A Teenager's Life

At this time of year in our high schools, kids are joining clubs, getting involved in activities in school and out and joining school teams. I may be wrong, but I believe we joined more clubs and were in involved in more activities then than the kids in high school do today. Many kids are more oriented towards earning some real dough and have after school jobs. For some it is a necessity, for others, they seem to be too anxious to grow up, but things change I suppose. College costs being what they are today I can certainly understand our teens if they want to get a jump start on those future costs. Many of them end up being in debt for thousands of dollars by the time they finish college.

I did have a part-time job in high school, but it was only on weekends, summers, and holidays. I worked at Newberry’s as I’ve said before. My parents would not let me work during the school week. Not many parents would in those days. I didn’t want to anyway as I enjoyed belonging to clubs in high school as well as playing on the girls’ basketball team.

Many of us joined a club because of the course of study we were taking. I actually took the business course, so therefore, I joined the Business Club. Herbie Hillgrove was the teacher who led that group. We were always involved in collecting one thing or another for charity as I remember. We even went after scrap metal.

A lot of the girls joined the Future Homemakers Club. Even if you didn’t take that course of study, every girl was required to take at least one year of Home Economics. I did not enjoy those courses I’m afraid. I had no idea if I was going to be a “homemaker” or not at that point in my life. I almost flunked my Freshman home ec course because I didn’t finish making a skirt in class. I had to go back and do some more sewing before I could pass the course. I’ve hated sewing ever since, unlike my sister, who is an expert seamstress.

I did adore my home ed teachers, however. I’m sorry I can’t remember all their names. My year book is gone now so I can’t even look it up. Maybe you can help me later on.

Anyway, what I wanted to say about the Future Homemakers Club was the fact that we all joined the club so we could do one thing at the end of the year—go to the club picnic over at Sandy Shores. I think we got out of school that day. We always looked forward to it and always had a great time.

Musically, I joined the band and the chorus. I started out with the sax in grade school and carried over with it into high school. The problem was that I played by ear instead of reading the music, which I couldn’t do if my life depended on it. Therefore, Chum Crockett put me on drums instead. I could keep a beat even if I couldn’t read music. I also played the cymbals in the combined schools band one year. At that time, I also played snare drum in the Port ‘O Rockland Drum and Bugle Corps.

I sang alto in the chorus. We all loved Mrs. Winola Cooper, who led the group. She always got the best out of us.

I was a Brownie and later a Girl Scout. I belonged to the scouts all the way through high school. We had some wonderful scout leaders. I’ve mentioned some of them before. I remember my mother being involved in the Girl Scouts as an assistant leader at one time. We also had Mrs. Post, Judy’s mother; Marie Studley, Verna’s mother; Mrs. Harriman, Judy’s mother; and Mrs. Whitehall, to name a few. All those girls were in my class in school. I enjoyed the scouts very much and learned a lot of life lessons that have served me well throughout my life. I always support the Girl Scouts every chance I get, usually by buying cookies. I love Girl Scout cookies.

I also enjoyed the ten years of dance classes I took from Madelyn Drinkwater. If you got a chance to read “I Hope you Dance,” on that other blog space, you will understand why I enjoyed those classes so much.

For sports, I played basketball. I was tall and lanky in those days. Today they’d call me a point guard because the girls today are all so much taller than I was. I played guard and later roving guard when the girls’ game went to a semi-full court status. We had great coaches. I think Mr. Plummer was one of them and then one of the Home Ec teachers whose name I can’t remember.

I did a lot of bench warming, but eventually earned my varsity letter and played more often as a Senior. I enjoyed playing with teammates, Joanne and Midge Grispi, Shearer Hooper, Andy Smith, Joan Knowlton, Earlene Saywood, and Barbara Staples, among others. One of my best friends, Sandra Sleeper, was our manager. I remember we always had a big bottle of quartered oranges to nosh on during half-time intermission. It was a tradition and I suppose it replenished our energy. Oranges never tasted better than at a basketball game.

We were a tough lot in the days when they didn’t call fouls for every little thing. I remember one player in particular who got very upset if an opposing player broke one of her perfect fingernails. She would come out with an elbow in a second. We got into trouble one year when we were playing out-of-town and were never asked back to that school. It was very intense at that game, to say the least.

One of the best things about those games was the fact that we got to wear pants to school (not dungarees, mind you, but slacks) on the days when we had a road game after school. Another good memory was all the songs we sang coming and going on the school bus back and forth to the games. If we won, we’d sing the school song at the top of our lungs. If we went as far away as Augusta, we often stopped on the way home to get supper, as it would be late by then, and Lord knows, teenagers need their food. I pity the waitresses in those small restaurants we invaded. There was no MacDonalds etc. up our way at the time.

I ran across this story of one of our games that was in the Courier Gazette, probably in 1959.  Anyone see  themselves here? This is some excerpts from that story.

Rockland Girls Victors Over Thomaston in High Scoring Tilt

                The outstanding ball handling of Elsa Ilvonen helped the visiting Rockland co-eds down Thomaston Tuesday afternoon 80 to 75.

The Rockland sharpshooters took an early jump on the Knox-Lincoln League leaders until they held a 15 point advantage in the closing minutes of the second quarter. Coach Larry Plummer took out the first string guards and Shearer Hooper for the remaining four minutes of the first half and Thomaston crept to within three points of the score.

In the last period, Joan Smith led a last minute surge by the Thomaston lassies to bring a Rockland 10 point lead down to five before the contest ended.

Elsa connected for 16 buckets and a free throw for 33 points and Shearer was credited with a dozen hoops and a charity toss for 25 points…

The loss puts Thomaston on a six and four record and Rockland on a .500 average for the season.

Rockland (80)

(Players were: Hooper, Smith, Ilvonen, Grispi, Peterman, Knowlton, Ferrera, Cross, Barton, Richards, Staples)

Thomaston (75)

(Players were: Beaudry, Ward, Smith, Starr, Starks, Abbott, Melgard, Morse, Hill, Feyler, Grafton, Brooks, Quinn)

Can you put a first name to the names here that aren’t mentioned in the story?

These are the good memories I have of my high school days. Rockland High School eventually became Rockland District High School, which my sister attended, as the first class to do so. I never went there. Now that the schools are being consolidated yet again, probably for the good financially, there won’t be any Rockland Tigers anymore. I, however, will always be a Tiger. I have the Varsity letters to prove it. Good luck to today’s teenagers as they rack up their own memories of their high school years. Study hard. Life isn’t always easy and you need all the knowledge you can get.

Thanks for listening.