Grid Iron Warriors

For countless generations it has been understood by students that high school exists entirely because of football. There can be no other reasonable explanation for gathering so many teenagers in one place for so long. All those years spent in high school just waiting for Saturday's game. You may have been a grid iron warrior, a cheerleader, a twirler, a member of the marching band or one of the hundreds of hot dog and salted pretzel eating teens in the stands with your favorite Saturday afternoon date, but, no matter your role in the scheme of things, you knew you were in high school because of football. Why else would you have tolerated all that cafeteria food for four years?

Our class of '62 had a truly noble group of guys who donned the gear and took the field against all comers to defend the glory and honor of our alma mater. Lets meet them again as they were 50 years ago; yes, it's been a while.

Jersey
Number Name

14 Robert Pucciarello
17 Vincent Sorrentino
18 Anthony Della Terza
21 Michael Suppa
26 Joseph McDermott
27 Fred Valese
38 Michael Rega
42 Frank Caputo
45 Alex Iacullo
49 Ray Hackett

We really appreciated all the aches, pains, bumps and bruises you guys endured to provide us with meaningful Saturday afternoons. And what a year it was - there is a stirring media account of the Belleville - Bloomfield game on the Grid Iron Warrior's page of our class web site; see link at end of this article. The Bellboys whipped the Bloomfield Bengals 20 to 12 in that one!

Consider the drama. You are 16 or 17 years old, the whole town is watching you from the stands. Some guy shoves a football into your gut and now a gang of big, angry guys from the other team starts chasing you; they want what you have .. what to do ?? .. think quick, they are going to pound on you ! .. you can be a hero (and survive) or get scraped up out of the mud .. pure excitement !

There is also an account of the hard fought Belleville - West Side game, won by our guys in the cold rain and mud; see link below. West Side was no match for the talents and techniques of the Bellboys; we won that one 14 to 7.

As we look back after 50 years, what do we most remember; is it Miss Kelly's English grammar class or Mr. Testa's science labs or those spectacular football games in the Autumn sunshine ? Your author-here-present still lives in town and would much rather watch a Belleville High School game at Doc Ellis Memorial Field than anything the Giants or Jets can offer. Now-a-days, games are played on Friday nights, but it's still lots of fun. If you chance to come to one of our games this Fall, and you see an old guy in the stadium seats shouting "Go!, Go!, Go!", it's probably me cheering for the team just like in days of old. Here are a few photo memories -

50 years ago

Today

There is a larger collection of photos, including all of our Class of '62 guys, plus news articles including accounts of the Bloomfield and West Side games at this link:

Football

There is also a complete varsity football program for you to see here -

Program

It's September, football season is upon us again. If you live within a few hundred miles of old Belleville, stop in at the stadium some Friday night this Autumn. It will make you feel young again.

Cheerleaders !

We thought they would never end, didn't we; all those perfect Saturday afternoons at Municipal Stadium where we gathered throughout the Autumn to watch football, see pretty girls, eat hot dogs, pizza, salty soft pretzels, see our pretty girls, drink Coca Cola, cheer for the team and see all those pretty Belleville girls. Yet, they can still be seen, all those exciting Saturdays, in those clear images that rise up with the steam in our morning tea. Look carefully .. yes, I can see them now .. it's happening again!

There! .. coming out onto the field are the stars of the show, yes, it's the Cheerleaders. The football squad will be along in a bit, but they are not as pretty. Let's welcome the girls with a cheer of our own. C'mon, shout it out now:

Perky Judy, loud and clear, give our team a rousing cheer !

Nina, Nina, pretty lass, make them throw a touchdown pass !

Lovely Helen, once again, tell them - we need first and 10 !

Jackie, Jackie, cute and bright, tell them - get that ball and fight !

There are 12 girls in all, but first and foremost are those four lovely beauties from the Class of '62; Captain Judy Pirone, Nina Pipitone, Helen Denzler and Jackie Melius.

Do you remember the pep rallies in the auditorium? .. wow! I hope the young kids today are enjoying the experience of an indoor pep rally with an auditorium full of excited, shouting students, with rousing cheers echoing off of the walls! It's amazing how the old auditorium stood up to it
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To simply say they were enthusiastic does no justice to our vibrant, dynamic group of girls. Always the stadium was packed with a raucous crowd of restless teenagers; we really filled and vibrated those stands. Everyone within a mile of the stadium knew when a game was in progress. But the roar and din of the throng did not deter our girls. Confident and fearless, they stepped up and controlled the pandemonium, eyes blazing, pom-poms fluttering, performing eye-catching summersaults, lifting their megaphones, barking with girlish but commanding voices.

