Andrew Warde's Legendary Football Coach Fern Tetreau a Hero After Saving Man From Drowning at the Mouth of Ash Creek 42 Years Ago Today

Andrew Warde High School's Hall of Fame football coach came to the rescue of a man who appeared to be drowning in the strong current at the mouth of Ash Creek in Fairfield 42 years ago today, Tuesday, July 30, 1968.

The man, who was about 30 years of age, was saved by Fern Tetreau, the coach of the Warde Eagles' gridders, who happened to be attending a cookout nearby, according to a front-page story in The Bridgeport Telegram. Tetreau, Warde's first football coach, led the team to an undefeated 9-0 campaign in 1959, just three years after the school opened.

Attracted by shouts for help off the jetty at the end of Jennings Beach and opposite St. Mary's by the Sea, Tetreau outraced three fellow physical education instructors in the Fairfield school system and swam to the aid of the man, who was being held by a woman companion. Both the man and woman were about to be swept away by the current toward Long Island Sound.

A short time later, a boat from the Ash Creek boat basin picked up the man while the woman companion swam back to St. Mary's. After being taken to the boat basin, the woman friend drove the man home.

The man told Tetreau he was wading at St. Mary's when he was swept into the water by the strong current. His woman companion managed to keep him afloat until Mr. Tetreau arrived on the scene.

Tetreau was attending a cookout at a cottage at the east end of Jennings Beach as a guest of Robert Seirup, a physical education instructor who conducted swimming classes there in the Summer.

Also present were Emil Taft, the Roger Ludlowe High School football coach, and Bob Jackson, director of physical education in the Fairfield school system.

Paul

Andrew Warde High School's Class of 1979 Plans Summer Fling August 7 at Stonebridge Restaurant

Andrew Warde High School's Class of 1979 is holding a Summer Fling on Saturday, August 7, at 5 p.m. at the Stonebridge Restaurant in Milford. Click the image below to access the class Web page for more information.

The AWHS Class of 1979 Facebook page also has contact information. You may access it by clicking the image below.

Paul

Andrew Warde High School Alumni Stay Connected Through Social Networking Sites Such as Facebook

The Internet, specifically social networking sites, has made it relatively easy to stay in touch with and find long-lost friends. It's not just the younger generation monopolizing Facebook these days. In fact, several classes from Andrew Warde High School have developed Facebook pages for classmates to stay in touch.

I'm sure most if not all of you who attended Warde in the late 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s couldn't have possibly imagined or envisioned the technology which is available to us today. We can contact friends around-the-globe in an instant. I still can't believe how easy it is, even for those of us in our 50s and 60s.

The following are just a few of the Facebook pages I found for selected Warde classes. Simply click on the image to access the page:

Although I'm not a big fan of Facebook, it can be a useful and productive resource if used professionally or educationally. It has become a valuable marketing tool for businesses, too.

Facebook offers users the opportunity to share photos, videos, send instant messages to friends, and even chat. It is the most popular social networking site on the World Wide Web.

If you know of any other Andrew Warde High School Facebook class pages, please let me know, and I'll add them to the list.

Paul

Summer Get-Together at Captain's Cove Seaport a Success for AWHS Classes of 1976, 1977, and 1978

An informal Summer gathering for Andrew Warde High School alumni from the classes of 1976, 1977, and 1978 was a success Sunday afternoon at Captain's Cove Seaport in Bridgeport. The event, which was started by members of the Class of 1978 a few years ago, has become an annual tradition.

"Our class was represented by at least 19 classmates, and others may have attended at times," wrote Tony Procaccini, president of the AWHS Class of 1976 30-year reunion committee. "Smiles and happy conversations abounded, drinks were ordered, and we all heard the sounds of To The Max, which always plays here on the day that AWHS 1976 and AWHS 1978 now plan together annually."

Procaccini noted that Ronnie Ciccia, the band's lead singer and a Warde graduate, asked who was present from Warde classes ranging from 1975 to 1979. Members from all classes responded. The band was founded by Andrew Warde High School graduates Rob Fried (1977) and Jerry Vigorito (1976).

