tight-knit group and we enjoy reading about our hometown and others who were such an important part of our lives."

The newsletters include information about birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, the arrival of new grandchildren and great-grandchildren, retirements and other items.

"Obviously, the newsletter keeps people in touch with friends and with people they might have only known by sight in their high school years," Roule said. "We were told - repeatedly - that we were the worst class ever to attend Monongahela High. That helped forge a bond that keeps most of us together. What might not be as obvious, but probably more important, is letting people stay in touch with their roots.

"Whether we live in New Mexico, the Carolinas, New England, Washington or Florida, we all have fond memories of growing up in the Valley. If only briefly, the newsletter takes us back to that time. And that ain't bad."

The most recent Class of 1958 Newsletter - a six-page edition - is a prime example of the concept.

The lead story focused on the graduates' collective 70th Birthday Bash at Hey Andy's restaurant and sports bar in Monongahela.

"Septuagenarians and will-bes met for fun, food and fellowship," Roule wrote in his account of the gathering. "Sandwiched between chitchat about past accomplishments and future plans, many of the group took time to catch snippets of the Steelers-Tennessee Titans football game on tv. Following a buffet dinner, the classmates sang 'Happy Birthday' and enjoyed a delicious birthday cake that had a Greyshock's Bakery type pineapple and nut filling."

Classmates were encouraged to submit funny senior sayings in advance of the party, Roule recalled. Taking top honors in the competition was Richard "Bucky" Hyslop. Linda Gayhart Heimbuecher and Colleen Gavaghan Christy tied for second and Max Webb, husband of Priscilla Davis Webb was third. In his winning entry, Hyslop said, "At age 70, my wife had a GPS installed on the lawn mower tractor to make sure I could find my way home."

Former teacher Mrs. Jeanne Turri Tucker was a special guest of the class and was presented with the table decorations created by Marge Hunter.

Roule noted that classmates traveled from as far away as Delaware, Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia to attend the festivities.

Drawing applause for their work as the event committee were Yerkey, Haywood, Webb, Judy Martin Leach, Beatrice Christina Bradford, Thelma Wilson Lutes and Robert and Marge Hunter. Leach served as chairman of the reunion committee.

Response from classmates was very positive.

".. birthday bash was great," Linda Heimbuecher said. "We should do things like that more often. It was so casual and everyone was so friendly. As usual, all (on the reunion committee) did a great job. Hopefully, more will see how nice it was and attend our next one. Let's face it - we aren't getting any younger. No matter how many or how few we have, we will have fun."

"As usual, the committee did a great job," Connie Mamie Vlah wrote in her newsletter note. "It's always wonderful getting together with our classmates. We really had special people in our class.?"

Brian and Regina Jonas Ellsworth also offered appreciation and made a monetary contribution toward production of the newsletter.

Other news in the current edition of the newsletter includes but is not limited to these items:

• Duane and Patricia Hillman Peters celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on April 11, 2010.

• Yerkey was elected national president of the OX5 Aviation Pioneers at the group's 55th annual reunion in Dayton, Ohio. The OX5 is a historical aviation club that comprised 1,500 pilots and historians.

• James and Rose Marie Ambrose Donovan have welcomed a new grandson into their lives. Zachary, who weighted in at eight pounds, two ounces, is the son of the Donovans' son, Joe, and his wife, Kerianne.

• Part One of a two-part feature on the late Harry Johnson, longtime Monongahela High coach and teacher.

The newsletter also includes color photos of the 70th birthday bash.

Previous newsletters have featured similar news as well as pictures (current and archives). All of it is very informative and nostalgic.

Another publication of note is the souvenir program book from the Class of 1958's 50-year reunion on Sep. 12-13-14 at the Holiday Inn Meadowlands.

Enhancing the distribution of the traditional book was a commemorative DVD of the reunion celebration. It was produced by Yerkey and funded by classmate contributions. The book and the DVD, which was made available to classmates, include photos from the group's past such as elementary, junior high and high school days; businesses in the Monongahela area; memorable events and recollections of the classmates. Haywood compiled the photos.

Class of 1958 officers were Samuel Marra, president; James Ellis, vice president; Judith Martin, secretary, and George McFeely, treasurer. William Ermlich was the faculty sponsor. The reunion book also recalled that the class colors were red and white; the yearbook name The Flame; the class mascot a wildcat and the school newspaper The Red & White Review.

"Teahouse of the August Moon" was the theme of the 1958 prom and the class play was "Ring Around Elizabeth."

The book also is filled with such fond memories of Yesteryear by the classmates as these:

• Regina Zatorsky Clingerman - "Running down the path to Martello's for a 25-cent burger and a cherry or vanilla Coke and hoping you didn't get caught!"

• Judy Solomon Russell - "I can remember when Eat 'n Park opened in Mon City and I was one of the first carhops that had been hired. Of course Frankie's was the favorite hangout, footlong hotdogs out of this world."

We'll offer more of those myriad recollections in a future column.

"The (reunion) book files are of particular enjoyment because there are so many great memories from from our classmates," Haywood said. "The book was Dennis' idea. It just kept growing until he needed help getting everything together. Bob and I begged for memories and pictures and Bob edited everything as it went in. Dennis did everything else. Priscilla Davis Webb and Mary Ann Phole Walters did the final proofreading. It was a labor of love - a project that took hours and hours but was well worth the effort because of the reaction of the classmates."

Yerkey offered similar comments.

"The reunion and book committees worked quite hard on these projects," he said. "The men were outnumbered and also outworked by the women. We have some very organized ladies in our class that can carry through on a job. They did most of the detail work. We had some great luncheon meetings. Bob Roule missed out on the meetings but contributed so much via email."

Typical of the reaction to the reunion book were these comments from the Donovans: "The book is something to keep in our hearts."

"You did an especially wonderful job on the book," John Allen said. "Thanks again for all of your time and effort. We all owe you."

Charlene Pezzoni said the book was "... awesome. I kept thinking of all the work that went into compiling such a project. I loved the old photos of school, downtown, Frankie's, etc."

The Class of 1958 also took the lead on organizing and presenting a successful reunion of Monongahela High School graduates from the decade of the 1950s. More than 500 alumni took part in that gathering.

Roule offered a "Message to the Alumni" in the 50-year reunion program book that might well sum up the spirit of that group of Monongahela High graduates and all of their counterparts over the years.

"Following those personal pathways has brought us to milestone 50, where we have an opportunity to re-establish old ties and relationships and perhaps to evoke a little nostalgia," Roule wrote. "It's also a great time to review what we have accomplished. If we take stock of ourselves, we know full well who we are. We are competent, productive, efficient, persistent, open-minded, generous, independent, energetic, active, motivated, self-assured, enthusiastic and committed to our goals. There are more roads to explore, promises to keep and miles to go before we sleep."

Among those goals are staying in touch and perpetuating the closeness and character of the Class of '58.

Anyone and everyone sharing that mission with information for the newsletter should contact Roule, Haywood or Yerkey.