Our team is coming out on the field, listen-up as the girls swing into action ..
♫ Cheers of glory for Belleville High .. ♫
Hey Alex, he's our man, if he can't do it, Vinnie can, hey Vinnie, he's our man ... and on through the names of our stalwart gridiron warriors.
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One of the most valuable services provided by our Cheerleaders was to keep us abreast of what was happening on the playing field during the game. The loudspeaker squawked a lot. It wasn't easy to hear the play-by-play descriptions coming over the P.A. system, however you could hear the girls and could get a sense of the action from their cheers; for example:

Hey, hey, what do ya say, let's go back the OTHER way;

suggested that maybe things had not gone well on the last play. Or;

Push 'em back, push 'em back, WAY back

hinted that we might be in trouble. And there was;

That's alright, that's o.k., we're going to win it any way!

which meant, oops! If only we could have given the ball to the Cheerleaders ..

Just when things were looking really bleak and desperate, the girls would take command of the game. Do you remember this sequence that would bring us to our feet, screaming -

Take it away, take it away, De-fense take that ball away!

Hi ho, let's go, we got the ball now fight!

Let's go Belle - ville, let's go Bell - ville

Gimme a "B" [BEEE!] ...

Let's GO, let's GO, let's (clap) REALLY GO!

First and ten, first and ten, do it again, do it again.

The ensuing touchdown by the Bellboys would release a powerful roar, the likes of which we may not hear again in our lifetime. We would leave the stadium feeling exhilarated, congratulating the team and thanking those wonderful, pretty Cheerleaders who had made the day so exciting.

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All photos above are courtesy of Nina Pipitone Colannino. Nina, thank you for sharing!
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Then, there was the trip home which offered it's own set of adventures -

Say, you're kinda cute. Can I walk you home .. maybe stop at O'Boyles Milk Bar for a malt??

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Fast-forward 50 years, the tradition continues. Here is a recent photo of the current Belleville Cheerleaders.

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For lots more photos, including the Cheerleaders at basketball games and news articles

-click below-

Click ==>Cheerleaders<==Click

! Don't forget, you can enlarge any photo above by clicking on it !

Teacher Feature

Once upon an ancient time, when we were students, a high school teacher was known to be someone who could take in hand a rebellious, hormonally explosive, all-knowing teenager and from that very rough, raw material, produce a useful, educated, self-supporting citizen, a task that had to be carried out as painlessly as possible without benefit of the Internet, Google or Wikipedia. A lifetime of accumulated experience, wisdom and knowledge was brought to the task. It worked. Considering what a class of outstanding achievers we have become, we should pause and reflect upon that small, but effective group of mentors who sent us on our way. Those images collected here show us the Belleville High School teaching staff as it was in 1960. There are some here, well known to many of us, who retired before we graduated and so are not included in our yearbook. One such was Mr. Winika, our not so tall but quite husky gym teacher the guys came to respect. A good man, he was, although, if you ever aroused his wrath, you may have had cause to disagree with my assessment.

As you view these old photos, chances are you will see someone who has had a profound effect on what kind of person you have become. Since there are no known serial-killers or terrorists in our class, it would seem they did their work well. Though they were strict task-masters, perhaps you remember one or two of them kindly. In the near future, the 1962 teaching staff will be presented.

Science

Nova V. Babb, W. Ralph Correll, Mary Lou Beradinelli, Thomas Testa, Phyllis Goldfarb, Angela Galeotafiore. (Albert Del Pomo not photographed.)

Mathematics

Claude A Perry, Angela Signore, Barbara Decker, Mario Di Maggio, Susanne Fassler, Anthony Simos, Judith Sandler.

English

John Adams, Eugene Westlake, Mary Kelly, Arline Miller, Marcia Eisen, Leonard Marciano, Alex Conrad, Mary Jamgochian, Anne Marie Goi, Regina Degnin, Thelma Weidman, Margaret Gianette.

Social Studies

Hugh Young (student teacher), Richard Graves, M. Dorothy Peters, Olga Nelson, Angela Fusaro (Di Maggio), Augustus McGinnis, Henry Miller, Michael Rosamilia. (Elsie Sanford not photographed.)

