BHS Classes of 1958 and 1959 February 28, 2019

Copyright © 2019                               John F. Oyler 

February 28, 2019

BHS Classes of 1958 and 1959

The February “Second Tuesday” workshop of the Bridgeville Area Historical Society focused on the penultimate graduating classes of the Bridgeville High School, 1958 and 1959. The audience included several members of each class; their participation was greatly appreciated. 

The summer of 1957 began with serious uncertainty about the future of the new Chartiers Valley school district jointure. Scott Township abruptly withdrew because of a disagreement regarding cost sharing between them and the other three school districts involved – Bridgeville, Collier Township, and Heidelberg. The threat of a law suit was enough to resolve the issue; by September plans for the new school were back on track.

The football team started the season with a 20 to 18 win over Cecil. Ironically, according to Tom Volovich, Cecil’s placekicker was Bruce Gossett, who would go on to a fine career in the NFL with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco ‘49ers. Ineffective kicking plagued the Indians the rest of the season, including a 6 to 6 tie with Rankin that eliminated them from playoff consideration.

Dan Gillis reported that our coaching staff downplayed the importance of “extra points”, preferring to concentrate on touchdowns. In addition to the Rankin tie, several losses because of missed kicks proved the folly of that philosophy and converted a potentially successful season into a disappointing one.

One highlight of the season was a 15 to 0 rout of Fairchance. When the facilitator asked where Fairchance was located, several members of the audience reported that it was a rural school in Fayette County. Lucille Kovach Herman announced that she had distinct memories of the game. 

After the band’s halftime performance she and the other majorettes decided to visit the restrooms, which turned out to be outhouses with no lighting whatsoever. Fortunately the girls had batons with battery operated lights that were the highlight of their performance. These they used as flashlights to navigate through the darkness.

BHS fans and alumni were saddened by the death of former coach Bob Hast in March, 1958, following his participation in a faculty basketball game at Scott Township where he was serving as their coach.

In April, 1958, Washington Elementary School was completely destroyed by a massive fire. The resulting vacation for the students was quickly shortened by plans to relocate them to temporary facilities at Bethany Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, and Cook School. The School Board lauded the community for pitching in to eliminate this problem.

Tom Munnell was President of the ’58 Class; Dan Gillis, its Social Chairman. Polly McKee served as May Queen; she was crowned by the previous year’s Queen, her sister Judy.

Tom Grossi was a member of the Class Play, “Come out of the Closet”. Gloria Lutz was the play’s sponsor. Tom reported reminiscing about the play with her just before she passed away.

The Lesnett sisters, Grace and Sara, were both featured in newspaper articles that summer. Grace Lesnett Shaw was looking forward to the fiftieth reunion of the 1908 Bridgeville High School class, all five of whom were still alive. Sara, a graduate of the class of 1910, was the subject of a feature article celebrating her forty-three years of teaching first grade in Upper St. Clair Township.

BHS alumni were making their mark as athletes at a wide variety of colleges – Gary Jones at Carnegie Tech, Marvin McCormick at Marietta, and Bill Host at Columbia, to name a few. Bob “Huck” O’Neil had just announced that he was leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers and joining the Calgary Stampeders.

The next football season began with a surplus of optimism, an attitude that was quickly dampened by a 7 to 0 loss to a strong Class A opponent, Crafton. The team then proceeded to roll off eight straight wins. Unfortunately they lacked sufficient “Gardner System” points to make the playoffs. At the end of the season, the loss to Crafton was negated when it was learned that they had used an ineligible player. The BHS team that year was destined to be “Undefeated, Untied, and Uninvited”. 

The facilitator showed a clipping dated October 6, 1958, which reported the tragic death of a thirteen-year-old Boy Scout, David Houston. Part of a Scout troop hiking home from a campout in Cecil, he was killed by a train while crossing a trestle. Frank Tome promptly announced that he had been a witness to this event; he was a member of the troop who had safely negotiated the trestle before the train arrived.

The basketball team ended its season with a three-way tie for first place in the section, then lost its first playoff game, to Snowden. Led by Alex Kwasniewski the soccer team won the WPIAL championship.

Bill Novelli was Class President, showing an early indication of his leadership potential which eventually led to his successful career culminating in serving as Chief Executive Officer for AARP. His brother Jerry, a strong supporter of the Historical Society, was in the audience for the workshop.

Other class officers included Albert Bigi and Bob Cimarolli. Faith Whitby was the 1959 May Queen, with Louise Capozzoli as her Maid of honor. 

Next month’s “Second Tuesday” workshop will deal with George Washington’s dispute with the Seceder Squatters on his property in the Venice area in 1784. It is scheduled for 7:00 pm March 12, 2019 in the History Center. The final workshop in the series dealing with the history of Bridgeville High School will be presented on April 9.