Burlington High School's Class of 1953 throws a 70th reunion party
It's not often that Burlington High School graduates have reunions where the average age is 87, but such was the case on Aug. 1, when the 1953 graduating class of BHS celebrated their 70th reunion.
"It's just wonderful to see all these classmates after all these years," said attendee Gertrude Gonyo. "We've just kind of grown old together."
About 25 classmates were in attendance, out of the approximately 226 people who graduated in 1953.
"We're happy to be together again in remembering how it was, and we also took a few minutes to remember those classmates who aren't with us anymore," said graduate Diana Carlisle.
This year was the class's last formally-organized reunion, although many classmates are planning on getting together again on a more impromptu basis next year.
What was life like for girls at BHS in 1953?
Life at Burlington High School was quite different in 1953.
Girls had limited options for sports at the high school, graduate Joan Boardman said. Basketball, skiing and twirling were some of the few options available, although Sylvia Wright-Corbin was able to join the school's rifle club.
"We used to shoot down in the Burlington Armory, with old Ed Keenan, who used to be the mayor of Burlington," Wright-Corbin said.
Other opportunities were limited for girls back then.
"When I graduated, I had two options: I could be a teacher or a nurse," said graduate Rhoda Rosenberg Beningson.
The federal Equal Pay Act, which prohibits wage discrimination based on gender, was not passed until 1963.
"Women were fighting because men were paid more for the same job they were doing," said graduate Susan Chalmers.
While in high school, Carlisle worked on the M.V. Valcour, a ferry that carried cars from Burlington to Port Kent, New York.
"Of course at that time, they would not let women park the cars," Carlisle said. "That was a man's job."
Life in Burlington in 1953
Burlington itself was a different place in 1953.
"I just can remember when we would ride horseback down Shelburne Road," Boardman said.
Chalmers recounted how East Avenue was a dirt road, and the grassy fields around the University of Vermont Medical Center were filled with cows.
"It was a country town, really," Chalmers said. "A wonderful rural place."
Chalmers mourned the loss of many of Vermont's farmers, who have been outcompeted over the years by big corporations. Vermont dairy farms, for example, decreased from 4,017 farms in 1969 to 636 farms in 2020.
"I'm sorry that the farm communities have diminished terribly," Chalmers said. "And I do miss them because they were a huge part of our history."
Contact April Fisher at amfisher@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter: @AMFisherMedia
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Burlington High School's Class of 1953 celebrates 70th reunion
