1945: THIS ONE'S FOR YOU, HAZEL WOOD GREENER, HHS '45

BELOW IS AN EMAIL I RECEIVED FROM MS. KATHLEEN GREENER HARTER , A MEMBER OF THE HAMILTON HIGH CLASS OF 1945:

Just wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your site. I am from Trenton NJ originally and now live in Upstate NY.I actually have many connections: My Mom went to HHS Class of 1945. Saw her in the Smilebox show pages 90 and 142. Hazel Wood was her maiden name. She lived in Yardville..Clarenden Ave. She has told us stories about swimming in Gropps Lake. Sadly she is in a Nursing Home here in upstate NY. Just today she rec'd a pic of the 67th Class Reunion of the 1945 Class held recently. Brought her to tears because she could not attend. My father was a Trenton Police Officer as well as my Uncle. My cousin Andy Greener was the Baseball coach at Ewing High. Andy was actually on the Dodgers Farm Team. My Mom went to Nursing School at Mercer Hospital. She is proud to share she was part of the last Class of Army Corp Cadet Nurses. I went to Jr HS #3 and was a student there when the Auditorium caught on Fire. I Graduated from THS in 1968..Member of the Red Team and Miss THS. Sadly Sports Night was cancelled that year because of Rioting that occurred in Trenton.

My Brother was a member of the popular local "50's and 60's" Band Stormy Weather and also played in the 2011 Ernie White Christmas Benefit.

To add to your list of Olden Ave.Stores etc. I remember the Army Navy Surplus Store and Mikes Steak House. Also can't forget the Pancake House down by Ewing High. I think it may still be there.

I enjoyed looking at the old pics and articles..I will take my lap top to share your site with my Mom at the NH.

Thank You for a Great History Lesson and Walk Down Memory Lane!

Sincerely,

Kathleen Greener Harter

Thank you so much for taking the time to write, Kathleen. Tell your mom, she was in the same class as my brother William "Bud" Glover (not to be confused with "Bud" GRover, another HHS '45 classmate.) Above is a special graphic I put together just for your mom. You can print it out and she won't have to see it on your computer screen. (Just RIGHT CLICK on the image, choose "SAVE LINK AS" and copy it to your computer.) My brother Bud says he remembers her name, but like most of us in that era, we had different circles of friends. Bud is battling COPD and other health issues that we seniors all must experience.

XO

Tom Glover

Anonymous said...

There were two Army & Navy Stores on Olden Avenue. One was across from Saint Joe's Church and the other was Phillips Ewing Bizarre (also an Army/Navy), and was close to Parkside. It is possible that the one from Saint Joe's moved to the Ewing site during the 50's however. The original Mike's Steak House was on Princeton by Fuld and then he moved to the Olden Avenue location by Route 31. He expanded one more time and started one in Pennington that is now Suburban Wrench Auto Repair. "IHOP" was on the corner of Olden and Parkway at Ewing High. That stretch had a lot of places to eat back then, Whitey's Tomato Pie at Arctic Parkway or The Blue Moon Diner as well as the original Parfait House and Franksville Hot Dogs. How about the Costa Cottage for ice cream that was in Korvette's plaza?

Ed Millerick

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

Mike Tramontana began his "Mike's Steak house: career on east side of BRUNSWICK AVE, between Phillips Ave. and Fuld St. after several years, he sold that site which was than operated by his sons to Lenny Navarro. It became "Len's Steak House" while Mike's sons and Georgie Malek opened up on Olden, near Pennington. Georgie ultimately bought it for himself.
Len's was taken over by is brother Joe, who shared a locker with me at THS. If I'm not mistaken, before I headed south, Mike's became Pete's Steak house operated by Pete Tonti's son.

My mouth water's when I think of those quarter steak sanwhichs which was enough to keep you going for days.

Regards

Mike Kuzma

Tuesday, August 07, 2012

CIRCA 1945: HAMILTON HIGH IN ANOTHER GENERATION

Wow, at least when I was at Hamilton in the years 1948 through 1951, we had our "intramural" sporting events on the open field on the right side of the photo. The Pittman field on the immediate left is now Hamilton High West's main athletic field. And to all my fellow Hornets who remember, there's that "3rd pole" that we had to visit when we wanted a smoke....remember?

