Today Marks 40th Anniversary of RAP Day at Warde Giving Students & Teachers a Chance to "Relate"

Relations Among People (RAP), an event for which members of the Andrew Warde High School community came casually dressed and spent the day getting to know each other better, took place 40 years ago today, Thursday, May 21, 1970.

The program was designed to break down some of the barriers between generations and improve human relations. There were no regularly scheduled classes. Headmaster Ken Petersen's office was decorated with two large balloons inscribed with the words "peace" and "love."

Dressed casually in a striped, short-sleeved shirt, Petersen said some faculty members were concerned with the polarization which took place in the school on Moratorium Day in mid-October. As a result, a group of faculty members proposed having a "human relations" day. He said the students had a role in the planning the day, too.

Although he admitted he was somewhat apprehensive at first, the Warde headmaster said, "I think we have accomplished a lot of the things we set out to do." However, absenteeism ran slightly higher than normal with some 200 of the 1,600-student body not present. Petersen said there are usually about 100 students out each day.

The day began with an assembly in the auditorium which included the film The Detached American, which dealt with human relations in the school, the family, the military, and race relationships. Dr. H. Parker Lansdale, a community leader and human relations worker, also spoke to the students.

Creative arts workshops, planned by student Pat Rogalin, included nature and art shows, a student photo exhibit, and a pop art show. Discussion groups, arranged by Dr. Marvin Mankowitz, a guidance counselor and one of the organizers, featured topics on racism, how to disagree and still like someone, dissent, and the generation gap.

Laura Giat and Maynard Taylor, a faculty member, planned social programs on drugs, student-to-student relationships, student-to-teacher relationships, and the draft and Vietnam. A film about the inner-city was also shown by its two young producers from Father Panik village.

Captain Patrick L. Carroll of the Fairfield Police department conducted one-on-one relations between police and "kids," and Rev. George Heron conducted a workshop on one-on-one marital relations. Other topics included social change through institutional channels, the relationship between patriotism and dissent, and youth-adult communication.

The courtyard was the scene of a folk and rock concert by the group Four in the Morning from Woodcrest, New York, a performance by Kyle Sherwood and other individuals as well as groups.

Students were enthusiastic about the day. Junior Jeff Greenberg felt RAP day was needed and was well-received. "We ought to have one every week," he added. Ken Sniadecki and Bob Maloney, who both helped with the planning, thought it was successful.

Bob Scholz, who was "a little disappointed that more kids didn't get into the discussions," said he still thought the event was well worth it. "With what we learned today, we could make a better RAP day next time," he added.

"Fantastic," was how senior Ronnie Bernsetin described the day. "When people can get together like this they forget about differences and are friendly with each other. Their hangups go floating off in the air."

Faculty member Arnold Wile said RAP day was the result of three to four months of planning and hours and hours of meetings. "This was a first," he said. "There are bound to be ways to improve another time."

English teacher Robert Gillette, who originally proposed RAP day, explained that when he was teaching at an inner-city school in Buffalo, the faculty came up with a similar idea of people communicating with each other.

Wile felt that the school population at Warde is no different from the town's population. "We have been trying to stop the polarity. It's no panacea, but it's a start," he stated.

Paul

Fracassini Pitched Crimson Eagles Over Rival Ludlowe at Eagles Diamond 33 Years Ago Today

Tony Grasso clouted a two-run home run to pace Andrew Warde to a 3-1 victory over cross-town rival Roger Ludlowe in an FCIAC contest at the winners' diamond on Friday afternoon, May 13, 1977.

Grasso's smash came in the second inning, and the Eagles added another run in the third inning to raise their record to 6-6 in league play and 7-7 overall. The Flying Tigers, 6-5 in the FCIAC and 6-7 overall, scored their lone run in the fifth inning.

Mark Fracassini surrendered just four hits while improving his record to 2-1. Artie Von Schleusingen was the losing pitcher.

Ludlowe's Jim Barletto and Warde's Barry Brown both had two hits in the game.

Paul

Crimson Eagles' Blood Runs Through Family as 50-Year Reunion Approaches for Class of 1960 Product

Allan Shumofsky was a pioneer at Andrew Warde High School in more ways than one. He was the first of three siblings to attend the sparkling new high school on Melville Avenue as a freshman when it opened in 1956, and he was a member of the first class to attend all four years at Warde.

