Antonio (Tony) Castro

Sorry to hear of two classmates passing, may they R.I.P...........  Ronny was a good friend through H.S. and an excellent athelete.

Joan Arruda (Felix)

RIP, Ronnie, so sad to hear of his passing

David Mello

rest in peace bob

Barbara Fernandes (Lanagan)

Lunch bunch outings would be fantastic...but not on Fridays!  Busy tourist day on Cape Cod etc....

Nancy Otis (Cusson)

I think it is a great idea....You would be taking care of all the planning, right?

James Casey

I concur Nancy, with that caveat (caviar?). A bi-annual sortie would be excellent. I'll supply the armorments. Kathy the 1st Aid and Cote can handle the medication rounds. ♥ ☺     PS:  CASINO!?

Nancy Otis (Cusson)

I think it would be fun...Especailly in the summer months...

Raymond Veary

I love it when you remember our birthdays.

Carol Lee Costa-(Crowell)

Missing you big guy. Hope to visit Mass July 9-Aug.9 so should be there for your next b'day. Mayhaps we can get together. Give Claude my love and save some for yourself. Carol Lee

Elaine Cowell (Robbins)

Hi everyone! Can you post upcoming Brunches and Events? There seems to have been a problem with my email...:(   thanks so much! Particularly, is there one in July?

Jack (John) Nunes

Thanks to everyone for getting our site back online. ;0)

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

Jack Nunes, you are welcome.  Nancy has renewed our domain name.  We will be around for five years.  Teamwork!

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

Elaine, I posted in your profile page a response about luncheon announcements.  We want to insure class communications get out, so thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Raymond Veary

Bless my classmate who thought to put the late Jerry Orbach's "Try to Remember" on thr website. And thank you.

Ray Veary

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

Oh, my friend, Raymond Veary, thank you and like most of us, I can use all the blessings I can get. It is after all, September.  I'm a huge Jerry Orbach fan.    Glad you enjoyed it.  Be well!

Margaret Aulisio

Why no women on your list of favorite authors we can choose from?   How about Jane Austen?  Ridiculous!

Peggy Aulisio

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

Peggy Aulisio, you are right and I should have included a female author. I love Jane Austen, Charlotte and Emily Bronte, Anne Bradstreet, Elizabeth Barret Browning, Harper Lee, just to name a few. When I set up a poll within the limits of the page' s spaces, I send a rough draft around to other administrators and other classmates for input. My own literary experience was influenced by my family's love of reading and I had to stop and try to remember the "required" class reading and then separate that from supplemental lists and reading on my own. Great idea here for a couple more polls. I should have taken a look at the list before I clicked the send button. Yes, ridiculous considering I am a feminist. 

Dave Medeiros

The poll question:  "Remember the literature we read in High School English Class? No denying that we were introduced to great authors and life long love of reading. So, asking who was your favorite author/authors from the required reading in class?"

I do not think the poll is 'flawed'.  Unfortunately I do not remember any 'required reading' written by any female author.  Although Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stow) was well read by many, I don't think it was 'required' classroom reading.  The poll of 'required reading in class" from our high school days is a reflection of the times in which we grew up, which were different than those of today.   Also, there were no black writers on the list, yet when in college (1965-69) I had a whole course on Black American Literature. Those were the times ... we cannot change history.

David Mesquita

The only book I remember reading written by a female author was Silas Marner by "George Eliot".  Mr. Szala (?) informed us that this was her pen name and her actual name was Mary Anne Evans.  It was also adapted many times as a movie the last version of which was made in 1994 as "A Simple Tale of Fate" starring Steve Martin .

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

David Mesquita, thanks for jogging my memory, I loved Silas Marner and can recall it vividly.  Gosh, I haven't thought about that book in years, but I loved it:  Silas, the weaver, Eppie, Squire Cass and being taught that the theme was redemption through love.  In a way, a little like the theme in Les Miserables.  I also loved the Steve Allen movie .  The scene when he sings "Running Bear and Little White Dove" was priceless.  Silas Marner was definitely required reading and we read it in class with all the attendant skills, quizzes, tests and vocabulary lists.  Thinking about the book makes me marvel at "George Elliott " writing about people ostracized for being different and themes still troubling us today.  The point of our polls and the website in general is to perhaps jog a memory, and rediscover our common ground.  Loved thinking back to a great book.

Margaret Aulisio

I recall reading Jane Austen and telling the teacher how much I loved her writing.  I did not recall if George Eliot was required reading so I didn't mention her in my last post.  It is  worthwhile to look back and think about what we did read and what was left out.  I'm not sure what classics kids read today.  It is also a worthwhile discussion to ask why we did not read books by black authors or other minorities.  I recall having Mr. Bonner for English and he was great.  I loved Shakespeare.   On another note, I didn't know anything about Frederick Douglass's ties to NB until someone in Calif mentioned learning about it at the Smithsonian.   So there were lapses but I feel that I did get a good education at NBHS.    Peggy Aulisio

Maria de Melo (Gulla)

Peggy, you bring up a good point. Many New Bedford residents don't know that NB was a stop in the Underground Railroad. There is a stone to that piece of history at the edge of Hazelwood Park across from the old bathhouses of Municipal Beach. I knew about Frederick Douglass visiting NB.  My mother loved  history and We grew up learning it. It's too bad that so much of the city's history isn't well known .  We have much to be proud of our old hometown. To go back to literature, some teachers were wonderful about encouraging outside reading   For that, I' m ever grateful. When I was planning the poll, my literary nightmare came back to mind. In those days we had to learn about the meter in poetry and mark it in a test. Remember iambic pentameter and all that?  It was often an Edgar Alan Poe poem   With my accent, it was hard for me. They don't mark the meter now. Students now still read the classics in school as well as contemporary work. The Crucible is still read but the diversity in authors  is greater now.  

Melissa "Trudy" Faria (Medeiros)

Please check my FB page as there is an event this weekend, a Readathon of Frederick Douglas. Impressive, since New Bedford also hosts the reading of Moby Dick annually and this is a great success. . Also, information is being sent to Trump who is ignorant re: Frederick Douglas. Many  residents are very aware of the underground railroad and it's historical significance. Maria, you would enjoy this if you were in the area.  Peace...

James Casey

The Class Luncheon scheduled for today at the Greasy Luck, Downtown, has been canceled ~ parking ban in effect already. Thank you...please share with any and all concerned on Facebook and other Social Media. Thank you!!   Jim Casey

Antone Ponte

We have a lot of history to be proud of from New Bedford, here is an example.  One of my co-workers was puzzled because her child had to do a story about a famous person of Africian-American decent for Black History Month.  Now, she knew of many notable black people but those were the ones that were always chosen to be written about year after year, and she wanted her child to do someone who was not usually written about.  I sugested that she look up Sgt. William Carney from New Bedford who was the first Africian-American Medal of Honor winner.  I went on to tell her how he served in the Massachusetts 54th Infantry during the Civil War which was an all black battalion and fought at the battle of Fort Wagner.  It later became the movie "Glory".

I also told her that in New Bedford we had Carney Academy, Carney St. and a monument with a plaque in his honor, which I thought was around the Kempton St area.  When we were done talking about New Bedford, Sgt Carney, the Whaling Museum and other historical things, she siad that if it was not so far away it sounded like a great place to visit.