By Arlene Hinkemeyer
Teachers and students assembled on the front steps, many dressed in poodle skirts, rolled-up jeans, bobby socks and saddle shoes.
Then, 10 highly-polished vintage cars from the 1950s, with lights flashing and '50s music playing, rolled up the curved walkway in front of the school, with the owners (the father and friends of teacher Tracy Berkowitz), all dressed in '50s garb, emerging from their cars.
It was a grand entrance for the first of two events celebrating Memorial Junior High's 50th anniversary.
This festive anniversary celebration dance on Oct. 3, titled a "Golden Oldies Fun Night," was attended by approximately 350 students, teachers, parents and alumni teachers. It will be followed by a 50th anniversary rededication day on Nov. 10, in memory of the first dedication ceremony on Nov. 11, 1953, a year after Memorial opened its doors in December 1952.
The dance co-heads, teacher Stephanie Ginsberg and library director Joan Mahoney, thank the members of the 50th anniversary committee and the scores of teacher, staff and student volunteers for making the celebration such a success. "It was a great, cooperative effort," they said, "that resulted in a very festive, up-beat, fun-filled, 'cool' evening. Everyone pitched in to make the evening go smoothly."
Teams of teachers and students decorated the lobby, display cases, main hallway, cafeteria and gym.
A balloon arch greeted people in the lobby, with real and student-made paper balloons lining the entire main hallway. One lobby display case held 1950s pop culture memorabilia donated by the staff; the other contained Memorial sports highlights gathered by the physical education department from the past 50 years.
The cafeteria was decorated with blue tablecloths and white placemats in the school colors, with centerpieces consisting of blue and white balloons anchored to old-fashioned, plastic Coca-Cola glasses filled with penny candy.
Teachers and students manned the cafeteria line, selling pizza and soda, as well as cookies in the shapes of the letters M, J, H and S, baked by students in the Food & Nutrition classes. Other teachers and students staffed the coat checkroom, with a coat rack specially built by the maintenance department.
The cafeteria and gym were also decorated with wall-size collages of the 1950s, made by students in art classes.
Meanwhile, in the gym, a professional master of ceremonies, DJ Allen, led the Golden Oldies fun night, playing dance music from both the 1950s and the present, and holding dance competitions in the twist, limbo, lindy and hula-hoop; a best-dressed contest; and an Elvis lip sync. Thirty talented winners took home prizes.