"Who showed up?" asked Procaccini. Here's the list from AWHS 1976: Chris Chatlos, Kim Nagy, Jerry Vigorito, Ken Catandella, Doug Camp, Mark Hessels, Debbie Russo, Leslie Allen, Janet Wax, Kevin Shea, Don Robinson, Matt Nyden, Brian Pander, John Gurrieri, Tom DeLaurentis, Bob Vadas, Abby Katzen, Tom Skultety, and Tony Procaccini.

"You can bet we'll do this again next year," continued Procaccini, who took the photos of members of the AWHS Class of 1976 in the slide show below. "Whether or not it will be before or after our next reunion - we will celebrate 35 years in 2011 - is another question."

Paul

Fairfield Theatre Company to Host Historic Reunion for Andrew Warde & Roger Ludlowe Alumni from 1960 to 1970, Friday Evening, September 10, 2010

An historic reunion of the Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe high school classes of 1960 through 1970 has been planned for Friday, September 10, from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Fairfield Theatre Company on Sanford Street.

The party offers alumni an opportunity to dine, drink, dance, and reconnect with old friends from the classes of 1960 through 1970 from both Warde and Ludlowe. The cost of the event is $100 per ticket, which includes an open bar, hot and cold hors'doeuvres, and headline entertainment.

"One of our members, Jim Gilleran, went to Ludlowe (Class of '65), and suggested we hold a class reunion here," said Miles Marek, FTC producing director. "It was too great an idea to pass up." Never a man to think small, Marek suggested FTC hold a weekend-long, non-stop party and open it to everyone in town.

The weekend opens on Friday night with a dance party featuring food, open bar, and a concert with the Jay Stollman Band, followed by Chad and Jeremy, the British duo famous for hits songs "A Summer Song" and "Before and After." All reunion attendees are encouraged to come and mingle with their old friends.

The party continues Saturday, September 11, with an all-day arts and food festival, The Flavors of Fairfield, at FTC and Sanford Street. The festival, the first of its kind at FTC, will offer food from dozens of Fairfield's finest restaurants as well as art from local talent curated by the Fairfield Arts Council. Registered reunion attendees have access and discounts to vendors.

The Beatles Tribute Band, The Fab Faux, is scheduled at The Klein Memorial Auditorium at 7 o'clock that evening. The Fab Faux is an 11-piece band which plays the entire catalogue. "Who in the sixties did not grow up with the Beatles?" asked Gilleran. "They were the biggest thing since Cheerios. It's something we all have in common," he added.

Proceeds from the event will benefit FTC, a not-for-profit arts center. For more information, please visit the FTC Web site by clicking on the banner above.

Paul

Prestigious Local Youth Golf Tournament Named After Late Andrew Warde High School Golf Captain Jay Borck Marks 40th Anniversary This Month

The memory of Jay Borck lives on, more than 40 years after his passing. The former Andrew Warde High School student loved the game of golf and entertained the idea of one day becoming a professional golfer.

However, Borck, a promising young 16-year-old senior at Warde, was struck with a fatal cerebral hemorrage in the Fall of 1968, just one week after winning the Brooklawn Country Club Junior Championship. The captain of the Crimson Eagles' golf team also fared well in three State Junior tournaments and a New York Metropolitan Junior tournament before his untimely death.

Conceived of and sponsored by the Jay Borck Foundation, a charitable corporation organized to honor his memory, the inaugural Jay Borck Golf Tournament was held 40 years ago this Summer. The professionally-run junior golf tournament is open by invitation to golfers aged 17 and under from the Greater Bridgeport area. This year the tournament will be held at H. Smith Richardson Golf Course, Monday, July 26, through Wednesday, July 28.

Paul

Landmark Federal Court Ruling 40 Years Ago Today Prompted Andrew Warde Headmaster to Reconsider Censorship of School Publications

A federal court ruling 40 years ago today --- Tuesday, July 7, 1970 --- gave students at Stamford's Rippowam High School the right to distribute their newspapers without previous approval from school officials.

