Bobby socks and sneakers, the jitterbug, Elvis Presley and Fresno High’s Class of 1962
Two years ago, at the 60th reunion luncheon for Fresno High’s Class of 1962, name tags with black-and-white photos copied from the yearbook served as a testament to how time changes us, some more than others.
When I stepped toward the check-in table, Pam, whom I recognized immediately, announced “Here’s Pauline!” I returned her greeting as she handed me my name-tag photo, the 17-year-old me, my hair swept up into a sophisticate French twist.
When I entered the banquet room, Norm greeted me and introduced me to his wife. “Pauline writes those articles we enjoy reading in The Fresno Bee,” he announced. I smiled and thanked them, remembering a tow-headed little boy I’d known since first grade at Fremont Elementary who later worked at Continental Market on Blackstone, where I often shopped.
My friends Jan and Jan had entered behind me, but we were separated and sidetracked by classmates eager to greet each new arrival. We agreed to meet for coffee at La Boulangerie the next day with our husbands to catch up (which we did).
I glanced around the room for somewhere to sit — moving toward a table with classmates I had recently seen at the renaming of a section of Highway 41, honoring our childhood friend, fellow graduate, and baseball Hall of Fame pitcher, Tom Seavers.
When he saw me approaching, my friend Rick stood and pulled in an extra chair from a nearby table, as Larry and his wife scooted chairs together, making room for me. Then Larry retrieved an extra place setting from a nearby table while Darlene, Cliff, and Joanne greeted me. Looking at their faces, taking in their smiles, joining their conversations, I felt the warmth and depth of our teenage friendships even after sixty years.
As lunch was served, and I glanced around the room at my other classmates, an image of Fresno High’s “Waldorf” cafeteria flooded my memories — sitting at long tables, scooting our chairs together, making room for friends. I remembered the jukebox we fed with coins throughout lunch, dancing the jitterbug or strolling in a cleared space (a la American Bandstand) until the bell rang. I remembered Friday night dances held in the “Waldorf,” music provided by our talented jazz band.
On this day of remembering, as we shared a meal and told stories of our lives, I realized why we still felt connected to each other even after so many decades. Our memories resided not in English class nor history, nor math, but rather in pep rallies, Tee Pee Talent shows, junior and senior plays, choir, and orchestra performances.
They resided in football games which included “walk-over” rallies up Weldon Street from Fresno High to Radcliff Stadium. Led by the marching band, cheerleaders, pep girls, letter girls, and Warriorettes (of which I was one), students marched, clapped, and chanted all the way to Blackstone Avenue. These activities developed a closeness, a shared history still evident at our 60th reunion.
“Remember when it snowed our senior year on the day we returned from Christmas break?” someone asked. “Remember the snowball fights on the front lawn and how Principal Miller joined us?” Of course, we did, especially those who drove to school, slipping and sliding on familiar roads, all the way to the parking lot.
“Remember how we always decorated a huge Christmas tree in the foyer?” someone else chimed in. Of course, we did, the event captured in the 1962 yearbook.
Here we were, two years from the age of 80, having lived most our adult lives without the benefit of connecting on social platforms. But the moment we saw our old friends, memories carried us back to our teen years — to bobby socks and sneakers, American Bandstand, the jitterbug, Elvis Presley, full skirts, pencil skirts, Capezio flats, flat tops, duck tails, bubble cuts and French twists. Memories carried us back to life at Fresno High.
We are meeting again this year on June 22, not only to recall a youth we shared, but also to celebrate our 80th birthday year together.
Dr. Pauline Sahakian is a retired Clovis English Teacher, CSU Fresno English Composition Instructor and Teacher Education Instructor, and UC Merced Writing Project Founding Director. She was 1994 Fresno County Teacher of the Year, CA Teacher of the Year Finalist, and 2016 CSU Fresno Noted Alumni Award recipient. paulinesahakian@outlook.com .
