Pulaski High School Hosts a Reunion for All Alumni

"Hey, look us over, give us a cheer; We're from Pulaski and we're going to make it clear!"

Unfortunately, after 46 years, that is all that I can recall from Pulaski High School's football fight song: I should not have imbibed all those beers while going to that school, scrambling all of my synapses, speeding up senility - but I did retain a few bytes of memory, bits images and sounds, from the years 1963 through 1966.

For instance, on class day, I remember Sue Symecko, a very pretty cheerleader with a pixie hair style, singing "Heat Wave", and accompanied on guitar by David Skinner, on organ by Pete Verano (he actually had a Leslie tone cabinet back then); but for the life of me, I cannot remember who played drums or bass...sorry, guys. But you rocked that day and had us dancing in our seats.

And on class day, I remember a skit where Johnny Lepito walked around on stage doing a perfect imitation of Pulaski's physics teacher, Mr. Leiper, smiling and grinning and sporting a bow tie. Johnny, you missed your calling: you should have done standup for a living; you were always hilarious.

I confess that I don't know much about history, but I do recall Mr. Prouty pronouncing "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too" in a very funny way, as if he had a lisp. How did I ever get an A in that course since it was during sixth period, or what we referred to at Pulaski back then as "nap time"?

And I don't know much about chemistry, either, although Mr. Ritner did try his very best, endlessly writing valences and equations on the chalk boards, and allowing me to make gun powder during lab, where I caused an explosion that rocked the school (too much sulphur, I pleadeded vainly in my defense), bringing the fire department to school and placing me on detention for a month. I then succeeded in getting detention for the rest of the year (no small achievement back in those days) after locking Mr. Ritner's young student chemistry teacher, who was proctoring my detention period, in his back lab room in order to skip out early from that day's detention. I was later informed by Mr. Marsh, our Mr. Weatherbee, that she cried hysterically because we was in there most of the evening.  Oh, gawd.

And I don't know much about mathematics, too. All I recall is a dirty-old teacher, who shall remain nameless, in class putting his hands on all of the well-endowed female students, who shall remain nameless, too, out of respect to them. I often wonder why he didn't get detention with me, too, or expelled, or jailed. In fact, I often now wonder why I didn't get expelled or jailed, too?!

Yes, I don't know much about any of those subjects taught at Pulaski High School after 46 years, but I do know that I had lots of fun at my teachers' expense. Mea culpa. 

I now apologize to all of my former teachers. I should not have caused you all so much grief, aggravation, and nervous breakdowns. In my squirrely defense, I did not act alone. There were many of us goofing off instead of cracking the books.

And so, the alumni of Pulaski High School are giving us one more opportunity to goof off, have some fun, drink beer, and listen to Sue Symecko sing "Heat Wave".  At Falcon Field in New Britain, right next door to our old High School, on Sept. 8, all alumni from Pulaski are invited to a reunion. Just visit the website, https://sites.google.com/site/wearepulaskihigh/, and register.

Hope to see you all there. And please, don't worry if you are now fat, wrinkled, and old: I am! Just show up and bring plenty of beer and booze.