Respected Veteran Connecticut Post Columnist Charles Walsh Recalls His Days at Andrew Warde High School as 50-Year Reunion Approaches

Well-respected journalist Charles Walsh admits English was his favorite class when he attended Andrew Warde High School over a half-century ago, but he never wrote for the school newspaper. Walsh, the veteran Connecticut Post columnist who authors his Fair Game piece three times a week, will attend the 50-year reunion of the Warde Class of 1959 next month.

"I actually attended Ludlowe in freshman year before going to Warde as a sophomore in September of 1956, graduating in June 1959 as Sputnik was orbiting the Earth," he told me via email. Walsh was part of the last graduating class at Warde with any ties to Roger Ludlowe High School. He and many of his classmates were transferred from Ludlowe to Warde when the Melville Avenue high school opened in the Fall of 1956.

Walsh especially remembers playing foootball for the Crimson Eagles under legendary coach Fern Tetreau. "Playing football for Coach T was the highlight of my otherwise rather shaky high school experience," he admitted. "The 1958 team, led by the late, great Bob Anderson, was pretty good, finishing with a 5-4 record. Fern was a great coach who gave even mediocre players like me a chance to see game action."

Tetreau coached the Eagles to a perfect 9-0 record and state championship one year later. Walsh shared a personal story about the man after whom the school football field was named. "He (Tetreau) allowed me to have 'Bullhead,' the nickname that Ed Zelle gave me, embroidered on my varsity jacket," he mentioned.

"I had lunch with Fern recently and he apologized for taking me out in the Thanksgiving Day Ludlowe game (which we won), in favor of a bigger, faster player. I got the feeling it has been bothering him ever since," he said.

What else does he remember about the coaching staff during his playing days on the gridiron? "Line Coach Russ Dobelstein, who is now Dr. Dobelstein, retired and living in Rhode Island, worked very hard to get me to 'block somebody, Walsh!'"

Over a half-century later, Walsh vividly remembers his days at Andrew Warde High School. "I loved running around in my cousin Art Schuerer's 1950 Ford coup," he said. "Smedley Housemaster Ken Peterson was a great man. (I remember) Mr. Burr's gentle sense of humor as he tried to convince me you could not learn algebra by osmosis, that is: by sitting on the book. I cherish to this day the astonished looks on the faces of a few of my teachers when, defying all odds, I graduated on time," he joked.

When Walsh started at Warde, the school was still not completely finished. "The place, as I recall, was still partly under construction, so there were areas where we couldn't go," he recalled. "I remember students being allowed to smoke outside the cafeteria and the Downshifters Club cool cars in the parking lot next to the gray '51 Ford I borrowed from my aunt."

The photo below shows a Warde pep rally held in the parking lot behind the high school prior to the first football game in 1958. That's because the gymnasium wasn't built as of yet.

Walsh has been a mainstay the the Connecticut Post. "I worked at the newspaper for 27 years in just about every job except janitor," he told me. "I began writing a television column in 1993 and the Fair Game column in 1995. I estimate that by now I have written over six billion words, many of them spelled wrong. I retired in 2007 but still write three columns a week from home."

The Andrew Warde High School Class of 1959 is holding its 50-year reunion Saturday, August 22, from 6 to 11 p.m. at Tashua Knolls in Trumbull. The reunion committee created a Web site which includes a welcome page, information on classmates, photo albums, the details of the reunion, a memorial, a guest book, and a contact form. Click the image below to access the Web page.

Be sure to read Charles Walsh's Fair Game column in the Connecticut Post. Good luck to him and the rest of the Andrew Warde High School Class of 1959. Have a great time at the reunion.

Paul

Please sign the AWHS Guest Book.

Visit the Andrew Warde High School Gift Shop.

Watch the AWHS 1976 vintage "film".