1950 - 1952: FROM "RETROSPICE" TO "RETROSPECT"

I have been meaning to post this since just before my recent 60th HHS class of '51 reunion. This graphic has been in my huge "HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL" digital database since the 1970's when Miss Alice Wilhelm gave me her collection of early HHS yearbooks. I recently received a comment from "Lakeside Girl" asking about the transition from "Retrospice" to the more logical "Retrospect." Here's the transition. It took my class of 1951 to bring "Retrospect" into the lexicon and placed "Retrospice" in the dusty storehouse of academia.

Over the years, a number of Hamilton High alumni have asked about the transition from the Latin "Retrospice" to the much more logical "Retrospect." As you might imagine, this website is a retrospective visit to our past. Some Hornet in the past was probably a 4 year Latin student who was on the yearbook committee, or perhaps a faculty member who had a mania for Latin, and wanted to save just a bit of his or her high school memories and voila! "Re tro spee che" instead of "Re tro spect."

1952: ANOTHER HHS "CLASS WITH CLASS"

The late Shirley Sneath Benton was my next door neighbor. She and her brother, the late David Sneath were very close friends. After graduation, we went our separate ways and lost contact with each other for a number of years. Shirley's pretty daughter Nancy contacted me a number of months ago, and sent me this photo, recalling Shirley's 129 Hartley Avenue years. I assume this to be Mr. Bill Collis' Social Studies class, although I am only assuming. The above photo shows a young lady in the foreground wearing a plaid skirt. Shirley is in the 3rd seat, and Madeline Bencivengo the 4th. I had a flaming crush on Madeline, but alas, my lovely Madeline among many girls who made me a another example of "unrequited love." I hope that a member of the class will contact me and identify the rest of the students in the photo.

Incidentally, I will be the guest at the class of 1952's 60th reunion in October. Details will follow.

2012: A SCRAPBOOK CELEBRATING MY 60TH REUNION

For Lee Belardino way out there in California, and any other Hamilton Alumni who are not in the local area, and indeed, for the pitiful few of my generation who are able to surf the internet, I am posting the link below with photos, articles and memorabilia from my HUGE Hamilton High School (West) collection.

TO VIEW THIS SLIDE SHOW: CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW. WHEN THE PRESENTATION LOADS, KEEP YOUR CURSOR IN THE ORANGE FIELD. IF YOU SEE A SLIDE WITH TEXT YOU WANT TO READ, MOVE IT TO THE GRAPHIC AND CLICK ON THE PAUSE "II" COMMAND. AFTER YOU HAVE READ THE TEXT OR EXAMINED DETAILS IN THE PHOTOS, PRESS PLAY TO RESUME AND MOVE BACK TO THE ORANGE FIELD TO REMOVE THE CONTROL BAR. PLEASE IGNORE THE SLIDE WITH A POOR OUT OF FOCUS VIEW OF THE HHS FACADE. I TRIED TO DELETE IT BUT WAS UNSUCCESSFUL. THE LITTLE SQUARE ICON IN THE EXTREME LOWER LEFT WILL ENTER "FULL SCREEN" WHICH IS THE BEST WAY TO VIEW THIS PRESENTATION. ENJOY!

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a41334e7a67304e546b3d0d0a&blogview=true

Lee Belardino said...

Tom
Thoroughly enjoyed the presentation.Terrific job. Emotions ran high on those that passed.Hard to take. We had such great class mates and teachers.
Thanks for sharing the greatest memories of my life.
Lee

Sunday, April 01, 2012

Thanks, Lee. I posted it for you and any other classmate who are using the computer. Unfortunately, there aren't too many of us. I will be posting more now that I have found a logical software program.

Tom

VISIT TOM GLOVER'S HAMILTON HIGH WEB PAGE!