Business

Austin MacArthur, Julia E. Rogers, Muriel Cerami, George G. Nucera, Anne Snedeker, Charles Schultz, Lona Beradinelli. (Linnea Andrée not photographed.)

Language

Nino Gelsomino, James Chiara, Michael Salzarulo, Betty Lou Chapman, Helen Hollberg. (Hector Gialanella not photographed.)

Special Subjects

Dorothy M. Roche, P. Webster Diehl, Terence Greenawalt, Ted Gabry, Emily Seitz, Samuel Peck, Mary Weber.(Jerome Weiss, John J. Hyde not photographed.)

Physical Education

Wilho Winika, Patricia Pannone, Stanley Scher, Alan Esty, Charles Travers, John Westlake, Ida Thompson, Herman Wische, Elaine Shepard.

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Check out the up dated website home page where there is a new juke box featuring 25 songs popular during our senior year.

Home Page

Senior Play

Directed by:

Lucille Caracciola

1962 was going to be a very good year. It was foretold. A full moon had occurred on the Spring equinox, a sign that all ancients understood to be the foretelling of an extraordinary year; a year of good fortune and a propitious time for new beginnings. We would be a graduating class of great achievers. It was unavoidable.

It was just two nights later; two nights after this meaningful augury, that the Class of 1962 presented their Senior Play. It would be a smashing success. It was foretold. An all-star cast of our classmates presented to the world our version of Tammy Tell Me True.

Although we live in an age when the primary form of entertainment is oscillating pixels on a flat screen which the young generation watches with rapt attention, I truly believe that most members of our generation will agree that the theatre is the ultimate entertainment experience. The theatre is magical in a way that dancing pixels cannot replicate. The theatre is part of the real world experience that we knew, not part of the virtual world that the youngsters know.

To be a part of this real world experience with live actors before a live audience is an exhilarating experience. It was Friday night, opening night. It was near to curtain time. It was exciting. It was nerve wracking. Will I remember my lines? Will I remember my cues? Will I remember the director's instructions? So much planning, so much staging, so much practice and rehearsing had gone into it. But now it was time to deliver.

The main auditorium was filled. The balcony was filled. People were standing in back and along the walls. The last minute rush to finalize all the details was finished. The auditorium lights dimmed twice, the traditional signal that it was time to begin. Butterflies and palpitations reached a peak. The spotlight turned on. The curtain rose. The magic began.

Synopsis:

Heartbroken because her college boyfriend fails to answer her letters, shantyboat-bred Tammy decides to go to college herself. After moving her decrepit craft downriver to Seminola College, she gains admission as a special student and, to pay her expenses, takes a job as companion to Mrs. Call, a wealthy eccentric. Tammy's fresh and unspoiled nature so delights the old lady that she moves in with Tammy on her shantyboat and rewards the young girl with an expensive necklace. Meanwhile, Tammy has also won the affections of Tom Freeman, the handsome public speaking instructor, and "Miss" Jenks, the unhappily married dean of women. Eventually Mrs. Call's conniving niece, Suzanne Rook, launches a search for her missing aunt. When she catches a glimpse of Tammy wearing the necklace, she has the young girl arrested and arranges a sanity hearing for Mrs. Call, but the simple honesty of Tammy's testimony so impresses the judge that he dismisses Suzanne's charges. Tammy helps straighten out "Miss" Jenks's marriage to her artist husband, Buford Woodly. She then realizes that she has forgotten all about her former boyfriend--it is Tom whom she really loves.

Cast

Lucille Soldo - Tammy Tyree
Harold Mamay - Prof. Thomas Freeman
Walter Orth - Grandpa
Judy De Falco - Sandra Rook
Theresa Scutti - Mrs. Call
Mike Pellechio - Mr. Schaeffer
Arlene Schachter - Mrs. Schaeffer

Supporting cast:

Alex Petrillo
Paul Russo
Sam D'Andrea
Gloria D'Agostino
Grace Hucko
Marlene Ameo
Peggy Santiglia
Jim Debesis
Alan Lemberger

Mike Suppa

Bob LaSala

Behind the Scenes

Lucille Caracciola - Director
Dorthy Domanski - Stage Manager
Mike Kelly - Props
Miss Jamgochian - Advisor

On stage:

Lots more photos - Click here

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