Go to the DOWNLOADS menu choice above to access the autobiographical blurbs, classmate obituaries, and faculty & staff obituaries and news. I know, it’s hard to understand, you are getting older, it’s hard to focus, and the grand kids are not around to help, so just click HERE.
Go to the PRIOR REUNIONS menu choice above to access the photo galleries from all recent class reunions.
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Planning for our 60th class reunion has begun!!
October 2023 seems like just yesterday when we enthusiastically celebrated our 2-year, COVID-delayed 55th high school reunion. So now we’re back on schedule and starting to plan our 60th for 2026, hopefully some time in October (plus or minus a month). Feel free to pencil it in on your calendar and stay tuned for more details to come.
We’re delighted that the reunion committee is intact and already researching ideas for the 60th. Selecting a venue needs to be done a year in advance.
‘66 Reunion Committee:
Candace (Candy Pasquarosa) LaChapelle, Chairperson
Ellen Berman
Michael Berman
Jack Farrell
Kathie (Gardner) Hebden
Ted Kelly
Peter Ryan
Jean Thomason McCaughey
Joe Marcus
Marti (Martha Sylvester) Warren
During the next few months, Marti and Joe plan to update classmates’ email and mailing addresses, as needed. We know many of you have made changes since our last event, and we want to refresh the database. Please let them know of your changes.
Click on an above name to send an email.
Memory Lane
In the gallery above you can click on right and left arrows to go to the next or previous photo respectively.
Taking a Stroll Down Memory Lane
59 Years After High School Graduation
By Marti (Sylvester) Warren
I don’t know what condition your Class of 1966 Newtonian yearbook is in, but mine is very ragged. I’ve referred to it hundreds of times over the years while planning our reunions to research names and photos of classmates. The 280 pages provide a clear history of our high school years and are full of photos and text which bring up so many memories of people, places, and activities. Occasionally, I get sidetracked while reading personal messages, and they always bring a smile!
As we begin planning our 60th high school reunion in October 2026, I initiated another review of the yearbook to look back to our years at Newton High School (NHS). High school was a time of angst, discovery, and the pursuit of everything for our futures. The friendships we made in high school were important; someone to confide in, someone to help through their own difficult times. We were growing into young adults ready to take on a changing world!
Communication in 1966 was a slower, more deliberate affair. A phone call meant tying up the family line for hours, and keeping up with the latest gossip meant connecting at school, sporting events, the HoJos on Route 128, and other hangout spots. Communicating with friends once we left high school was certainly not as easy as it is now. Waiting for a letter to arrive and finding the time to answer was often put on the back burner. Many of us managed to stay in touch with a few close friends, and high school reunions and today’s social media have provided opportunities to reconnect with other classmates.
My review of yearbook pictures reminded me of standing outside Building 1 on a beautiful New England morning surrounded by three tall, stone buildings on a maple tree-lined campus and lugging a load of books in my arms (pre-back packs). I recall trying to catch up with a friend before the bell rang and despite the many stairs to climb, we were fortunate to have plenty of time to get to class.
I remember arriving at NHS in the fall of 1963 with all the other tenth grade students from four of the five Newton junior highs and being divided among six “houses”. At that point, the house system had been in existence for six years as a way to decentralize a school of 2500 students into smaller, more personal groups. Each house reflected the style of their housemaster. If you were in Riley House under Housemaster Rachel Johnson’s watchful eye, you could be sent home if your skirt was too short, or your haircut was too long!
We were very fortunate to have a dedicated technical high school. It was a well-known fact that the NHS would (literally) fall apart without tech high students who fixed lights, clocks, microphones, and televisions around the school. Did you know they also had a print shop that printed much of the history course materials as well as other school publications? Tech students alternated a week of classes and a week of shop work and received two diplomas, one for the main high school and one for the technical high school. Tech high students were the only group in the school who had decided on their careers and were prepared to work and contribute to their community after graduation. The tech program also offered a two-year post graduate course to study their trades further.
Fall was always an exciting time with Saturday football games in our huge stadium. Not many schools in the area could boast a stadium like ours. The fun began on the Friday before each game with a pep rally on the steps of Building 1 and the introduction of coaches, players, and cheerleaders. Our NHS tiger mascot and the Rally Committee displayed signs and led the cheering in support of the team. Who was behind that great tiger suit? Our very own Charlie Conn and Jackie Farrell.
