Latest News items will generally remain posted for 90 days.
Our deepest sympathies to:
We welcome these new website members:
Ellen Bonneville Timmerman on Jan. 19, 2012. Ellen was in our class from kindergarten through eighth grade. See her profile on the Classmate Profiles page.
Feb 3, 2012 --- SAT Question of the Day
Jan. 13, 2012 --- Former Classmates page updated
We've updated our Former Classmates page, listing 218 classmates who were in our class between kindergarten and 12th grade but did not graduate with us, along with the grades they attended while in our class. Twenty-three have joined our website! If you are in touch with any who haven't, please let us know so we may extend them an invitation.
Dec. 30, 2011 --- President and Mrs. Obama pay Pearl Harbor tribute accompanied by Admiral Bob Willard (ELHS 1969) and his wife Donna
On Dec. 29, 2011, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama paid their respects during a visit to the USS Arizona Memorial, located at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Inside the memorial, the president laid a wreath honoring the more than 2,400 Americans who died during the Japanese attack on Dec. 7, 1941. The president and Mrs. Obama then dropped orchids in the water beneath the memorial, where the sunken battleship still rests seven decades later.
They were accompanied by Admiral Bob Willard, Commander, U.S. Pacific Command and his wife Donna (pictured above with the president and first lady). Admiral Willard (ELHS 1969) is the brother of classmate Rick Willard. For a profile of Admiral Willard, see the bottom of this page. Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
Dec. 19, 2011 - - - Band director Mr. James Harwood's wonderful career
Mr. James Harwood was our band director for one year, from Sep 1968 - Jun 1969. Since leaving ELHS, he has had a very successful career. Currently, he is the founder and president of Harwood Management Group, whose primary focus is building and managing the careers of a roster of some forty singers, conductors and stage directors. Here are the links to his website: http://harwood-management.com/ and his bio on his website: http://harwood-management.com/harwood.html.
Dec. 16, 2011 - - - Rich Mondoux, Dr. Jakie Upshaw, and Mr. Francis Dutille inducted into ELHS Athletic Hall of Fame
On Nov 19, 2011, in a ceremony at Elmcrest Country Club, East Longmeadow, classmate Rich Mondoux, the late Dr. Jakie Upshaw, and Mr. Francis Dutille were inducted into the East Longmeadow High School Athletic Hall of Fame.
Here are the write-ups accompanying their induction:
Richard Mondoux
"Richard Mondoux was an outstanding hockey player. He had 130 career points in 63 games, a record that stood for 26 years. In 1968-69 he was the Wright-Faye division scoring leader with 46 points.
"Richard scored what is possibly the fastest goal in high school sports with a goal at the six second mark in a game against Ludlow, and again at the the nine second mark of the first period and finally at the 13 second mark of the third period in a game against Pittsfield, both goals unassisted.
"Richard received the 1970 hockey MVP award."
Dr. Jakie Upshaw
"Dr. Jakie Upshaw was born in Marietta, Georgia. After receiving her undergraduate degree from Concord College, she began teaching physical education and coaching girl's basketball at the Marietta High School. She continued her education and received her Master's degree at Vanderbilt University. During this time she taught physical education in her home state.
"Jakie moved to Massachusetts to pursue her Doctorate degree at Springfield College and began teaching at East Longmeadow High School in 1960. "Doc," as the students called her, loved her work with the students of this school and made many endearing and long lasting friendships. She taught physical education and coached basketball, tennis, field hockey and gymnastics.
"When she retired in 1983, Jakie returned to Georgia where she lived until her death in 2007."
Mr. Francis Dutille
"Francis Dutille was one of the original teacher-coaches at the new high school in 1960.
"Frank started the track program from day one and started the cross-country program after pushing for 13 years to incorporate the program into the high school system. Frank compiled a track record of 170-85 and coached the teams to three undefeated seasons and three Western Massachusetts Championships ('69, '70, '73).
"Frank retired from coaching in 1985, after which he officiated track at the national level, involving himself in Olympic trials, Para Olympics, Special Olympics and many college championships. He continued to help the track team by officiating their meets until he retired from ELHS in 1996 after 36 years of service.