His sisters, Mady (Class of 1963) and Laura (1969), and his daughters, Julie (1985) and Nina (1986), also attended Warde. In fact, Shumofsky pointed out that "of the 30 Flame yearbooks (from) 1957 to 1986, my sisters and daughters edited a total of five of them." Naturally, he is looking forward to his 50-year reunion next month.

"It wasn’t particularly important at the time," admitted Shumofsky about being a pioneer at Warde, "but became more so when my younger daughter graduated with the (next-to-last) class to graduate from Andrew Warde, prior to its becoming Fairfield High School."

Shumofsky, a lifelong Fairfield resident who was a manager for the Crimson Eagles' soccer team for all four years in high school, is looking forward to his 50-year reunion at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, June 12. He vividly recalled the high school's early days.

"It was interesting to be pioneers in a building still under construction," wrote Shumofsky, who earned a degree in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University. "When we started, there was no gym, library, or cafeteria kitchen. There were no clocks or bells. The gym teachers went into the halls and blew whistles to signal the change of classes."

Shumofsky, who managed the track team for two years and was part of the drama group for three years, was impressed with the school in its early days. "As we matured, so did the school as an institution. We finally achieved accreditation and then were visited by a Harvard dean (I believe) writing about high schools," he wrote.

"When he published his findings, we found out that, in his opinions, Andrew Warde was one of the best schools in the country. When I went to college, I found myself well prepared, much better than many of my classmates."

The success of the 1959 Crimson Eagles' football team has been well-documented in this corner over the last year, but it was a defining achievement for the Class of 1960.

"Having the undefeated football team in our senior year was another important milestone in the maturity of the institution, made more meaningful to me as I had Coach Russ Dobelstein as a math teacher at the time," wrote Shumofsky, pictured in the soccer team photo below. "He was only one of several teachers from my Fairfield public education that I still remember with great affection (frequently more affection now than at the time)."

Warde was truly a neighborhood school for Shumofsky and his siblings, which enabled them to take part in many after-school activities and fostered a sense of community for his family. "My family moved from the Gould Manor area to a new home right behind Warde while I was a freshman," he told me. "First me, then my younger sisters could 'roll out of bed' into school every day, which made participation in activities very easy.

"My daughters started school at North Stratfield and soon discovered that their principal, Peg Nemec, knew their father as she had been my 7th & 8th grade social studies teacher at Grasmere School. They frequently were taught by teachers who had taught their father or their aunts, or were my, or my sisters’, classmates."

Shumofsky also worked when he was in high school. He was employed in the family business, the Bamby Baking Company in Bridgeport. "Though I continued part time at Bamby, I worked for three years at Avco Lycoming in the late 1960s until I returned to Bamby full time," he said. "I remained there until it closed in 1983."

He eventually returned to school a generation after graduating from Warde and received an MBA from the University of Bridgeport in 1985. Shumofsky has been practicing public accounting ever since, first in Darien, and currently with Reich, Schweitzer & Weiss in Bridgeport, just a few blocks from where Bamby had been located.

Naturally, Shumofsky is eagerly looking forward to the reunion. "I am curious to see who will be there and how we have changed. There were many years when I did not think that many of my classmates were still around the area," he wrote.

"However, after about 20 years, as we matured and started 'making names' for ourselves, I started to see familiar names in the newspaper and realized that more classmates were in the area than I had realized."

How has Fairfield changed since he was a student at Andrew Warde High School a half-century ago? Shumofsky feels there is less 'community,' and that's not good, in his opinion. "We do not send our children down the street to the park to play unsupervised," he wrote. "Everything must be organized and supervised."

Shumofsky added, "Children cannot go to the corner to catch the school bus. They must be picked up and dropped off nearer the house so that parents can watch all of the time. We cannot send our children – or walk ourselves - to a convenience store for milk. We almost always need to take the car. Some will see this a result of 'effective' zoning. We want convenience, but not 'next door.'"

Here's hoping that Shumofsky and his classmates have a wonderful 50-year reunion next month. Just think, next year his daughter will be attending her 25-year reunion from Andrew Warde High School.

