A throwback to the 1950’s—even the name: Tropicana. Ft. Myers. Paul Goldfinger © Feb 2018.
THE MELLO-KINGS :
Editor’s note: The color scheme of the 1950’s was recreated by Francis Ford Coppola, 1970’s, for the Godfather movies, which were set in the ’40’s and ’50’s. He used special Technicolor film to provide authenticity when filming scenes in Little Italy, Havana, Sicily and suburban America.
The 50’s – what a great Era.
Rutherford HS memories ——
1956 when we danced to “In the Still of the Night” (one of my favorites). Dances in the gym. Friday nights at Carl & Henry’s. The Rutherfordians dance band. Memorial Day parades. Mrs Goff. Half day classes in Senior year while Jr high was being completed. Mr. Wallman. Miss Allen. Mixed chorus. Mt Hutzel. Senior play. Sophomore trip to West Point and Sr trip to Washington. YMCA leagues. Playing sports. Mr. Dupes shooting foul shots. The best of my memories are of all my classmates.
There are many more memories that remain a wonderful part of my past.
Editor’s note: Thanks Buddy–you summed it up. Our readers should know that Bud Miller was our class President and was the quarterback of the RHS Bulldogs (a mascot which was totally politically correct–unlike our Thanksgiving rivals across the Passaic River—-the Passaic Indians.)
Bud must have taken our West Point trip seriously because he eventually became a graduate of that fine institution.
But, Bud, you said the truth about the importance of one’s classmates in creating the best environment for learning at that high school level. RHS had about 500 students, and about 90% went to college, and I always thought that our classmates were the number one reason for all our academic successes.
My best friend at RHS struggled academically for awhile, but he looked to his friends in our class as roll models, and he rose like a meteor in that climate. Eventually he became a NJ Superior Court judge.
—-All the best, Paul
PS As for the Passaic Indians, their cheerleaders wore leather with fringes; a powerful inducement for the boys in the band to attend the traditional Thanksgiving Day game at Passaic Stadium. But that’s not to say that our cheerleaders weren’t dynamite as well…After all, they were the ones who performed acrobatics right in front of where the band sat—a spectacle worthy of our unquenchable teenage attention.
The year was 1959.
I was in a singing group with my two friends. We called ourselves the Tri-Tones.
We sang this song at the Senior Talent Show in Fort Lee High School before a full house! When the curtain opened, I had such stage fright, I could hardly get the words out.
But, the crowd loved us!
Those were the best days!