The Fishbowl

• Think of a memorable high school memory.  Something upsurd, funny,  A kind of, "get a load of this...." memory. 
• Deposit in our "Reunion Fishbowl." 
  • Send your memories, thoughts, all of that by sumitting the Fishbowl Form either electronically or by mail. 
• We will read them, or if you like, you may read in front of the class, or if you prefer we will write it out and post it on our bulletin board of memories to share with everyone.  
• Every week we'll post a new memory to get you into the spirit.

Here are some memories for you to peruse:

A Few From Wayne Olsen:
1. Mrs. Stiefel would have made a great Martha (1973). Laurie McCaffrey and I were
rehearsing a scene from “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” George (me) and Martha
(Laurie) were arguing before the arrival of the guests. Laurie was having some
difficulty expressing the vileness and vitriol of the last line, so Mrs. Stiefel offered her
help. Just as VP Sullivan walked by the room, our teacher let loose the loudest and
nastiest “SCREWWWWWWW YOUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!”

2. I Love the Smell of Formaldehyde in the Morning (1973). This is one memory I’m
taking with me to heaven: Glenn Lutjens and I co-dissecting a frog while singing all
the parts of “Jesus Christ Superstar.” We got as far as the middle of Side 3 before we
located the cloaca.

3. Maine! (1975). In the spring of Senior Year, Mr Hageman and the Select Choir and
adjunct barbershop quartet did a concert in Sanford, Maine. There was a saga-like
poem we wrote on the bus ride there that has been lost. The poem was a tribute to
the great state of Maine, and I would give what teeth I have left to find it. All I can
remember (though John M probably can remember more) is this couplet:
“Augusta’s the capital, it’s not on the map at all.” Brilliant.

4. Teachers Can Be pretty Great Sometimes (1975). Mr Thielker was taking us into the
 City for some midtown museum. It was a couple blocks away the movie “Tommy”
was premiering at the Ziegfeld. After three of us professed our desire to see the
movie, Mr. Thielker actually said, “OK, but you have to write a paper on it.” What a
guy...

5. 63-0. Oh, you’ll get the reference.

• From Cathy Stackpole: Title IX happened our sophomore year in high school, 1972. Serious. Game. Changer.
  If there was a significant positive string of memories about my high school years’ it was
  the opportunities that the passage of Title IX gave to me, to all the girls in high school at
  that time, and to those who would come after. Title IX also gave to the school
  community a fantastic set of games, matches and events to attend for years to come.
  To comply with this federal law, schools had to offer girls a chance to compete in most
  of the sports that boys competed. High schools were required to give girls court or gym
  time. So, girls’ teams were created in Tennis, Gymnastics, Volleyball, Basketball and
  Softball at Pascack Valley and up and down the North Bergen Interscholastic Athletic
  League (NBIAL). An auxiliary gym was created with a hard tartan floor which created
  lots of shin splints! I have learned later there was a way for girls to train to keep that
  from occurring, but no one knew that then!
  For those of you who may not know, the federal law known as Title IX changed the
  world for girls. It gave me an opportunity to compete on a team, provided me leadership
  opportunities and taught me that our teachers and coaches who were not much older
  than we were; were also growing up. It afforded me the opportunity to meet other adults
  outside of school, who were role models as umpires, referees, coaches from other
  teams and volunteers (shout out to Mr. Gilb who hosted softball practices Saturdays on
  the down low at Memorial field).
  My fondest memories from playing girls sports were the friendships I developed with my
  teammates. I learned how to be a leader, to role model for younger girls who played on
  the varsity teams. Singing on the bus to another school, I felt proud to wear the school
  uniform, once we had them. The senior year volleyball team went 11 and 0 in our
  league play, though we were out classed by other teams with more experience in plays
  and fundamentals when we got to regionals; the NBIAL didn’t have stiff competition for
  us. I learned the fundamentals of basketball and still when I watch a game (men or
  women’s) I know how to break a press and still shout occasionally to the TV: “come and
  meet the ball.” We never did get showers in the girls’ lockerroom but several times went
  out in the snow behind the field after a basketball game with no shoes on.
  My junior year, someone recruited us for the Explorers, a program of the national Boy
  Scouts organization. There was the Explorer Olympics in Golden, Colorado and many
  of my teammates and I got to compete in basketball, track and volleyball in those
  games. We won gold medals in volleyball. We didn’t have coaches but got lovely
  support from other coaches of other teams there. It was inspiring. It was also the first
  time I had ever flown on a plane.

  I am a strong woman and a courageous leader because of Title IX. Sports gave me a
  focus, shifted my energy from the chaos of my home life and taught me skills I still use
  to this day.
  Title IX made me realize that I could have a life after high school. And I have.