I am (and have been) exercising "author's privilege" over the past month with my Trenton Times "Sentimental Journey" column and my posts here on "Tom Glover's Hamilton Scrapbook" centered on Hamilton High School ("West-Watson). Be patient, all you non HHS alumni, it will be all over after March 31st when journey over to Mercer Oaks for what could be our final reunion. Anyone who has followed my "The Way We Were," "A Look Back," and "Sentimental Journey" columns over the past 30-plus years know that I have written extensively as I took a retrospective look back at my Kuser Grammar school and Hamilton High school years. It's an emotional and nostalgic thing. Apparently my writings have had a modicum of success or I certainly wouldn't be tolerated in today's competitive journalistic society. So bear with me, all you who are "ho humming" my school retrospectives. I am still injecting my normal historical photos and articles. In the meantime, any newcomers to this site can take a look at www.hhs51.blogspot.com. It not only covers "The Class with Class." (1952), but all other years as well.

1945: SINGING THE SONGS OF 1945

Over the many years that I have been semi-retired, I have done countless grammar and high school reunion segments. Most recently HHS 1949, HHS 1942, Trenton High 1942, Mercerville School, and Kuser School. Above is a scan of a recent Hamilton High class of 1945 reunion session. With the demise of what I nostalgically refer to as "the music we grew up with," most of us in the senior citizen community love to hear and sing the songs of our younger years. It is interesting to note that the lyrics of these old songs are still stored in the aging memories of those attending their high school and grammar school reunions.

1953: A UNIQUE REUNION!

I put the above vignette together when I received the email reproduced above from Dick Ridolfi, HHS '53. As I looked over the photo of those Hornets whom I remember as my under-classmates, I see Larry Poinsett, who used to be one of our baseball players at Plaag's Grove back in the 40's. I also see a lovely lady from HHS '53 who never knew I had a crush on her. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I seem to remember Sally Kay as a lovely HHS cheer leader whom I wanted to date but was too bashful to ask. Not only that, but I wasn't old enough to drive until September 1951 when I graduated. I also note that Roberta Cash is an HHS '53 gal. I see her on occasion here at the Hamilton library. We were Hornets from what I consider the Golden Years of Hamilton West.

1951: OBIT BARCLAY "BART" GIBBS

Still another classmate from HHS '51. "Barts" and his buddy Paul Henon were two of my first buddies at Hamilton High when I began my Sophomore year in 1948. As I recall Barts lived on Lillian Street off of South Clinton Avenue. He was a quiet, confident guy who was always there with that smile. I'll see you at our final reunion above, Bart!

Friday, March 12, 2010
SOLEBURY, Pa. — Barclay White Gibbs II, known as Bart to his friends, of Solebury, died suddenly on Monday, March 8, 2010.
He was born in Camden, N.J. and grew up in Hamilton Township, N.J. where he graduated from Hamilton High School in 1951.
After graduating, Bart enlisted in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War. Upon completion of his service in the Air Force he was drafted into the U.S. Army from which he also received an honorable discharge in 1955.
Bart began his professional career at Princeton University as a technician. After receiving his degree in electrical engineering from Drexel University, he joined the research staff as staff engineer for the physics department. During his tenure of 45 years at Princeton, Bart worked on many interesting projects such as the Princeton-Penn Accelerator, the Mass Accelerator for Colonization of Space, the Northrop-Grummond Free Electron Laser Project and several others. The most rewarding aspect of his work at Princeton was setting up research laboratories and assisting graduate students in pursuit of their theses.
On July 3, 1965, Bart married the former Elaine Steinhauer, a teacher in the Neshaminy School District, and they began their life together in Levittown. They moved to Solebury Township in 1977.
Their daughter, Barbara Gibbs-Lowe is the deputy commonwealth attorney for Albemarle County, Va. She lives with her husband John and two daughters, Carson, 7, and Katie, 4, in Palmyra, Va. Their son, Barclay White Gibbs III is a principal at Charles River Associates, a consulting firm, where he is presently engaged in consultations regarding energy and environmental issues. Barclay III resides in Takoma Park, Md. with his wife Heike (nee Mainhardt) and their two children, Noah, 4, and Vivienne, 2. In addition to his children, Bart is survived by his wife of 44 years, Elaine, his brother Frank, of Daytona Beach, Fla., and his brother John, of Vineland, N.J.
Family and friends may call at the Leaver-Cable Funeral Home of Buckingham, Route 202 and Quarry Road, Buckingham, today from 6 to 8 p.m. where a service will be held at 8 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the New Hope Eagle Volunteer Fire Co., 46 N. Sugan Road, New Hope, PA 18938.

