Tag: Charles Duncan

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1965 Graduation Party

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965From what I read in the paper, today’s graduation parties cost more than wedding did back in our day. Here are photos from the all-night graduation party held at the Arena Building for the Class of 1965.

It’s my blog, so I’ll cheat a little and post a photo of MY date for the night: the future Lila Perry Steinhoff, at right. She gained points because she didn’t try to put a funny hat on my head like Margaret Ritter is doing to John Ueleke.

Harold Payne, never absent or tardy

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965The caption on the Youth Page on June 12, 1965, said “Harold Payne, the only member of the class to go four years to Central High without missing a day or being tardy reached his breaking point at the all-night senior party last week.”

Peggy Estes looks at Girardot

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965“Classmate Miss Peggy Estes keep semi-awake by gazing at the class yearbook.”

Called an all-night binge

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965The Missourian story called the party an “all-night binge.” I’d hate to hear what they’d call today’s extravaganzas. I’ll set the official Missourian story in italics.

Central High School graduating seniors, treated to an all-night binge by their parents, danced their way from last Thursday night after graduation to breakfast at 4 Friday morning.

Danced through the night

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965Most of them danced through the entire night, according to Mrs. Gale Heise, one of the head chairmen for the affair. An annual event, this year’s party was the biggest ever. And, according to Mrs. Heise, the seniors can thank all the parents for their complete cooperation.

Door prizes sparked the dull moments when the band took a break. Local merchants donated 125 items for prizes. And a grand prize, a portable television, which Lee Dahringer won, was purchased with money donated by parents. Fifteen prizes, including the big one, were given out just before breakfast.

Made a beeline for Arena Building

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965Two bands were hired for the evening – the Goldtones, which played for the first half of the evening, and Willies Band [the microfilm was sketchy here, but that’s what it looked like] which played until the wee hours.

The graduates, some with underclassmen as dates – made a beeline for the Arena Building as soon as the graduation ceremonies were over. The underclassmen were allowed to stay until 1 Friday morning. Then they left and the seniors were given a half hour to run home to change into sports clothes for the remainder of the party. [I was given a little more leeway since I had to go home to process the photos for the paper.]

Food was plentiful

 

Class of 1965 Graduation Party at Arena Building - Missourian 06-12-1965Food was plentiful and free. Parents did the decorating, which followed a Mardi Gras theme. [The rest of the paragraph couldn’t be read.]

Some of the graduates dozed off for awhile, but the dance floor, said Mrs. Heise, was still pretty full at 4.

Head chairmen for the party were Mr. and Mrs. Heise, Senator and Mrs. Albert Spradling, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Knehans and Mr. and Mrs. Charles House.

Graduation Party photo gallery

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the side to move through the gallery.

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Notre Dame vs CHS Basketball

About the only thing that was different about this Notre Dame vs Central High School basketball game was that it was the first game that I can recall was delayed because of a lost contact lens.

The Feb. 1, 1967 Missourian photo caption said,“Basketball wasn’t the only action on the floor at the Central High gymnasium Tuesday night. Tim Bucek, Notre Dame player, lost one of his contact lenses. Action stopped while players, coaches and fans from both teams got down on hands and knees to search for the tiny eyepiece. Finally, someone looked at Tim and saw the bit of glass clinging to his jersey. Play resumed while he returned to the dressing room to insert the lens before going back in the game.”

Pep Band Tigered up

The Central Pep Band dressed a little spiffier in 1967 than it did in this photo from 1963.

Routine basketball action

I really didn’t like shooting basketball, even though it was easier than shooting football. In later years, when I had faster lenses and faster film, I’d shoot available light (when I was in a gym that had light available) and concentrate on mid-court action where the pictures were more interesting than armpit shots.

One of the problems with shooting with a single direct flash was that the photos had no modeling in the players’ faces because the light was coming from straight on. You also tended to get a “soot and whitewash” effect, where objects closer to the camera were overexposed and objects further back went to black.

All white faces on the court

Cape schools had long been intergrated by 1967 and the teams had a mixture of races on them, so I’m surprised to see all white faces on the court in these shots.

I just pulled out my 1965 Girardot. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised to see all white faces. The only black player pictured on the 1965 varsity and junior varsity teams was standout Sylvester Johnson, who was also on the 1964 football varsity along with Albert Estes and Charles Duncan. I remember Clyde Benson broke the tennis color barrier.

Photo gallery of basketball game

Who won the game? Well, Bob Evans wasn’t exactly kind in his story. “As of Tuesday night, it is a proven fact that the favorite food of a Bulldog is Tiger. This was shown when a talented Notre Dame ball club defeated cross-town rival Central, 86-63 in area basketball. This was the third defeat of the season for the Tigers in games with the Bulldogs and the fifth in a row over a two-year period.”

Click on any photo to make it larger, then click on the left or right side to move through the gallery. For the record, the players weren’t imitating zebras in some of these photos. For some reason or another, my Nikon film scanner picked up some noise that I didn’t bother to spot out.

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