"Many of his athletes still hold high school records. Frank was inducted into the Massachusetts Track Coaches Hall of Fame in 1997."
Video of the entire ceremony: http://origin.peg.tv/pegtv_player?id=T01000&video=44112. Rich's induction begins at 00:53:52, Mr. Dutille's at 01:14:05, and Dr. Upshaw's at 01:29:18. Note: to activate audio, click on the volume level icon (vertical lines) in the lower right corner of the video. Even then, audio does not begin until 33 seconds into the video.
ELHS Athletic Hall of Fame website: http://sites.google.com/site/elhsathletichalloffame/home. While there, you may wish to click on "2010 Inaugural Induction" and view the write-ups for inductees Mr. Richard Bolles, Mr. Robert Dobias, Mr. Robert Mazzariello, and Mr. Edward Modzelewski.
Dec. 10, 2011 - - - East Longmeadow Historical Commission videos with Bruce Moore
Classmate Bruce Moore serves as chairman of the East Longmeadow Historical Commision. He has made several videos showcasing historical sites in East Longmeadow. Here are links to the videos on the East Longmeadow Community Access Television website. Note: to activate audio, click on the volume level icon (vertical lines) in the lower right corner of the video.
Dec. 9, 2011 - - - Classmate Edward "Chip" McDonough passes away
With regret, we have learned that our dear classmate Edward "Chip" McDonough passed away on March 18, 2011 in Denver, Colorado. Please click on the In Memory page to see the tribute we have created for him.
Dec. 5, 2011 - - - Choral director Mr. John Cheney retires
Here is an article we found detailing the career of Mr. John E. Cheney, our choral director during our senior year. Mr. Cheney, now 80, resides in Pittsfield, MA. You may see current photos of him on the ELHS 50th Birthday page.
Thursday May 6, 2010
PITTSFIELD - After 24 years of making music with the Berkshire Concert Choir, John E. Cheney will mount the podium for the last time.
He will conduct a Mother's Day concert at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church at 3 p. m. Sunday, May 9.
Cheney says in this last concert the choir will perform a nostalgic mix of short numbers in various musical styles, many of them sung under his leadership in concerts here and abroad. The program will open with a tribute to music and end with a blessing. A farewell reception will follow.
Anne Marcure, the choir's artistic director, will accompany the singers on the piano, play an organ solo and accompany soloist soprano Sara Novak.
In a life of music that began when he whistled tunes before he could read, Cheney has been a church organist and choir director and a public school music educator.
Music has been embedded in his life since he started buying sheet music when he was in elementary school in Marion, Ohio. "I cried because I couldn't play," he said, "so I started buying music, and whenever anyone wanted to give me music I accepted it. I now have every kind of music. Solos. Sacred music. You name it."
He took piano lessons so he could accompany his whistling. With one instrument leading to another, he went on to play the organ, violin, viola and harpsichord. His church music career began when as an air force chaplain's assistant he led a local choir in Waco, Tex.
He joined the Berkshire Concert Choir as its accompanist in 1987, became associate conductor in 1991, and finally took over as artistic director in 1996.
Among the more than 50 volunteer singers are some who were charter choristers before Cheney's arrival in Pittsfield. They had been members of the Cantata Choir of South Congregational Church or The Stockbridge Singers, which were merged in 1979 to form the Concert Choir.
In his career with the singers Cheney has traveled with them for church concerts behind the Iron Curtain, to Poland, Hungary and Austria, and on a tour of the British Isles. The choir with the Stockbridge Festival Chorus, was the first choral group to appear in Tanglewood's Ozawa Hall and joined several high school choirs performing at the Colonial Theatre.
Margaret Northrup, who has been lending her alto voice to the choir for 41 years, and tenor John Koch, a charter member and the choir's treasurer since 1980, talked about their experiences in interviews.
Northrup recalled that on the eastern European tour the organ in one church was so far from the choir loft that melding voices and music was a challenge.
Koch recalled that trip as a great experience.
"John took care of the baggage," he said, "but there was at least one occasion when it was lost. We suffered for a couple of days without any clean laundry."
"It's too bad he is leaving. We all feel badly about it. But those things happen," he said.
Koch indicated a search committee is interviewing applicants for a new director.
