THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 24, 1994 TAG: 9409240226
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JON GLASS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Long : 122 lines
They came of age in a much less turbulent time:
Before rock 'n' roll thrust a hip-swiveling sneer on unsuspecting parents. Before the civil rights movement began tearing down barriers separating blacks and whites.
Before Vietnam and the '60s social revolution made enemies of authority and gave birth to the ``generation gap.'' And before illegal drugs and crime created a culture of fear and loathing.
But for members of Norview High's class of 1954, today will be set aside for reliving fond memories, shooting the breeze with friends they haven't seen in 40 years, and returning to the days when life was forever and all seemed right with the world.
They'll hang out at Doumar's drive-in downtown, where they used to cruise in their parents' cars and eat burgers and fries after football games or Saturday night dates at the long-defunct Loew's or Norva movie theaters.
And, probably for the last time, they'll wander the halls of their alma mater. Next summer, the aging schoolhouse, built in 1923, will be demolished to make way for a new middle school.
The class of '54 was the last to graduate from the old Norview High on Sewells Point Road before it became a junior high with the opening in 1955 of a new high school on Middleton Place. Many are saddened that it will be torn down, one more loss on a long list of vanishing remnants of a less complicated past.
Soon, the old school will be relegated to faded photographs and a warm place in their hearts in a time that barely resembles the future they envisioned when they turned the tassels on their graduation caps back in 1954.
``It means a lot to us,'' Dianne Patterson Swalina said. She and her husband, Richard ``Dickie'' Swalina, began dating as seniors and married a year later in 1955. They now live in Virginia Beach. ``Our whole existence together started there.''
``The memories you'll still have in your head, but the building represents what went on there,'' said Norfolk resident Raymond Bowden, president of the '54 senior class. ``It does give you a strange feeling. We had a great time at that school.''
The year they graduated, there were only hints of the great social changes that would occur in the years ahead.
The Supreme Court in May 1954 issued its landmark Brown vs. Board of Education decision that ended segregated schools, but it was several years before Norfolk schools were integrated.
``Our school was totally segregated; even the custodians were white,'' Richard Swalina said. ``It really wasn't an issue because nobody paid any attention to it.''
``Nobody talked about black and white issues,'' said class member Carol Kauffman Anthony, who now is assistant principal of First Colonial High in Virginia Beach. ``I don't think we even discussed it in government class.''
The biggest political issue, during President Eisenhower's first term, was the Cold War.
On pages devoted to the issues of the day, Norview's 1954 yearbook, The Pilot, contained a picture of a mushroom cloud, with the caption: ``Hydrogen bomb explosion shocks the world.'' Beside that was printed ``?? Communism ??'' and ``McCarthy,'' a reference to U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who created a nationwide scare with his witch hunt for communists.
``We didn't have many of the things children are confronted with today, all the involvement with drugs, crime and guns,'' Bowden said. ``Girls could walk home at night after cheerleading and not even worry about it.''
Elvis was still an unknown. Crooners Tony Bennett, Perry Como and Teresa Brewer topped the charts that year. Guy Lombardo's orchestra was the hippest band around. A movie based on World War II, ``From Here to Eternity,'' was named best movie that year.
Girls wore saddle oxfords, pleated skirts and sweaters, and boys sported crew cuts, white bucks, pegged pants and dress shirts. The biggest worry for some guys was whether they could get the family car and a few bucks from Dad on the weekend to take their girlfriend to a movie.
``We'd go to Doumar's on a date and order two limeades and an order of fries for a quarter,'' Richard Swalina said.
Going to a movie or a Friday night football game were about the most exciting things to do, although Norview's Pilots didn't have much to cheer about in '54. The football team went 0-10.
``I was a starter on a very bad team,'' said Tommy Nance, who made a career of the Army and now lives in Virginia Beach, where he sells real estate. Swalina remembers the time Nance intercepted a pass and ran 65 yards for a touchdown - one of only a handful that year.
In their social lives, guys got a reputation for being ``wild'' if they shot pool and drank beer. Respectable folks gasped if girls showed up at the pool hall. A girl who got pregnant - perish the thought - disappeared and nobody talked about it, except with a whisper.
``The majority of kids didn't drink beer. That was about the wildest thing you could do,'' said class member Caroline Myers Tyndall, who was voted ``most popular'' her senior year. She is now supervisor of microbiology at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters.
``We were terribly innocent.''
Not many career opportunities existed for women then. Tyndall still fumes that girls weren't allowed to take a mechanical drawing class at Norview. The annual picture of the drawing class, sure enough, contained just boys.
``It was not a `female' subject,'' Tyndall said.
Violent crime was rare and made big headlines when it did occur. At school, chewing gum and passing notes might earn you a visit to the principal's office. Youth showed respect to elders.
About 70 of the 224 class members are expected to attend the reunion. For the occasion, Tyndall plans to wear the ``N'' monogram she once proudly wore on her cheerleading sweater. Others will dig out dickeys, saddle shoes and other memorabilia. And for a short while, at least, they'll be 18 again and the world will seem like a better place. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos
Carol Kauffman Anthony is now assistant principal at First Colonial
High School in Virginia Beach.
After a career in the Army, Tommy Nance lives in Virginia Beach and
sells real estate.
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Among Norview High's class of 1954 are, from left, Tommy Nance,
Caroline Myers Tyndall, Richard Swalina and Dianne Patterson
Swalina, Carol Kauffman Anthony and Raymond Bowden.
KEYWORDS: HIGH SCHOOL REUNION NORVIEW HIGH SCHOOL DEMOLITION by CNB