Informed of the federal court ruling, the late Andrew Warde High School headmaster Kenneth Petersen said at the time, "We will probably have to reconsider our position on student publications before the school opens in the Fall."

An underground student newspaper, The Glass Onion, published and distributed in December of 1969 in Warde and Ludlowe high schools by two seniors, one of whom was suspended, stirred a month-long bitter controversy in both high schools and the community before its publication was stopped after one issue.

School officials warned parents at a Board of Education open meeting in January of 1970 that while the administration could not control distribution of the paper on the streets, the school board rules banned the distribution in the schools of any material not approved by the administration.


An attorney for the Stamford student group said the ruling was "total victory" for freedom of expression in high school newspapers throughout the country. The ruling was made on Constitutional grounds.

The cases involved the Stamford Free Press, one of several underground student newspapers being distributed in and around the high school the previous year. The students involved with the Free Press were threatened with suspension in June of 1969 if they distributed any future issues of the publication on school property. Later that month, the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union took the youngsters' case to federal court.

U. S. District Court judge Robert Zampano ruled that the school administrators' requirement was "a classic example of prior restraint of speech and press which constitutes a violation of the First Ammendment."

Monroe Silverman, a Stamford attorney who represented the students for the Civil Liberties Union, said that the decision was an extension of the Constitutional guarantee "previously established by courts on a university level."

Zampano's decision said, "Student newspapers are valuable educational tools, and also serve to aid school administrators by providing them with an insight into student thinking and student problems. They are valuable peaceful channels of student protest, which should be encouraged, not suppressed."

The federal judge's decision went on to say that "the remedy for today's alienation and disorder among the young is not less, but more free expression of ideas."

Paul

Warde Class of 1979 to Hold Summer Get-Together August 7 at Stonebridge Restaurant in Milford

The Andrew Warde High School Class of 1979 will hold a Summer get-together on Saturday, August 7, 2010, at the Stonebridge Restaurant in Milford. The event, which begins at 5 o'clock, comes on the heels of last-year's successful 30-year reunion.

Click the image above to access the class Web page for more information regarding the August event.

Paul

Swim Marathon Held 39 Years Ago This Weekend at Fairfield YMCA Raised $4,000 to Keep Sports Program Afloat at Both Warde & Ludlowe

Swim team members and alumni from Andrew Warde and Roger Ludlowe high schools swam for their proverbial lives in a 30-hour marathon 39 years ago this weekend. The marathon, which raised $4,000 to help keep the swim teams at both schools afloat for the 1971-72 school year, set a national record of 100 miles.

The event, which was held at the Olympic-size Fairfield YMCA pool on Old Post Road, began at noon on Saturday, July 3, 1971, and ended Sunday evening, July 4, at 6 p.m., according to a front-page story which appeared in The Bridgeport Telegram, Monday, July 5, 1971 (see below).

More than 60 swimmers participated, completing the 100 miles in 28 hours and one minute. Encouraged by financial backing from townsfolk who pledged one dollar for every completed lap, the participants continued after setting the record to log 30 hours of uninterrupted swimming.

George Ford, a parent of one of the swim team members, announced at the conclusion of the event that $4,000 had been raised. However, he emphaszied that another $4,000 was needed to support the activities for the swim teams at both high schools.

"If the Board of Education approves a request for a $2,000 allocation for the program, the swim teams will be able to continue their activities in the new school year," Ford stated. As a result of sharp budget cuts, the Board of Education eliminated funds previously provided for the swim team programs.

Rather than let the program die, members of the swim teams at both high schools started the ball rolling for a fund-raising event. The marathon was the first endeavor, and other plans for raising the needed funds were in the works.

The marathon was supervised by Edward Quinn, the Ludlowe swim coach, his assistant, William Babcock, and George Reed of Warde. Mike Tierney and Bob Wilk, Ludlowe's co-captains, and Dan Ford and Mike Cardone of Warde helped organize the marathon.

Paul