Andrew Warde High School's Class of 1960 is planning its 50-year reunion, which will be held at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, June 12. For more information, contact Peggy Quinn at 203-259-0956 or by email at pquinn2322@gmail.com or peggy.quinn@ge.com.

Paul

Crimson Eagles Beat Cardinals Despite Just Two Hits in FCIAC Baseball Game on This Date in 1977

Warde made the most out of just two hits and capitalized on four Greenwich errors to defeat the Cardinals, 4-3, in an FCIAC road victory on Tuesday, May 10, 1977.

The Crimson Eagles got both of their hits in the fifth inning off reliever Paul Perry. Winning pitcher Kurt Brown led off with a single. A fielders' choice, two errors, and a run-scoring single by David Keith resulted in three runs for the winners.

Brown scattered eight hits and struck out three to pick up the win, Warde's fourth in nine league outings and fifth in 11 games overall. Greenwich slipped to 6-3 in league play and 8-3 overall.

Bob Pendergast had a double, triple, and two RBI for the hosts, while Rick Stewart added two hits.

Paul

Warde's Female Athletes Recognized and Honored on This Date in 1962, Ten Years Before Title IX

Since the passage of Title IX legislation in 1972, women's athletics have steadily grown in size and popularity. From the war-time softball games to the launching of professional women's basketball leagues in 1996, women have proven their athletic skill and competitiveness time and time again.

The legislation, requiring schools to provide equal opportunities to male and female athletes, would not be fully enforced until the 1980s. High school girls weren't afforded nearly the same athletic opportunities as boys 40 years ago. Fewer sports, less money, and second-hand equipment were generally the rule when it came to girls' high school athletics. There wasn't any media coverage of girls' games at all.

Andrew Warde High School, on the other hand, recognized the contributions of female athletes nearly a half-century ago. In fact, in an atmosphere of Olympic torches and wreaths, Warde's girl athletes were cited for their athletic accomplishments at the annual dinner of the Girls' Athletic Association, Tuesday evening, May 8, 1962, at the high school. The dinner theme was "The Olympics."

The Mothers' Club plaque for the girl athlete of the year was presented by Mrs. Harold Harris, president of the club, to Phyllis Malmberg, pictured at the left, a senior in Smedley House, who won the honor by receiving 42 points for participation in the sports program.

Miss Malmberg, the outgoing president of the GAA, was toastmaster and gave the invocation. School headmaster Kenneth Peterson gave the opening address. The guest speaker was James Holgate, Yale's assistant athletic director, who spoke on "The Place of Women in the Olympics." Mary Carley and Helen Carroll, Warde physical education instructors, presented the awards.

Trophies were awarded to Jody Locke and Pat O'Day for field hockey and Barbara Lasko for badminton. A gold pin, awarded for 25 points, was presented to Karen Clark, a junior. Sweaters, awarded for 20 points, were given to Miss Lasko, Miss Locke, Bev Magyar, and Nancy Zwecker, juniors.

A silver pin and medal, awarded for 16 points, were presented to seniors Betty Bognar, Judy Forstrom, Pat Gilligan, Carolyn Hook, Nancy Parker, Jean Wilson, and juniors Lasko, Magyar, Sue Mendelson, Hope Moniuk, O'Day, Zwecker, and Locke.

Did you play girls' sports at Warde in the late 1950s, 60s, or 70s? What do you remember about your experience? I'd like to hear from you.

Paul

Two Former Andrew Warde High School Classmates Recall Special Bond as 50-Year Reunion Approaches

Two former classmates who graduated from Andrew Warde High School 50 years ago this June remembered what made their graduation class special and unique. It was the first class to attend all four years at Warde after the high school opened in September of 1956.

"It was a great experience," recalled Fred Gates, a member of the 1959 undefeated Crimson Eagles' football team who lives about 80 miles northwest of Orlando, Florida. "The classes before us had all attended Ludlowe and had mixed feelings about being at Warde. We would be the first class to attend all four years and hopefully establish new traditions for future classes."

"It was very special," wrote Margie Van Horn, who lives in DeLand, Florida, and married her high school sweetheart, the late Doug Holmquist. "I think that is one of the reasons why our class 'bonded' more than some other classes. The three classes before were torn between their loyalty to Ludlowe and the new high school."