• From John Giacchi:  One of many memories which stand out in my mind is that of Mr.Phil Goodyear, undoubtedly one of our favorite teachers (if I may speak for the sentiments of most of us).  In one of his classes he described in great molecular detail the real reason for what happens when we humans smell odors, whether pleasant or unpleasant. By the end of the class we were mortified to learn what  actually happens when we enter a smelly public restroom :-) We have ingested particulates through our nose and mouth. On another occasion Mr.Goodyear brought out his Plasma Globe, which proceeded to straighten and raise the hairs on anyone’s head who got within 15” of his incredible and comedic gizmo. 

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• From Liz Janssen:  It was the student skip school day at the end of senior year declared by seniors.  We were headed to the beach of course.  For some reason we gathered our cars in front of George White school collecting our quarters for the turnpike on the roof of the car when the school superintendent drove by slowing his car, studying who was skipping school.  We hopped in the cars, took off like a bat out of hell not realizing the quarters that were on the roof were now all over the ground.  What do you think we did?  Get the quarters from the street or take off?​​​

From Bob Zorowitz: 

• _{Mr. Binder, our senior year math teacher, was famously good-natured, which made him the perfect target for a harmless prank. One day, I started passing notes around the classroom, fully expecting him to catch on and confiscate them. The twist? Each note contained a snippet of pure nonsense—a surreal tale involving sea anemones, eccentric marine creatures, and a particularly dramatic Barry Barracuda. Eventually, Mr. Binder intercepted a few and gave us that classic puzzled look, which only made the whole thing funnier. But the prank didn’t end there. Jim McGovern, ever the mischief enhancer, gathered all the notes, stitched them into a single “story,” and submitted it to the PVHS literary magazine, "e.g."—assuming the editors would laugh it off and toss it. Instead, they published it, apparently mistaking our aquatic absurdity for some kind of brilliant, dada-inspired microfiction. Jim, mortified at the idea of being credited for my nonsense, had it published under a mash-up of our initials: J.B.Z.M. And that’s how my ridiculous, sea-creature-laced prank ended up immortalized in the pages of e.g.}

_​

• ^{_{Spring, Senior Year.  The musical: "The Music Man."  I was in the barbershop quartet with John Murano, Pat Annabelle and Ed Gorham.  We were pretty good! The 2nd night cast party was at Jahn's Ice Cream Emporium (the late, great Jahn's.  I never did have a kitchen sink).  The four of us spontaneously decided to serenade some random couple.  I must tell you--we hit every note perfectly.  Those chords were resonant and the overtones filled the room.  I think that was the best we ever performed, "Sincere." And the couple, whoever they were, were pretty darned impressed too!}}

^​From Bob Hubbard:

• I recall that Mr. Dibartolo would read us in home room odd news clippings from the Bergen Record.  The paper had a section that highlighted strange but true stories.  For whatever reason, Mr. D shared with us the strange story of the day each day.  I recall one of the oddest but true story was of a sky diver whose chute failed to open.  He landed and somehow survived with only a broken nose.  From time to time over the years I remind Mr. D of that story and he too remembers it.  If only I remembered the things I was supposed to:)

• Everyone knows how bad the cafeteria hamburgers were.  Well, a new kid from Chicago sat at our table about junior year and seemed to like the burgers.  One of our group said when this kid was up from the table that we should bet him one dollar apiece that he can't eat ten in a short amount of time, perhaps it was ten minutes.  Well, the kid took the bet and when he was up to get his burgers, those at the table agreed that if the kid could eat the burgers in the specified time frame when he asked for his money we would all point to the guy on our right and say, "he'll pay you".  Well the kid won the bet and we did point to the kid to our right all around the table much to the kid's chagrin.  Needless to say a shoving match broke out and we wound up all having to spend a week in the principal's office after lunch.  But I still smile thinking about it.
• I recall that Mr. Dibartolo would read us in home room odd news clippings from the Bergen Record.  The paper had a section that highlighted strange but true stories.  For whatever reason, Mr. D shared with us the strange story of the day each day.  I recall one of the oddest but true story was of a sky diver whose chute failed to open.  He landed and somehow survived with only a broken nose.  From time to time over the years I remind Mr. D of that story and he too remembers it.  If only I remembered the things I was supposed to:)

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From Carol Rekow Flach:

• In the spring of our senior year, Jeff Jasper was courageous enough to "chaperone" some classmates to see the movie Shampoo in NYC. We were on our own to have lunch before the movie. Being 18 and knowing everything, the group I was with decided to have a liquid lunch of watered down beer (and maybe a burger) at Brew Burger before the movie. We thought we were really getting away with something, such a devious group! I barely remember the movie, but I guess all's well that end's well.

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• I remember one day in Physics Mr Goodyear took off one shoe and sock to show us how he lost a toe (or otherwise mangled his foot) while mowing a lawn with sandals on instead of shoes. He wanted us to be safe mowing lawns. It was pretty gross, but he was such an exceptionally great teacher!