The first Division Avenue High School yearbook was distributed 52 years ago

Click on autograph page to enlarge

"No wise man ever wished to be younger."

- Jonathan Swift

By FRANK BARNING

June 9, 1960 was a memorable day for me. It was my 18th birthday, so by law I could now be a patron of my favorite bars. Almost magically I was legal at the North Village Green bowling alley's (Bowlder Lounge) and the watering holes on Hempstead Turnpike near Hofstra College. Three months later, my freshman year at Hofstra began.

June 9, 1960 also stands out because it is inscribed in fountain pen on one of the first pages of my copy of Perspectum, the first ever Division Avenue High School yearbook. That day, yearbooks were distributed and there was much excitement in the halls of our school.

Dewain Lanfear was the editor-in-chief and I was co-sports editor with John General. Many of us on the staff had been involved in the planning of the yearbook, which was extensive because there wasn't a previous volume to use as a guide nor something upon which to improve.

Fifty-two years later, one of my favorite features of the "Pioneer" yearbook were the two pages for autographs. We did not request fellow seniors to sign here. Instead, we asked 1960 classmates to put an inscription next to their senior photos and looking at those in my copy sort of gives me an idea that people thought I might become a sports writer or announcer.

I filled up the first of the two "Autographs" pages with 43 signatures. Page two has only two. Most had great penmanship. After all these years, I am still in touch with several, mostly through Facebook. Many are on my "Early Levittown and Beyond" blog mailing list. Sadly, at least three are deceased. Many of the 43 are fresh in my mind, yet some I hardly knew.

So Happy Birthday to the first Division Avenue High School yearbook, a gift that keeps on giving. And thank you to those signees who are still in touch more than a half century later.

Division Avenue High School principal James Reilly's letter in our first yearbook messed up the pioneer metaphor

Click on photos to enlarge

BY DEWAIN LANFEAR

I was looking through our Division Avenue High School's class of 1960 yearbook the other day and got as far as Mr. Reilly's letter. There was something about the letter that troubled me. He messes up the pioneer metaphor by first calling us pioneers and then calling the faculty pioneers and mixing their legacy with ours.

As much as I hold our teachers in high regard, they were for the most part not rookies, and Levittown was not a new place in 1960, and they didn't go on from there as we did to start new lives. So, I'm not a fan of the letter written by our principal. That's not to say that I don't feel we owe a great debt to the faculty, but we were the pioneers.

It is a rare circumstance to be "seniors" for four years. We set our own styles, helped along by American Bandstand, and followed a course that we set. We didn't "pay our dues" as freshman or any other underclass. We grew into a varsity sports program, we planned the proms, the newspaper, the yearbook, etc. the way we, with the help and advice of faculty advisers, wanted to do these things. There weren't any traditions until we did something.

I believe that this very unusual situation and opportunity shaped most of us in subtle but lasting ways throughout our lives. I think that a lot of us on many occasions in life chose our own paths rather than following established patterns, and that, to quote my most favorite poem, "has made all the difference". It's not a matter of being headstrong or obstinate, it's just a way of looking at the world - seeing not just the wellworn paths, but seeing the chance to make a new path. I think of Bobby Kennedy's quote about "seeing things that never were and saying why not".

Personally, I did so many things my way in college, the Army, teaching and coaching that I never even thought about it after a while. The results weren't always good and the creativity wasn't always appreciated, but I was who I was, and I attribute it to the unique position the class of 1960 occupied in the history of DAHS.

The incredibly creative people that our class produced, Woodstock, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Tony Awards, Oscars, Emmys, etc make it seem obvious to me that something extraordinary happened with our class. These awards are just the tip of the iceberg as anyone who's been following this blog will know. Our class includes many remarkable people who haven't been recognized with these high profile awards, but who nevertheless were outstanding in their field.

Being in the pioneer class of 1960 was a wonderful gift that many of us have used well.
______________________

Dewain Lanfear, a frequent contributor to this blog, was the editor of Division Avenue High School's first yearbook. Now retired, he taught English at Division for 18 years and a total of 32 in Levittown.

Do you still have your high school yearbook? If not, what happened to it?

If you still have your class yearbook, how often do you look at it and what do you find most interesting? If you no longer have your yearbook, what happened to it?

Jack Jacobsen, class of 1962
In recent times I have been looking at it twice a year. I first wonder where the time went, secondly, I wonder how Mrs. O'Keefe talked Jon Dubeau, Don Kanarvogel and me into participating in our senior play as angels and is captured in Class of '62 yearbook. I look at the pictures, attach "one-liners" to each name. Also, the word "beer" is used by many of the signees.

Arnie Galeota, class of 1961
I still have my class of 1961 yearbook but it's falling apart. After all I've moved so much and it always moves with me. I take it out once or twice a year, usually when I'm either packing or unpacking or if a name comes up on one of your blogs that I want to see the picture of. I'm only sorry I never bought the years 1960 and 1962. I knew so many people from those classes.

