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hilltopper Tourtellotte Memorial High School Alumni Association Newsletter

Volume 5, Issue 4 June /July 2012

Banquet and Hall of Fame Set for

June 16, 2012

The Tourtellotte Memorial High School Ban-quet is set for June 16th at the Thompson Speedway. The day will begin with the 2012 Hall of Fame induc-tions to be held at TMHS Auditorium at 2:00 p.m. TMHSAA will be accepting requests for tickets until June 7th. If you need a ticket, contact us at TMH-SAA@Charter.net

Memorial Room Inventory to be

Appraised by Skinners

Skinners Auctioneers and Appraisers of Marlboro, MA, will conduct a formal appraisal of the Memorial Room art work, statues and artifacts. “This will be the first time in 20 years that we will have experts looking at the Memorial Room contents,” states Joe Lindley, Memorial Room Cura-tor. Over the past year, TMHSAA associate member, Lis Burton has spent countless hours researching the artwork, making a detailed appraisal possible. Burton was also in-strumental in installing the archival program, Past Perfect. This program allows the TMHSAA to upload the Memorial Room contents to a server, allowing researchers and members to view the inventory on-line. “We are excited about the Skinners appraisal. It’ll help us to finally under-stand the value of the collection and what we have in the museum. Over the past four years we have had a dozen experts come to advise us on the collection and most agreed that having it appraised would be a great first step,” states Lindley. Proceeds from the Tourtellotte Trust will be used for the appraisal. A complete inventory of the contents was devel-oped in 2009 and then refined, mostly by Lis Burton, over the past three years. The Appraisal is scheduled for this summer. Anyone wishing to see the Memorial Room may contact us at TMHSAA@Charter.net to set up a time and date.

IN THIS ISSUE

Page 1- Summer Schedule Set

Page 2 - Earl Tourtellotte ‘74

Page 2 - Integrity Plus hits 10 Years

Page 3 - Henry Beaulac

Page 4 - Pictures from the Past

Page 5 - Bill Mayo

Page 6 - Hall of Fame Pictures

TMHSAA Summer Schedule Set

The TMHSAA will be taking a break during the summer months… well sort of. While we will not be con-ducting monthly meetings in July and August, the TMHSAA will be hard at work with several projects. They include, the Skinner’s appraisal (see above), continued work on the Past Perfect program, updating the TMHSAA archives, cycling out paintings for restoration and cleaning the art work in the Tourtellotte Memorial Room. Anyone interested in these or other projects, please contact us at TMH-SAA@Charter.net.

Memorial Room Inventory Available

On-Line

Above: The Memorial Room Collection screen found at the Thompson Historical Society web site. The Past Perfect project is being conducted in conjunction with the Thompson Historical Society. The project will be ongoing as we refine the inventory and increase our understanding of the collection. Found at: http://www.thompsonhistorical.org/Collections.htm

Left: The 1927 TMHS graduates including 2012 Hall of Fame inductee Dan Chubbuck (middle row second from left), and town historian Alice Ramsdell (we think Alice is far right, front row).

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continued on page 2

TMHS’ Ashley Gendreau, shown above in the back row, third from the left, was recently named Eastern Connecticut Conference Softball All-Star. Ashley, one of the school’s most avid softball players, had a .377 batting average, .465 on-base percentage, .705 slugging per-centage and a .932 fielding percentage. Ashley pitched 69 innings this year and had 92 K’s. Besides pitching, she also plays first base, short stop and third base. She also plays basketball and soccer for the Tigers. She will continue to play softball for the Cen-tral Mass Invaders 16U softball team coached by William Rahall. Ashley’s classmates Ed Kopacz and Devin Mar-quis also made news this year on the baseball diamond; Kopacz hitting a homerun and Marquis hitting a triple at Dodd Stadium. Kopacz is an All-State basketball player. He scored more than 1,400 points during his time as a Tiger.

Ashley Gendreau 2012 Named ECC

All-Star

TMHS Integrity Plus Hits 10 Year Mark

TMHS awarded several very special students dur-ing the tenth annual Integrity Plus ceremony. Started by Vice Principal Dan Pisaturo, the Integrity Plus Award is awarded to students selected by high school teachers as showing exceptional integrity during their time at TMHS. This year ten students received the award. They include: Ty Anderson nominated by Cindy Ouilette, Nicole Dion nominated by Wendy Fusco, Kathleen Errichetti nominat-ed by Marsha Sokoloski, Natalia Gil nominated by Donna Shaw, Julie Kopacz nominated by Deb Spinelli, Cory Newcomb nominated by Amber Daigle, Colyn Petre nomi-nated by Trish Tupaj, Miranda Skaradowski nominated by Kate Anderson, Ryan Strange nominated by Dan Ten-eyck, and Briana Wrubleski nominated by Guy Daigle. A plaque with the names of the receipients will be placed in the foyer of the Tourtellotte Memorial High School. Congratulations to all the new Integrity Plus Award winners!