In preparing to put aside his baton for the third time in his decades of teaching, leading and mentoring singers, Cheney paid tribute to the Concert Choir, all volunteers, many of whom were in the choir long before he joined them.
"This has been an important part of my life," he said. "The relationship with the people and the privilege of making beautiful music with them are very close to my heart. It's hard to give it up, but you have to realize when it's time." That doesn't mean Cheney is going to vanish from the Berkshire musical world; he will continue to serve as music director of the Church on the Hill and lead a chorus at the Kimball Farms retirement community in rehearsals and performances.
The tuba was Cheney's instrument of choice in the ROTC band at Wesleyan University, although he was majoring in music for the organ. As an army air force chaplain's assistant during the Korean War at a base in Waco, Tex., he started glee clubs for student pilots and for members of the Women's Auxiliary Air Force, and also directed a local church choir.
After returning to civilian life, Cheney graduated from Baylor University with a degree in organ performance, piano and voice. He earned the Boston University School of Theology's first master's degree in sacred music while working in a book store and leading a student nurse glee club at Beth Israel Hospital in Boston.
For six years he was chairman of the music department at Tantasqua Regional High School in Sturbridge, leading students in a concert for the governor of Massachusetts. Through the years, he was choir director and organist.
He finds it hard to retire.
The first of his retirements came when he turned 55, he said, after 17 years of teaching at five schools in East Longmeadow, with a sabbatical to study Bach in Germany. His second retirement came in 1986, 10 years after he moved from Springfield to Pittsfield to become organist and choir director at St. Stephen's Episcopal Church. At age 65, he thought that would be that.
However ....
"I didn't plan on another job," he said, "but the Church on the Hill nailed me. I've been there for 14 years as organist and choir director. Now I've been working for my third retirement in this last big concert with the Berkshire choir. A year from June I'll be 80, so I'm thinking about going to Longmeadow, near Springfield."
He said he will devote his spare time to "going through the junk in his house," engaging in cooking - his favorite indoor sport - working on a church fund-raising project, and going to a weekly Stockbridge Bible study group meeting.
For now, he is busy putting the finishing crescendos on the Mother's Day concert, which will end with "An Irish Blessing," a traditional air by Thomas P. Frost, a Berkshire composer, that the choir has sung through the years.
"I've always loved the song," Cheney said.
He plans to invite all former members to join the choir in singing the blessing's final words: "May the good Lord hold you in the hollow of his hand."
Amen.
Nov. 27, 2011 - - - Science teacher Mr. Gary Bunce passes away
Mr. Gary Bunce pictured, left to right, in our freshman, sophomore, junior and senior years. With Mr. Dominick Parisi in right photo. Photos courtesy of our yearbook.
With regret, we have just learned of the passing on May 9, 2006 of Mr. Gary Bunce. He was 63 years old and lived in Snellville, Georgia. After beginning his teaching career at Birchland Park Junior High, he joined the ELHS faculty in our sophomore year. He taught science and served as the Ski Club advisor. Unfortunately, we have no obituary for him.
Nov. 26, 2011 - - - Football coach Mr. Robert Vespaziani retires
Mr. Robert Vespaziani, our football coach for our first three years, retired this year after a 51 year career coaching football. Following his departure from ELHS, he moved to Canada, coaching college and Canadian Football League teams. As far as we know, he is still living in Canada.
Nov. 22, 2011 - - - Social studies teacher Mr. Harlow Pendleton passes away
Mr. Harlow Pendleton pictured left to right, in our freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior years. Photos courtesy of our yearbook.
With regret, we have just learned of the passing on April 11, 2011 of Mr. Harlow Pendleton, who taught social studies at ELHS and served as the advisor to the Future Teachers of America club. Here is the obituary which appeared in the Sentinel and Enterprise newspaper, Fitchburg, MA on April 22, 2011:
LEOMINSTER -- Harlow Edward Pendleton, longtime resident of Leominster, MA, died peacefully on April 18, 2011, of an unexpected illness. He was 85 years old.
