1. Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to all of the Barnstable 1978 graduates! We added a few new members recently and hope for a better turnout in 2008 as we celebrate our 30th year anniversary of graduation.
2. Click here to see the story on the demise of Kennedy Rink in Hyannis. A new facility will replace the old dinosaur. The youth of Barnstable will miss out on a lot of things when the new space age rink is built. Like frozen fingers and toes, trying to eat honey glazed donuts from the Kennedy snack bar with a frozen jaw and taking a shower in ankle deep urine in the locker rooms. I still remember Dean Snell's dad, who coached our Senior Hockey League team in high school, yelling at us that if you show up drunk you cant play. And this was a school day 6am game....these guys started early....or never stopped drinking from the night before. When we were Juniors there was a Senior on that team named Dean Stanley who threatened to beat us up if we didnt pass him the puck. Great team spirit. Another tough bird in that league was Ronnie Lutz who used his hockey stick as a hatchet and your head as a target. You weren't safe in that league on the ice or in the locker room. Good times.
3. Click here for a story and pics on the installation of lights at our old Junior High where the Hyannis Mets now play. That site is now being used as a Catholic High School. Click here to see a story about the same subject on the Pope John Paul II High website. They recently hired the Barnstable High Football Coach who was sacked by the Administration. Hopefully for these new students that school has been updated since we were there. The desks we used came over on the Mayflower. They still had those little wells where the ink went and the quills were dipped. For part of the year that school was so crowded they would send a portion of the student body down the street to the place that is now Town Hall. The overcrowding issue also forced us to have a 4 day school week in 9th grade as well. During those years it appears the Town Fathers were spending more time and taxpayers money at the Velvet Hammer Bar on Main Street than on school projects. Here are some memories of that school that have come in with recent emails:
- The music teacher was a cool guy named Mr Weber. He had a vampire-ish look but some of his classes still stick in your memory when certain songs play on the radio. He played rock music for the class that had to be a cutting edge educational method in those days. Maybe even a little risky. One time he analyzed and dissected every line of Seals and Crofts "Diamond Girl" with such passion that when that song plays today you can still hear him explaining what it meant. He also won a lot of fans when he had class hottie Lori Taddeo gives us a small concert with her guitar.
- There was a math teacher named Mr Belanger and one day he brought in a record player and broke down John Denver's "Rocky Mountain High". Belanger claimed it was really a song about a UFO sighting. I will never forget Belanger yelling out "I saw fire in the sky...Rocky Mountain High!!". Where did the school department find these people....the unintentional comedy level was off the charts!!!! One time I was out sick and Belanger gave me a make up test to take in the library. I come back and he says "There is no way you could finish that fast". He grabs the paper and starts jumping around like Koko the Monkey and claims I intentionally took the Phase III test off his desk and didnt take the Phase I test handed to me. I believe this guy was a part time cop as well.....okaaaayyyyy....lets give these people guns. Another thing Belanger did in the school when we were there was try to increase attendance at basketball games. He started a thing called SSR which stood for School Spirit Revival. The basketball court was actually on the stage of the auditorium and no where near and official sized court. Anyway there were kids walking around with armbands with the SSR on them. Wether it was a success or not I dont recall but the memory of one Norman (or was it Nelson) Belanger will live on.
-In the Junior High they forced the girls to take metal shop and the boys to take Home Economics. I am not sure who the Home Ec teacher was but she assigned me a partner by the name of Butch Lindo. Not sure if he was still with us in high school. During the muffin baking class I botched the recipe and added too much milk and the whole class laughed at our muffins that looked more like a pancake. Lindo and I almost came to blows over the mistake....he was a tough dude too. I still cant cook s**t.
-The graduation scene in the John Cusack movie "One Crazy Summer" was filmed in front of our old Junior High building. In the scene each kid gets a brand new car but Cusack got a street sweeper. Other scenes in that movie were filmed at Mass Jeanery, Mid Way Gas Station in Osterville and Hyannis West Elementary. Also at the old Hyannis Drive In. Get the DVD.
4. The website staff is working on a bunch of new stories for the 30th anniversary year. If you have anything to add send it in barnstable1978@hotmail.com
5. During our 4 years in High School the Patriots won 30 regular season games and 0 playoff games. How times have changed!
1977 9 - 5
1976 AFC Divisional Playoff 11-3
(lost to Raiders in playoffs see here) http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nwe/1976.htm?redir
1975 3 - 11
1974 7 - 7
6. Here is a link to the story of the passing of BHS teacher and 4 Seas Ice Cream boss Mr Warren: Click Here
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