Above: The 2012 Eastern Connecticut Conference Softball All-stars. Tourtellotte’s Ashley Gendreau is third from the left in the back row. Ashley was selected mainly because of her perfor-mance on the mound.

Tourtellotte Visits Memorial Room

Over the past several years we have had a number of Tourtellotte family members visit Tourtellotte Memorial High School and the Tourtellotte Memorial Room. Francine Tourtellotte Blair, daughter of Earl Tourtellotte, class of 1974, was our most recent guest. Francine and her husband were given a tour of the 1909 Tourtellotte building and Memorial Room and were able to visit Earl’s old classrooms. Francine also heard a number of stories about her dad’s high school days from classmate Joe Lindley ‘74. “Earl was a great guy. I was saddened to hear that Earl passed away, but was very happy to meet his daughter and tell her a little about her family,” states Lindley. Francine’s family are distant cousins to Dr. Jacob Francis Tourtellotte. Over the years there were a number of Tourtellotte’s who attend-ed TMHS; all were relat-ed to Dr. Tourtellotte. Anyone wishing to visit the Memorial Room can do so by con-tacting us at TMH-SAA@charter.net.

RAF Pilot’s Name Added to Wall of

Honor

Over the past year we have run a number of stories about the exploits of Andy Mamedoff, who at-tended TMHS in the late 1930’s. Recently, Alex Ker-shaw, author of The Few, gave the students of TMHS a presentation on Mamedoff’s life as a fighter pilot in the Royal Air Force. Andy was the first American Flight Leader in the RAF and was one of “the few” Americans who fought in the Battle of Britain. One of our mem-bers asked us if Andy’s name was ever added to the WWII Wall of Honor located in the foyer of the 1909 TMHS building, and we were happy to report that in fact, it was. There are 178 names on the Wall of Honor listing all the TMHS men and women who joined the service during WWII. If you have a story about one of these Tigers, send it to TMHSAA@charter.net

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Henry Beaulac to Receive Honorary Diploma

Henry Beaulac, originally from the class of 1944, will receive his long-overdue TMHS diploma during the 2012 commencement exercises to be held on June 14th at 6:00 p.m. Beaulac joined the service in 1944 and servied during WWII in the U.S. Army Air Corp. After the war he became a radar controller at Otis Air Force Base, located on Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Henry is credited with sav-ing the lives of two Massachusetts men who crashed their plane into the Atlantic off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, by quickly directing rescue personnel to their downed aircraft. The U.S. Coast Guard immediately sent helicopters and were able to save the two men who would not have sur-vived long in the cold Atlantic waters. Henry was awarded a civilian award for his quick thinking and efforts. The honorary degree program is one of the several important projects started by the TMH-SAA. The mission of the project is to award all TMHS WWII veterans who left school or were drafted to fight in WWII. One hundred and seventy eight TMHS students, men and women, enlisted during the war. Many made the ultimate sacrifice. Their names are listed in the front foyer of the 1909 TMHS building. Once all the WWII veterans have their diplomas, the TMHSAA plans on continuing the pro-gram with the Korean War veterans. If anyone has friends or relatives that were unable to graduate due to enlisting or being drafted, please contact us at TMHSAA@Charter.net.

Above-left: The newspaper article describing the 1981 Martha’s Vineyard plane crash. Henry Beaulac, while a radar controller at Otis Air Force Base, Cape Cod, Massachu-setts, quickly guided civilian and Coast Guard aircraft to the area resulting in the rescue of the pilot and his passenger. Above-right: Beaulac in his USAA uniform circa 1944. Beaulac, like many TMHS students, left school early to join the armed forces during WWII. Left: Beaulac receiving an award for his role in the Martha’s Vineyard rescue. Photos compliments of Jayne (Beaulac) Sulli-van - Henry’s daughter.

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Above-left: The 1931-1932 girls’ basketball team. Compliments of Sally White. Does anyone know the name of the players and coach? Above-right: The1944 boys’ basketball team. Henry Beaulac is standing in the first row right. Compliments of Jayne Beaulac Sullivan.

Photos From The Past

Above: The 1951 TMHS cheerleading squad. Back row: Patricia Lachapelle ‘53, Millicent Bates ‘51, Norma O’Leary ‘51, Barbara Godzik ‘52. Front row: Gladys Krigsman ‘52, Mary Tequis ‘52, Millie Hrabos ‘51. Gladys Tucker’s mom made the uniforms. Above-right: A picture of the Tourtellotte mansion in Minneapolis, MN. We found this picture in the book Once There Were Castles: Lost Mansions and Estates of the Twin Cities by Larry Millett, and were drawn to the book because it noted that one of the Tourtellotte girls died by ingesting a hot dog. We thought we finally had confirmation to this long-standing story only to find that the author of the book used a story we ran in the Hilltopper in 2009 as his source… so the search continues.