What's most interesting in the yearbook is how much I still look like my photo and everyone else doesn't look like theirs...just kidding. I find it interesting what some of the students showed an interest in and what they actually did in life after school.

June Johnson, class of 1963
I still have the 1963 yearbook. I haven't looked at it since last year when I went to the 50th reunion with Michelle Fromm-Lewis. I think we looked at it as a reference more than anything else. What I find interesting is that I had entered "Fencing" as an activity under my name and no one ever questioned the entry. I made it up. There was never a fencing club.

Len Sandok, class of 1963
I still have my yearbook and its life has been resurrected in the past two or three years. I took it to college with me and occasionally I would look at it in my dorm room when I got a little homesick. Soon, however, it was relegated to the bottom of a closet somewhere until I got married. It moved with all of my stuff and was once again put in a closet or an end table at our houses throughout the years.

It surfaced about two years ago when I discovered Facebook. I reconnected with a number of high school acquaintances and of course, I had to compare yearbook pictures with profile photos. It now has a place of honor immediately to the left of my computer and I refer to it on a regular basis. My kids and grandchildren get a chuckle when they see my flat top hair cut. I consider it to be the most valuable book in my collection.

Mike O'Boyle, class of 1960
Lost in hurricane Ike, September 2008 (still remember the misspelling of school as shhool on the inside front cover, maybe inside back cover), and the pioneer theme.

Marilyn Monsrud Frese, class of 1963
Almost daily- and what I find interesting is what Frank is going to do with the photos he's requesting for me to scan.

Pat Stanley Share, class of 1962
I have mine, class of 1962 and my brother's class of 1960. Because of FB and your blog I look at it frequently now. I brought it to the Keys mini-reunion and we all shared stories over the books. Unfortunately I have begun to add the dreaded D next to too many of our class mates.

Susan Weldon, class of 1960
I do still have my yearbook and I look at it occasionally when one of your blog entries triggers a memory.

Daria Marusevich, class of 1961
I look at both 60 and 61 at least 8-10 times a year. I think of the classes 60 & 61 as one. Your blog has inspired me to go to the "book" to check out the faces more often than I would have in the past.

Kathy Stahlman Zinn, class of 1963
I have only the 1961 yearbook, from my sophomore year, because after that year we moved to Plainedge. It is filled with "Goodbyes", and I am so glad I kept it. I especially look at senior class pictures and teachers. But lately, I also look at the letters from the administrators. They mean much more now than they did at age 15.

Larry Loewy, class of 1975
I have looked at my yearbook about five times a week since last summer. Why? Because I am scanning the whole thing into Facebook.

Larry Bory, class of 1960
A few times a year, mostly to verify things that Frank raises in the blog.

Part 4: Division Avenue Yearbook Memories, 1960-63

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Best Dressed
1960 Bill Stanley and Chris Wilkens
1961 Jim Urban and Sandy Hertz
1962 Joe Morreale and Linda Kaiser
1963 Bob Benn and Mellissa Graves

Most Likely to Succeed
1960 Dewain Lanfear
1961 Tom Toscano
1962 Stephen Ashwal
1963 Jeffrey Harriton

This is the final post in our yearbook series. However, one in the works is about some categories that might have made our yearbooks even more interesting. For example, most likely to climb the Azalea Road water tower, most likely to steal cosmetics from Mays, and most likely to marry a millionaire. Stay tuned.

Part 3: Division Avenue Yearbook Memories, 1960-63

Click on photos to enlarge them

I really don't remember how the winners were selected, but my suspicion is that Mr. Matthews, the yearbook advisor, influenced the 1960 choices. He had a thing for one of the honorees. Two of my astute 1960 classmates were asked what they recollect.

Larry Bory stated, "I was on the yearbook staff and I never heard of a system to choose." Larry and I agree that we do not remember being asked to vote. According to Russ Green, "My only recollection is that no one could win more than one title, and Matthews decided which was the most "prestigious" title for multiple winners, if any. The Most was supposed to be for getting the most votes without a single title."

In 1960, The Most category was used, but not the next three years and probably never again.

Wittiest
1960 Ira Selsky and Lilette Levy
1961 Fred Jackson and Corinne Norgren
1962 Joe Hochen and Bonnie Green
1963 Bill Dineen and Mary Ann Galizi

Best Looking
1960 John General and Judy Lloyd
1961 Jerry Reichert and Roberta Landry
1962 Merrill Clark and Karin Christiansen
1963 Andy Ingeman and Darrae Cabre

The Most
1960 Carol Gordon and Neal Manly

Part 2: Division Avenue Yearbook Memories, 1960-63

Click on photos to enlarge them

Most Athletic
1960 Pete Cybriwsky and Penny Stone
1961 Ernie Villatore and Liz Mitchell
1962 Tony Pace and Margie Pearl
1963 Pete Henaghan and Pam Davis

Biggest Flirt
1960 Tom Marchlevski and Diane White
1961 Mike Fitzgibbon and Sue Kalinsky
1962 Don Marcel and Susan Kenney
1963 Richard Schierholz and Marilyn Monsrud