Football game memories include the torrential rain at the Thanksgiving Day football game against Brookline during our junior year. Then there was a close game against Waltham in November 1965 . . . where a simultaneously caught ball was awarded to Waltham for the win. The sidelines fans were not happy! The most emotional game took place in Brookline after the passing of President Kennedy; the moment of silence that preceded the game was sobering.
Many came to games to watch our wild and crazy Newton High School Big N Marching Tiger band. Often dressed in costume, they worked hard on their “pure corn” half time shows with Conductor Cobb.
Other fall sport teams included boys’ soccer, field hockey, and cross-country. The boys’ cross-country team had some dedicated runners and took second place in a league meet under Coach Bailey. Most of the Newtonian sports coverage is of boys’ teams. Long after we graduated, girls’ sports were boosted in 1972 by the landmark civil rights legislation that introduced Title IX and prohibited sex-based discrimination in education programs and activities that receive federal funding.
However, during our senior year, the girls’ field hockey team had a great group of athletes. Their favorite memory was the hard-fought annual field hockey vs soccer field hockey game. Can you remember who won it??
Winter brought a whole new group of sports teams to cheer. Our NHS hockey team placed third in league play senior year and was led by the only three senior players on the squad: captain and goalie Kevin McLatchy, Kim Britt, and Marty Clapton.
Who can forget Saturday games at the Boston Arena, catching the Green Line MBTA to Boston for the game with hundreds of other fans? Students lined up at the snack bar to order the best French fries in New England!
The boys’ basketball team had a tough year with only two returning varsity players and an average height of only 5’11”! Doug Vernon was the team’s captain, and the offense was sparked by Lee Theise.
Boys’ gymnastics benefited from the most promising group of gymnasts Newton had ever seen. The team came in first in the Suburban League Meet and was led by Coach Jessup.
Coach Ed Boyle fielded an outstanding indoor track team that finished undefeated as Greater Boston Division I champs. Their claim to fame: Newton High’s only undefeated athletic squad!
Our senior supper on December 11, 1965, was a night to remember. Many classmates decorated the gym as a deserted island paradise to support the “Treasures of ‘66” theme. Led by Class President Bob Berlin and Master of Ceremonies Marc (Pud) Simons the evening included a wild and crazy show of laughter, jokes, singing, and the “Fullobulloo Dancers.”
Our school had a sizable number of after-school student clubs and service activities. The theater group presented “Thieves’ Carnival” in November 1965 which included many seniors in the cast. Its two performances were a huge success, and the acting and costumes were outstanding!
I was surprised to find these clubs documented in the Newtonian: Biology Club, Math Club, Radio Club, Investment Club, Mental Health Club, Chemistry Club, Outing club, Folk Singing Club, Chess Club, Bridge Club, Sailing Club, Library Club, Debating Society, Libertarian Club, and the Independent Research Club (I wonder what they were independently researching?).
Some of you may remember the “Orange Shield” students who were trained to roam the cafeteria during lunch preventing any disturbances. I guess they were successful because I don’t remember any food fights. Do you?
The Newtonite team was busy on the fourth floor of Building 1 producing more issues than prior years,while continuing to win awards in the Boston Globe Scholastic Newspapers competition. Editor Bill Alford introduced a new editorial policy that welcomed the opinions of any student on any subject, spurring lively, sometimes fiery exchanges of opinion and outlook on issues from social cliques within the school, to the political and social unrest percolating all around us.
Throughout our three high school years, we welcomed several foreign exchange students to our school. Of great note is Alberto de Mayo from Chile, who continues to attend reunions and stays in touch with classmates. Peter Nsimbe won a national competition in Urganda to attend our school. He made his mark as a scholar, talented musician, and excellent soccer player.
Our class elected Betsy Snider as the first woman student body president. The Snider Administration promised a “Good Deal” to every student, and they made that promise good!
With the arrival of spring, we wrapped up our time at Newton High School. We played on our last high school sports teams (baseball, softball, boys’ and girls’ tennis, and track). Many of us attended the senior prom with the theme of “Cast Your Fate to the Wind.” Finally, on June 8, 1966, we attended graduation with over 900 classmates and were sent on our way with some good advice from Principal Richard Mechem and Superintendent of Schools Dr. Charles Brown.
Thank you to the Newtonian staff for all the hours put into our yearbook. Our old school campus is long gone, including the stadium, and the school’s name changed to Newton North High School. How would I have guessed back then that I would marry my high school sweetheart, Tom Warren, and have all these documented memories to share with him and the rest of you? What fun it has been to go down Memory Lane after 59 years.
Please share any memories via email or with Facebook.