Born in Pelham MA to Harlow L. Pendleton and Margaret Thompson Gaskell, Mr. Pendleton grew up with his sister, Rosalie in Fitchburg MA, where he developed his love of music, and began a lifetime association with many church choirs. Besides the piano, he played the flute, frequently performing in local town summer concerts, and soloing at the commencement ceremonies of his graduation from Fitchburg High School in 1944.
A veteran of World War II, Mr. Pendleton joined the Army Air Corp immediately after graduation and became a gunner on a bomber aircraft. His aircraft crashed while on a training exercise, and he was one of only two crew members to survive.
After the war, Mr. Pendleton studied at the Universities of Massachusetts and Connecticut, receiving a Masters of Education degree in 1953. Over his 24 year career, he taught Junior and Senior High School level English and Social Studies in Attleboro, Springfield, and East Longmeadow, MA school systems. He continued his love of teaching well into his retirement years, giving his time to local community college students. Mr. Pendleton also had a passion for reading and creative writing, composing many poems and short stories during his life.
"The most important day of my life..." was when Mr. Pendleton met his soul mate and wife of 58 years, Esther I. Hawkins in 1952. They had two children, Karen Louise and Thomas Jeffery, settling first in Attleboro, then East Longmeadow and finally in Longmeadow, where they lived until moving to Leominster.
Mr. Pendleton was an active member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Leominster, and other church communities throughout his life, holding the various positions of Vesteryman, Senior Warden and Assistant Director at Bement Church Camp in his early years. Having a profound interest in theology, Mr. Pendleton briefly studied at the seminary of Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio.
Mr. Pendleton is survived by his wife, Esther, their son Thomas, his son's wife, Suzanne, and their children, Maxwell and Grace. He is also survived by many other close relatives and friends.
Nov. 21, 2011 - - - Industrial arts teacher Mr. Charles Burtt passes away
Mr. Charles Burtt (center) with James Banning (ELHS 1973), left and Ed Lemanski (right). Photo courtesy of our senior yearbook.
With regret, we have just learned of the passing of Mr. Charles Burtt, who joined the ELHS faculty in 1969, teaching industrial arts and serving as the Audio Visual Club advisor. He passed away in 2006 in Texas, where he relocated after retirement. Here is the obituary that appeared in the Alice Echo-News Journal, Alice, TX on Jan 31, 2006 (clearly, there is an error in referring to ELHS as being located in Connecticut):
ORANGE GROVE, Texas - Charly Burtt, 67, "The Master Toy Maker" and a pioneer volunteer at the Orange Grove Area Museum, passed away in his sleep January 22, 2006 at his home at Lake Corpus Christi, Texas.
He was born November 23, 1938 in Springfield, Mass., to Harold and Kathleen Burtt. He attended Catholic schools in Hartford, Conn., throughout grade school and high school, graduating with honors. He was a dedicated lifelong member of the Catholic church.
Following graduation, he joined the 101st Airborne Unit and was a paratrooper for four years. After his tour with the service, he worked for 10 years in the metal business with his father at Storms Drop Forge Company.
He attended Springfield Technical Institute and Westfield State College. He graduated with honors from both schools. He was a secondary school teacher in the vocational department at East Longmeadow High School in Connecticut. At the time of his retirement, he was the head of the department and had developed a love of teaching students to use their hands as tools to build things.
Following his retirement, he relocated to South Texas, where he filled his time volunteering at the Orange Grove Area Museum, where he was instrumental in developing and building many of the exhibits in the museum expansion.
Survivors include two sisters, Kathleen Kocon of Franklin, Mass., and Mary Pat Burtt-Henderson of Whitman, Mass.; and one brother, John Burtt of Lake Corpus Christi, Texas. A private memorial will be held at a later date. Arrangements entrusted to Memory Gardens of Corpus Christi.
Feb. 20, 2010 - - - A greeting from Admiral Bob Willard
We have received a greeting from Admiral Bob Willard (ELHS 1969), Commander, United States Pacific Command. Admiral Willard is the brother of Kris (ELHS 1967), Rick (ELHS 1969), Rand (ELHS 1974) and Ray (ELHS 1976). As the highest ranking military officer who has graduated from ELHS, he currently commands 325,000 military and civilian personnel.
In honor of Admiral Willard's extraordinary accomplishments, we plan on keeping this announcement on our website as long as he remains the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command.
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