1951: LEE BELARDINO: OLD FRIENDS ARE THE BEST FRIENDS

I am posting this on my WWW.HHS51.BLOGSPOT.COM website, and also on this site, due to the fact that many of my visitors know Lee Belardino. Wherever there is music, there was Leon Belardino, my singing classmate from HHS '51. Lee and I share the same love of music and the finer things in life. He was an anchor in the tenor section of our HHS '51 choir. I received the email below from Lee this morning and if there are any other HHS '51 classmates who visit this site, I'm sure his message will warm your heart. He recalls our "golden years" with love and respect. Lee, these graphics are only a few from my HHS folder, but as usual, you are right in there adding your splendid tenor voice to what was one of Hamilton High School's notable vocal music classes in the history of the school.
This one's for you, Lee Belardino, one of Hamilton's "Varsity Letter All Star Vocalists."

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LEE WRITES:

Tommy:

I haven't communicated with you for awhile. Every day I open my computer, check the Trentonian web site (can't get the Times anymore), read the Philly inquirer for news about the Phillies and eagles and your site and the class of 51 site. Thats it every day. The other day you had a story about the Hamilton senior center in which there was a picture of one of my cousins, Frank Chiorello and his wife. I commented on it in your blog which resulted in getting a phone call from my cousin Joe Battisti whom I think you know. You are the connection to the most favorite part of my life (1947-1951) began when I walked into room 300, 4th period music and sitting on her desk with a smile on her face, a scarf around her neck was the women who had the greatest influence on my life:Louise Baird.Very few days go by that I don't think about her and the things that she did those 4 years. She introduced me to the finer things in life; not only music, but character.You said everything I wanted to say but didn't. There is a place in my heart that belongs to her and no one else. Tom, from reading your thoughts every day,I know we share the same ideals, same love of GOOD music, (My I-pod contains nothing but Sinatra, Andy Willams, Perry Como, Guy Mitchell, Pavarotti, Botcelli) WHOSE WORDS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. Can you imagine what Miss Baird would think about the mumbling, screeching sounds that passes for music today? By the way I don't do too bad on your music tests, but buddy you are tough. I still sing and I belong to 3 groups: Barber shop (lead), mixed voices(tenor), and senior Ukulele band that only tolerates me because I can sing not play. We can sure use good baritone-bass, and alto; know of any couple? Won;t take any more of your time but please keep writing because your biggest fan is out here in California. Say hello to Judy.Oh by the way what happened to Trenton that we used to know?.

Lee

HAMILTON HIGH (WEST) REQUEST FOR INFO

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE ANSWER TO MR BRIAN' MAHER'S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION ON HAMILTON'S LOYALTY SONG? BRIAN'S REQUEST FOLLOWS, ALONG WITH MY REPLY. IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE COHEN SISTERS FROM HHS '52 WERE INVOLVED IN SOME WAY.
=======================================
BRIAN WRITES:Hello Mr. Glover,My name is Brian Maher. I am the Director of Bands at Hamilton High School West. In addition to my "musical duties" within the District, I am also very interested in history, especially that of this band. I was wondering if you, or your readers, could solve a mystery for us. I'm looking for information regarding "Loyalty", the Hamilton High West Fight Song. I'm looking to find out who wrote the words ("Hamilton High will serve you... ever in loyalty..."), who wrote the music, and if anyone knows in just what year it was written.I'm assuming that it would date before there even WAS a Hamilton High School West, since it just refers to "Hamilton High".I believe it was an original song written just for our school (as opposed to our Alma Mater, "Far Above Cayuga's Waters", which is Cornell University's Alma Mater)I thought if ANYONE would know, or might have information about "Loyalty", it would be you.Great website, by the way. I read a little each day (until my eyes hurt!... I'll need glasses soon!)Thanks again,Brian MaherDirector of BandsHamilton High School West

MY REPLY:
HI BRIAN:

