RHS Gets Kicked Out of the Fireplace!? As Told by John Wescott

John recently told me about the time RHS got kicked out of the Fireplace after Paramus & RHS were getting into it a bit. I remember showing up at the bus garage the night Andy Rodman spilled paint on a Ridgewood police officer - that night the rumors were flying about a "rumble" with Paramus and we showed up to "help" out! Well that night the cops in Ridgewood also got wind of that and came out from all directions as the bus garage was being painted.

Our Paramus history was such that they quickly became our new rival - of course we did a number on their football field which added to tensions and we took it to them in 1972. What made it difficult for me was that I had a serious girlfriend from Paramus (we started dating in my junior year and dated for about 4 1/2 years - it made the Paramus rivalry thing a bit awkward since I had a bunch of friends from Paramus and I hitched to Paramus quite often (cutting my last class) so that I could hook up with my girlfriend at the high school. I was so good at making myself seem like a Paramus student that the principal there thought I belonged and I would wait in the hall for her to get out! Everytime I would show up at the school Mr Azzolino would say "Hi Rick! Catching up on your studies?" As I sat with one of my books open!

Here's John's story in his own words when I recently asked him about it - I took the liberty of changing a couple of words (sorry Rusty!):

"The one when we got kicked out was when we were at the Fireplace after the win over Paramus. We had gotten clobbered the year before at Paramus giving up 44 points. I think it was 44-2. How we got a safety was probably them running the ball into their own end zone just to bust our balls. Paramus' team that year was mostly juniors, which meant we would see the same team basically our senior year at Ridgewood. Sure enough we prevailed, I think 28-7. Not a blowout but a substantial win. After the game we made our way to the Fireplace as did players from Paramus. I knew one player, Glenn Ax.  His cheerleader girlfriend was there and came over to me as I had my RWD jacket with the CAPT on it started giving me shit saying they were still better and he would be there and kick my ass. Of course my smart mouth said before he gets here to kick my ass how about I have a piece of your ***... She went off saying she would tell Glenn when he gets there and he would beat the shit out of me, but the Paramus players that were there jumped in with lots of finger pointing and threats. Some face to face stuff but before a brawl ensued we were told to get out. Nothing happened outside except the same bs yelling and threats, but nothing.  With that next stop was Burger King!"

RHS' Own Greasy Joe & The Surfboards!

Just received this one from David Gilbert - this is the kind of stuff that makes this so much fun!! Hope you all realize there will barely be enough time to catch up with everybody but I know I'm gonna try. This will be preserved for our class history!

This is great stuff Dave - thanks!!!! I wanted to post this one right away - I sent Dave some questions regarding the history of the band and will add anything Dave sends to the story!

Above is a photo of Greasy Joe and The Surfboards. This cool band was made up of Jim Henriques, Chic Voorhis, Jeff Focht, David Gilbert, Alan Gilbert, Matt Skove, David Van Tiegham and Roger Sullivan.

UPDATE 7/21/13: Dave sent me some background on Greasy Joe and the Surfboards - here is Dave in his own words:

"Greasy Joe & the Surfboards emulated Sha Na Na. We played 1950s and early ‘60s rock & roll with an emphasis on 5 part harmony doo-wops and Beach Boys songs. We played several dances in the RHS gym in 1971 and 1972. The highlight of our “career” was when we played against rival local band “Pegasus” in a Battle Of The Bands (also at the RHS gym). We won. A few years later, Pegasus changed their name to KISS and became famous. Greasy Joe & the Surfboards changed personnel, played a few gigs on Long Island, and then we all went our separate ways. David Van Tieghem is now a famous composer in NYC. He has done several Broadway scores. Chic Voorhis (Greasy Joe) is retired on Long Island. He still plays shows and entertains folks as a hobby. My brother, Alan Gilbert, is still a professional entertainer. His group “Brylcream” does a Greasy Joe-type show around the Naples/Fort Myers area on the west coast of Florida."

Wow - thanks Dave! Interesting bit of trivia - the band "Pegasus" that Dave's band beat in the Battle of the Bands played at our graduation dinner at The Fountainhead the night of our graduation!!

Some Photos Courtesy of Bob Klatte!

Bob Klatte just sent some photos to me recently! Bob is definitely coming to the reunion this October. Make your plans now you guys - it's coming fast!

Please send photos everybody! We're looking for anything! These will be used for the slide show and the memory book.

Thanks for sending the photos Bob!

Above l to r Jim Trent, John Nairn, Bill Hamlin, Bob Klatte, Gil Miller and Ricky Crane on graduation night at the high school.

Above l to r Mary Jean Murphy (RHS Class of 1974) and Bob Klatte on prom night senior year. Bob and Jean got married in 1978 and just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary!!

Above the RHS basketball team 1972-73. From l to r front row: Paul Stapleton, Paul Schneider, Kevin Donovan, Jeff Lockhart, Beep Groat, George Cetinian. From l to r back row: Tom O'Connor, Hank Blauvelt, Bob Klatte, Harv Rinker, Brian Tobin, Jim Van Nypren, Coach Norm Thompson.


Keep 'em coming you guys!

The Music of the Class of 1973!

Just added the second playlist of Class of 1973 music! See below for instructions on how best to utilize the MP3 player! It will start playing automatically! This particular post will keep appearing first until I put permanent instructions on the main page so always scroll down for new stories and photos.

