YMCA  Click for larger picture!

I remember during the war years Miss Lunney, an Englist teacher who was our advisor helped us to start "Teen Town" which was located at the old YMCA; now torn down. It was open on Friday or Saturday nights and we teeners ran it...I remember checking coats in and others ranthe soda bar..we had our own Drury Swing Band which played in the gym and we could dance there. The coat checking and soda bar were upstairs and it was set up with caberet type table and chairs. When you came in they stamped your hand and if you left you could not reenter.. }to stop teenage necking ha! or drinking. It was great!! Blue Haven was a takeoff from that.

I remember Carmen Cancro played the trumpet in the band and Parker Allen and Ray Collier were clarinet players...Our own Richard Ziter who later became a Concert Pianist soloed many times at the piano.He was great.After his career as a Concert Pianist he became an Ophthalmologist. (Just think two careers) and he now lives in West Stockbridge,MA.I hear that when the class of 45 had their 50th reunion, he donated a very generous amount of money to the music dept. at Drury. He was quite a guy., knew him well.

Miss Lunney noticed that a lot of the guys were sitting out the dances, so she started a Dancing School and had we cheerleaders teaching the freshman boys how to dance...Do you remember any of this? Do you remember that during our lunch periods we were allowed to go to the Drury gymn and play recordings and dance?that was the "Jitterbug era"! The name bands were popular then...we would play "string of pearls", one o'clock jump etc...and dance up a storm...All nice innocent fun...no fighting, swearing or anything!! Times were different then. Well, I could go on remuniscing forever. Thanks for bringing back old memories!!

Do you remeber the three Jacks and a Jill Quartet consisting of Bobbie Burgess '45, Bernie Birkland '47, Jim Dougherty,'45, Carolyn McNeil '46 and Dick Ziter at the piano? Jimmy Hadad's Orchestra and also Ray Collier's 45 Orchestra played. This was a wll organized high school activity and brings back fun memories.