MANY THANKS FOR THE EMAIL. I SEEM TO RECALL ELEANOR OR BARBARA COHEN FROM HHS '52 WROTE THE WORDS TO THE ALMA MATER, BUT I AM NOT REALLY SURE. ADDITIONALLY, I DON'T KNOW WHO WROTE THE WORDS AND MUSIC TO THE LOYALTY SONG. IT MAY HAVE ALSO BEEN ONE OF THE COHEN SISTERS. I WILL POST THIS EMAIL ALONG WITH YOURS ON MY WEBSITES. PERHAPS A CLASS OF '52 VISITOR WILL BE ABLE TO SOLVE THE MYSTERY. DID YOU REPLACE TOM RECHTENWALD? WHEN YOU SEE MS. SUE PROULX, TELL HER I SEND MY REGARDS.

TOM GLOVER

HHS '42, THS '42, HHS 45: THE HITS JUST KEPT ON COMING!

2008 IMPORTANT MESSAGE AND PRESS RELEASE

I HOPE TO SEE A FEW VISITORS TO MY WEBSITE AT THE KUSER FARM MANSION PROGRAM WHERE I WILL BE PRESENTING A PROGRAM WHICH IS VERY APPROPRIATE FOR THE GRADUATION SEASON. THE ON SCREEN PROGRAM, "HAMILTON HIGH SCHOOL: THE GOLDEN YEARS" IS A COMPUTER GENERATED PROGRAM HERALDING THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL FROM ITS INCEPTION IN 1930 AND UP TO THE 1960'S. NEARLY EVERY CLASS IS REPRESENTED IN THE HALF HOUR PRESENTATION. FOLLOWING THE ON SCREEN PRESENTATION, I WILL RECALL ALL THOSE WONDERFUL HIGH SCHOOL MEMORIES: SATURDAY NIGHT CANTEENS, TOONE TOWNE, WENDEL "SNEAKY PETE" PHILLIPS, MAX JORDAN, JIM "JIM CROW" COURSEN, CHARLES "POP" MITCHELL, AND MANY OTHER VESTIGES OF THOSE DISTANT YEARS. CALL AND RESERVE A SEAT TODAY. YOU WON'T BE SORRY. WHEN YOU CALL THE NUMBER BELOW, MS. DENISE ZEMLANSKY WILL ANNOUNCE VARIOUS KUSER FARM ACTIVITIES. WAIT FOR HER MESSAGE TO FINISH, AND AT THE "BEEP" LEAVE YOUR RESERVATION(S). SEE YOU THERE!

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“Graduation Day:
A Day To Remember”
At Hamilton’s Kuser Farm Mansion
Free Admission
Join Tom Glover in an incredibly nostalgic evening as he presents a digitally projected on-screen presentation entitled, “Hamilton High School: The Golden Years.”
Tom’s presentation took many months to put together. It traces the history of Hamilton High from its opening in 1930 through the early 1950’s.
After the digital on-screen presentation, we will recall “Class Night,” “Baccalaureate Service,” and most of all the annual Graduation Ceremony at the Trenton War Memorial Building.
The program will be presented
in the 45-foot dining room
of Kuser Farm Mansion on Wednesday, June 4th at 7:00 p.m.
This will be an evening to enjoy
at Hamilton’s Kuser Farm Mansion.
Advance Reservation Required
Free Admission
Call (609) 890-3630 at Kuser Farm Mansion
Entrances Located at: 390 Newkirk Avenue
and also Kuser Road at Ferrante Lane
Hamilton (Mercer County), New Jersey

KUSER SCHOOL - HAMILTON WEST: PERFECT TOGETHER

I have been particularly interested in the schools of my youth. For more than 50 years, I have avidly sought anything and everything relating to my Kuser grammar school and Hamilton High school. Today, with the incredible changes which have transpired in public education, a look back at what I term "the golden years of education" proves to be quite interesting. Two of the most extensive folders in my local history collection revolve around my very happy years as an alumnus of Kuser Grammar School, and Hamilton High School, or as we call it today "Hamilton West." Indeed over the last 25 years, I have written numerous columns on my happy years as a student in the Hamilton Township educational system.