Mohonasen History: Relections from the Class of 60

The class of 1960 was the first group to actually graduate from Mohonasen High School. They were "seniors" for three years since when they started in 10th grade, they were the oldest students at the school and stayed that way until they graduated. Mr. Glen Zeh emailed us some reflections that he had made during the Class of 1960 reunion last September 2000. Forty years later, the students of the Class of 1960 are almost in their 60's.

Here are some of the things that Mr. Zeh talked about in his September 16, 2000 address to the Class of 1960.

"Graduating in the summer of 1960, we are all children of the Fifties, a generation who grew up with still photos in black and white. Our lives had not yet begun to emerge into the Technicolor technology of the tumultuous years that would follow. We can still remember when "lazy" meant slow-paced, relaxed, and languid, rather than unproductive."

...

"That was a time when we believed that mom, apple pie and the American flag were symbols of warmth and goodness. The cost of having a child was still under $200. We looked forward to graduating and getting a job, joining the Service, going to college, or even getting married!"

"Authority was still firmly in tact. William Haessig and David Millman were our crew cut commanders-in-chief. No one looked forward to being called down to their offices. Policemen were respected, and people like Frank Mustico, Peg Bostwick, and Bill Llewellyn were role models to be admired. The culture was one where men had the political power and male and female roles were still clearly defined. Life, if nothing else, had a comfortable predictability. We were the "American Dream"; we lived it! And Mohonasen High School was certainly a real life example for us."

"But everything was not always what it appeared to be. It was also a mean time as well. Racism was alive and violent; witch-hunts were taking place in the halls of Congress; and the threat of nuclear war was still ever present. The Fifties, we have forgotten, was when John Foster Dulles recommended we send American help in the form of planes and eventually "military advisors" to rescue the French from an embarrassing defeat in a place in Southeast Asia called Dien Bien Phu. Today we are sending $1.3 billion to Columbia with more "military advisors" supposedly to fight the "bad guys" who bring "unwanted drugs" into our country. In fifty years, everything seems to have changed and stayed the same. Maybe our Zen brothers are right about change being like a river: you can’t really push the river."

"The Fifties was a time when we saw the first McDonald’s, Holiday Inns, and VW Beetles. And maybe it’s the Baby Boomers who ultimately are bringing them back along with Chrysler’s PT Cruiser: nostalgia with air conditioning and automatic transmission."

"Television changed us from an imagination-filled generation to one where others entertained us. We saw Uncle Milty and Lucille Ball make us laugh, while Ozzie Nelson tried to reaffirm how he knew best. At the same time, James Dean starred in "Rebel Without a Cause", but the rest of us were on the verge of living out his discontent. Ricky Nelson would eventually break away and become his own person, singing his own songs, as we would sing ours."

"Politics saw the worst of fellows like Joe McCarthy and J. Edgar Hoover, while popular novels like "Peyton Place" were naughty, but not entirely shocking. The Korean War was the first of many global skirmishes we did not unanimously want to fight and could never win. Civil Rights, Sputnik, Elvis Presley, and the Cuban missile crisis with Fidel Castro were more signals that our nation and our culture were on a collision course with change."

"And here, in this nearby town named after its Dutch heritage, Rotterdam, a school district voted to build a new high school. And out lives were changed forever! From the beginning, when we created the name from the Indian tribes: Mohawk, Onadagua, and Seneca--- to the formation of the first class---- we were different! Carmen and Bigsbee schools coming together, no longer following my brother or older neighbor’s footsteps to Draper High. We were called to be the first graduating class, and from our sophomore year, we were always the senior class!"

"I believe it changed us! We had to use that Fifties imagination to create our own heritage, to establish what we believed, to focus our goals, leadership, and character for a brand new school...We established a sense of maturity early, which I am sure we all took with us from that point on. We were probably a little more prepared to be resourceful when crises came, and change unfolded. And we are here tonight to proclaim our triumphs and sing our praises. To share memories and recollect treasures from our own wonderful years at MOHONASEN!"