Oh, the stories I could tell about Bill! He was one of my Hamilton High Class of 1951 classmates. He was the shining star in Louise Baird's choir at Hamilton High School from 1948 to 1951. Bill had the voice of an angel, and as you can see by the graphic, he was an accomplished professional singer who could well have been at the N.Y. Met. I first met Bill one evening in 1949 at a Trenton Giants baseball game over at Dunn field on the Brunswick Circle. He happened to take the seat next to me. As we got to know each other I found that he would be a classmate when I began my HHS years in 1949. Needless to say, Bill was already a major factor in Louise Baird's choir. Bill, Joe McManimon and Leon Belardino loaned their beautiful tenor voices to many of the Fred Waring choral arrangements we sang. I recall one assembly when Bill sang the beautiful and sacred, "Sanctus." It touched me so deeply, I actually had tears in my eyes and a huge outbreak of "goosebumps." Elsewhere on this website is a column I wrote as a tribute to Bill when I received the devastating news that he had gone on to be with the Lord. He is up there as one of the leading tenors in the heavenly choir. It was a true privilege for me to be able to say I sang with him in our old barbershop quartette back in the 40's and 50's. Like Judy and me, Bill also married a classmate from HHS '51, the lovely Barbara Eckert Baggott, whom I still hear from on occasion, and whom I know misses one of the area's most beautiful voices. Thanks to Ms. Alice Schmidt Mullen, also from HHS '51 for preserving this, and many other clippings relating to Hamilton High's Class of '51: "The Class With Class."
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009
1989: WILLIAM R. BAGGOTT III
Oh, the stories I could tell about Bill! He was one of my Hamilton High Class of 1951 classmates. He was the shining star in Louise Baird's choir at Hamilton High School from 1948 to 1951. Bill had the voice of an angel, and as you can see by the graphic, he was an accomplished professional singer who could well have been at the N.Y. Met. I first met Bill one evening in 1949 at a Trenton Giants baseball game over at Dunn field on the Brunswick Circle. He happened to take the seat next to me. As we got to know each other I found that he would be a classmate when I began my HHS years in 1949. Needless to say, Bill was already a major factor in Louise Baird's choir. Bill, Joe McManimon and Leon Belardino loaned their beautiful tenor voices to many of the Fred Waring choral arrangements we sang. I recall one assembly when Bill sang the beautiful and sacred, "Sanctus." It touched me so deeply, I actually had tears in my eyes and a huge outbreak of "goosebumps." Elsewhere on this website is a column I wrote as a tribute to Bill when I received the devastating news that he had gone on to be with the Lord. He is up there as one of the leading tenors in the heavenly choir. It was a true privilege for me to be able to say I sang with him in our old barbershop quartette back in the 40's and 50's. Like Judy and me, Bill also married a classmate from HHS '51, the lovely Barbara Eckert Baggott, whom I still hear from on occasion, and whom I know misses one of the area's most beautiful voices. Thanks to Ms. Alice Schmidt Mullen, also from HHS '51 for preserving this, and many other clippings relating to Hamilton High's Class of '51: "The Class With Class."
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