Some of our classmates like Chris Bowe have been compiling lists of our favorite music from our high school era - you know, the favorite albums, favorite songs that we used to listen to. Diestel has dug up his old lps, Rick Kinne the same - what were your favorites? I have added an MP3 player to the blog - each week I will put a different playlist on the blog with everyone's requested favorites. The music will start playing as you are on the blog.

The music bar for the player (in orange) is located at the bottom of your screen and will always be there. If you click on the musical note at the far lower right corner you can toggle the playlist which will show up to the right. Here you can see the songs on the list, the bands and also have the ability to skip a song. Click on the musical note again to eliminate the playlist from view. If you don't want to listen to any music while browsing the blog's archive, simply hit pause on the lower bar or turn the volume down.

On the current playlist is Mountain playing by far the best version of Roll Over Beethoven ever - its live and if you may recall Mountain played at RHS in the early 70's! Another bit of trivia - remember Tony Wilkie???? Well Tony lived in my neighborhood and his dad flew famous people and one of his clents was the band Mountain!

Hope you enjoy it!

Some Yearbook Candids at RHS - 1972-73

Looking back I wish I could go back to 1970-73 and take tons of photos! You can never have enough photos! Here's just a few from the yearbook of the Class of 1973!

Click on any photo to enlarge.

Famous Last Quotes - Class of 1973!

Several of us responded to a request to give a special quote that could be found at the back of our yearbook - here are some of those! My favorite is Cara Worthington's which is simply "Look around!" Man I love this stuff..................I'll post more later!


Nick Lagos - "To better thyself with a laugh"

Pete Appert - "A penny saved is a penny earned"

Gayle Allard - "You grow up the day you have your first real laugh at yourself"

Dru Dillon - "Everybody knows, but nobody knows"

Karen Eide - "Be in your pleasures like the flowers and the bees"

Craig Hopewell - "Zounds! I have been five minutes too late all my life-time"

Helen Hudson - "Where we live or how we live is of little consequence. What is all-important is to live"

Bob Klatte - "Let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out"

Katie Knight - "To be silent is not to be sad"

Evelyn Lynch - "The world looks brighter from behind a smile"

Patty Murray - "Beneath this mild exterior, there lies a great deal of mischief"

John Oshin - "Not to have been a reformer is not to have truly lived"

Jan Potdevin - "Happiness is everywhere, you just have to knock yourself out to find it"

Linda Struse - "When love walks upon a soul, footprints are etched forever"

Anita Simos - " A rare combination of sincerity and laughter"

Carol Tenney - "A method to her madness"

Luann Speechley - "A kind heart is a fountain of gladness making everything freshen into smiles"

Cara Worthington - "Look around"

Beth Perdue - "Each generation has to find out for itself that the stove is hot"

Glen Campbell - "Give me a fish and I eat for a day, teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime"

Artie Brierley - "Take life as it comes"

Errol Haznedar - "The sins you do two by two, you must pay for one by one, and I'm on the case"

Elaine Erickson - "All good things in life are short-lived"

Gary Frankel - "Don't walk in front of me - I may not follow. Don't walk behind me - I may not lead. Walk beside me and just be my friend"

Mary Humrich - "With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Strive to be happy"

Jean Lineweaver - "Live, love, laugh and be happy, but above all be yourself"

Varisty Girls Tennis Team - Undefeated!

Despite a lack of courts and practice time, that did not prevent the Varsity girls tennis team from going undefeated - 14-0! Though the team only had 2 seniors - Heidi and Sheri Siegelbaum - it must have made Coach Tierney pretty happy having so many talented sophomores and juniors going into the following season! Congrats girls! (Click to enlarge photo!)

Fern and the Hackensack Game

Hackensack beat Ridgewood in the pouring rain 14-13 - one of the team's toughest losses in their 4 years of RHS football - but they still won the title!

"No, no, no! Repita después de mí - ¡No me gusta Hackensack!"

Hot Pants Store Opens in Ridgewood!

In the June, 1971 issue of High Times magazine, there's an ad for a Hot Pants store that opened in downtown Ridgewood - if you blinked I'm sure you may have missed it! Can you imagine opening a store whose staple item is a pair of Hot Pants? I mean honestly this probably meant more to us guys but based on the ad it sounded like they had several of these stores around! Of course they sold other things too like patches, belts, posters, bell-bottoms, etc. A classic sign of the times!

Click photo to enlarge.

From the Hopewell Family Archives - As Shared by Craig!

Date: Thanksgiving Day November 25, 1972 Ridgewood vs Fair Lawn in a classic rivalry game on the march to the NNJIL Championship.

Somewhere in the visitor stands sit Doc Hopewell and his wife watching the game and Doc Hopewell would soon prove to the Cutter crowd that you don't mess with Ridgewood parents either!

"Rick, in case you are warehousing Class of 73 stories, another one comes to mind, this one football-related.

"During the 1973 Thanksgiving game with Fair Lawn, my parents had a blanket in the stands which fell to the ground. Some Fair Lawn “greasers” walked by and took the blanket and taunted my Dad in the stands as they walked away with it. My Dad (who everyone called “the Doc”), not one to be taunted, worked his way out of the stands and began chasing the Fair Lawn blanket thieves. I’m told the chase involved climbing fences and running down the street and that a fair portion of the stands turned away from the game to watch the chase. Well-down the road, he finally caught them with applause from the stands. He missed half the game, but got his blanket back. This story continues to be part of Hopewell lore…..Craig"

Ridgewood would prevail on an amazing scoring drive in the 4th beating the Cutters 9-7 and winning the title!

Go Doc!