Andrew Warde High School's Key Club & Keyettes Helped Serve the Community

Diane Kiraly, who served as vice president of the Andrew Warde High School Keyettes over 30 years ago, admitted that she joined the club because she wanted to help people. But that's about as much as she remembers. "All I can say is that I don't remember anything," joked Kiraly, a member of the AWHS Class of 1976.

However, Kiraly, a single Mother of three adopted daughters, enjoyed being involved with the Keyettes. "There were a bunch of us," she told me by telephone recently. "We had fun, whatever it was (we were doing). We raised money for something," she laughed, hard-pressed to recall what it was for.

So, why did she join the Keyettes? "I think I joined because I thought the Key Club guys were cute," offered Kiraly, pictured third from the left in the front row in the photo above. The Key Club was a service organization at Andrew Warde High School which gave its members the opportunity to serve the community at large. Sponsored by the Kiwanis Club, the members participated in a number of activities during our senior year of 1975-76.

The club members created food baskets for the needy at Thanksgiving, staged a Halloween party for people with special needs, held a bagel sale after school, and hosted the annual Crimson Cotillion. The Key Club helped its members become aware of the many needs of the community.

The Keyettes was a service organization offered to the girls at Warde. Carol Ann Wetmore was president during our senior year. They served the community and the school. Some of their activities included a button sale, typing for teachers on a regular basis, planning a Halloween party for people with special needs, and the evaluating of all the clubs at Warde.

Kiraly, who still lives in Fairfield in the home in which she was raised, told me that whenever she sees Wetmore, "I think of that crazy time. She (Wetmore) has no recollection of it (either.)" According to the yearbook, though, the girls decorated a children's ward at a local hospital during the Christmas holidays. They also helped to celebrate the Bicentennial year by working at the Fairfield Historical Society.

"I can't even remember what we did," Kiraly confessed. Were you a member of the Key Club or the Keyettes at Andrew Warde High School? Share your memories --- if you have any at all --- about being involved with the club in the "comments" link below.

Paul

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Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".