Van Horn, whose two children and four grandchildren live in the Orlando area, vividly recalled her high school days. "I was fortunate to be a cheerleader, so some of my most fond memories involve our sports teams," she told me via email.

"As you probably know, our 1959 football team went undefeated," she continued. (That was) quite an accomplishment! I remember the 'canteens' we had in the cafeteria after basketball games and the sock hops in the gym. The teachers came and chaperoned. I don't know whether they still do this, but my kids grew up in Florida and they didn't have these chances to have fun and meet other people."

Gates, who has three children and seven grandchildren who live in the Milwaukee area, played for Coach Fern Tetreau's state champion gridders his senior year and won't ever forget the 9-0 season.

"There were a lot of great memories," he wrote. "But the best was being a member of the 1959 undefeated football team. Being undefeated gave the whole school a sense of pride and identity. Many of the players won four year scholarships at schools like Boston College and Indiana." He earned a scholarship to UConn.

"Another interesting memory was the class vote to where we would hold our junior prom," added Gates, who for 30 years was president and CEO of the North American operation of Märklin, GmbH, the largest manufacturer of model railroad trains in the world. "We voted to put a tent in the center court of the high school. I think that said a lot about the kids and their desire to do new things and be different. The prom was a blast!"

Warde's original design and house plan were the result of progressive thinking over a half century ago. The unique house plan, which divided the secondary school into four smaller units, provided an intimate atmosphere in which close relationships between students and teachers were fostered. However, it was somewhat intimidating to the students.

"I remember being a little overwhelmed at the size at first and getting used to the 'houses,' but it was great to have everything new," admitted Van Horn. "Having most of your classes in one 'house' didn't give us the opportunity to be with all the other students. But the social activities bridged that gap."

"It was very antiseptic," Gates admitted about the sparkling new high school on Melville Avenue. "The gym floor was not finished and the four 'houses' was such a new concept and a little overwhelming." He's pictured above in his senior class photo from the 1960 Flame yearbook.

Naturally, a rivalry with Roger Ludlowe High School was inevitable, especially since the three previous graduating classes all had ties to the Unquowa Road school. "There was a terrific rivalry in our class," wrote Gates, whose football team easily defeated the Flying Tigers his senior year. "Beating Ludlowe in any sport was important. We wanted to be the new 'big kid' in town."

Van Horn, seen in her senior class photo from the Flame, was married to Holmquist for 24 years before he died in 1988. He was a professional baseball player who played in the minor leagues and later coached, so they lived a nomadic existence for quite awhile. "Our first years had us living in a lot of places. Then we lived in East Lansing, Michigan, while he got his Masters degree," she wrote.

"We also lived in Burlington, Vermont, for four years as he coached the University's baseball team. We then moved to Florida when he changed coaching positions and coached the University of Central Florida baseball team.

"Eventually, he worked for the New York Yankees for six years as a minor league manager, and one year as the first base coach with the major league team, and then another year as an advance scout for the major league team," she continued. "All this meant I stayed home with our two children while he was gone until school let out and we could join him."

Van Horn, who had two publishing jobs and worked for independent financial planners and stock brokers before retiring, is looking forward to the 50-year reunion. "I'm very excited," she admitted. "It's sad that so many of my classmates have passed away. Every five years we learn that we've lost more, but that's what happens at our age. I wish that some of my classmates who are still living in the area but do not come to the reunions would come to this one!"

Gates has become a familiar face at his class reunions and is looking forward to his 50-year reunion at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, June 12. "I have attended all but one of the past reunions and I am looking forward to this, our big '50th,'" he acknowledged. "We have a great class, and it will be nice to visit with everyone who attends. It is just so sad that so many of our classmates have passed away."

Here's to the Andrew Warde High School Class of 1960! May they have a wonderful 50-year reunion this year. They will always be remembered as the first class to attend all four years at our high school. Congratulations.

Andrew Warde High School's Class of 1960 is planning its 50-year reunion, which will be held at the Heritage Hotel in Southbury, Connecticut, on Saturday, June 12. For more information, contact Peggy Quinn at 203-259-0956 or by email at pquinn2322@gmail.com or peggy.quinn@ge.com.

Paul