Left: Gladys Krigsman Tuck-er ‘52, recently completed a major project reorganizing Mrs. Tourtellotte’s postcard collection. All the cards are now in acid-free sleeves that will protect them for another 100 years. The project was necessary because the orig-inal book’s pages were rap-idly disintegrating, jeopardiz-ing the cards. The books are stored in the TMHSAA ar-chive’s room. Great job Gladys!

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Bill Mayo - WWII Tank Commander

D-Day + 1 Omaha Beach

Submitted by Lou and Mary Alongi SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA—William E. Mayo, 94 died Wednesday April 4, 2012 at home following a brief illness. Bill and his wife Sophie celebrated their 70

th wedding anni-

versary in January 2012 near Yosemite NP with family. Bill celebrated his 94

th birthday at home with family on February

26, 2012. Born February 26, 1918 in Worcester, MA, Bill was the 3

rd of 10 children of the late Adelard and Marguerite

(Senior) Mayo. His family moved to Grosvenordale when Bill was 6 months old. His father became a master mechanic in the textile mill. Bill was a 6’ athlete who played football and continued to play golf until he was 92. He was a member of the class of 1936, Tourtellotte Memorial High School, North Grosvenordale, CT. He dropped out of school in his sopho-more year during the depression years to go to work to help his large family of 8 boys and 2 girls. With the assistance of Joe Lindley, President of TMHS Alumni Association, he was awarded his TMHS diploma dated 1936 at age 92 in gradua-tion ceremonies. His sister Mary (Mayo) Alongi accepted the diploma for him. In September 1940, Congress passed the Burke-Wadsworth Act to initiate a military draft, the first peacetime draft in American history. Bill was the first man drafted in the Town of Thompson. He was ordered to report for induction in early 1941. He was sent to train in Georgia. Sophie went to Ft. Benning to marry Bill. On January 26, 1942, Bill mar-ried his Webster, MA girlfriend, Sophie Joanne Dziurgot in a simple Catholic Service at the base chapel, Ft. Benning, GA. When he shipped out, Sophie returned home. Bill was assigned to the US 2

nd Armored Division.

His tank group shipped to Africa, then England and on June 7, 1944, the Normandy invasion. Finally, his tank corps bat-tled in France, Belgium and Germany. When the war in Eu-rope was over, Bill was a Tech Sergeant, looking forward to going home. Bill worked for Pratt & Whitney Aircraft and studied metallurgy at Trinity College in Hartford. Bill and Sophie possessed an adventurous and entrepreneurial spirit. Bill made his way to CA after the war and started a business. Their son David was born in Hartford, CT on October 21, 1949. Bill drove from Long Beach, CA to Manchester, CT to pick up his wife and newborn son and they returned together to CA. His second son Bruce was born in CA in 1952. Harold went in the US Navy, Ken joined the Army Air Force, and Bernie went in the US Navy. Four Mayo brothers served in WWII at the same time. During the Kore-an Conflict, John was in the US Army and Mary joined the USAF. Six Mayo children served their country. The desire to be a business owner was strong; Bill started Hondo Spe-cialties in CA with a partner. The business became quite successful. He also was the longtime entertainment chair-man for the Tool and Die Association. He delighted in ar-ranging all the golf outings and tournaments for the group. Bill became a very good golfer with an 8 handicap. Bill con-tinued playing golf until he was 92. Bill and Sophie travelled extensively with family and friends.

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

Initial membership due at time of application, yearly renewals due January 1st of each year

Regular Membership………. $15.00 Senior Citizens (65 and older)………. $5.00

Graduating Class………. Free

He is survived by Sophie, his wife of 70 years, his two sons David Mayo, Dana Pointe, CA and Bruce Mayo, Mission Viejo, CA; 9 grandchildren, 4 great grandchil-dren, his brother Ken Mayo in Sarasota, FL, Bernie Mayo in Putnam, CT, his sisters Claire (Mayo) Cicillini in Dayville, CT and Mary (Mayo) Alongi in Southbury, CT. Private memorial services were held Saturday September 21, 2012 for Bill Mayo in the Mission Viejo Country Club, CA.

Right: Bill Mayo TMHS Class of 1936. Bill was awarded an hon-orary degree at the age of 92. Bill, a WWII combat veteran, was a successful busi-ness owner and was an avid golf-er. Below: Bill Mayo (left) with brother Ken (right) during WWII. Bill served in the U.S. Army and brother Ken in the U.S. Army Air Corp. Ken was missing in action.

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Pictures for the 2012 HOF induc-tion ceremony. To be held on June 16th at 2:00 p.m. at the TMHS Auditorium in North Grosvenordale, CT. The event is open to the public and is free of charge. Top row (L-R): Miss Gahagen, ‘87 boys basketball, Dan Chubbuck ‘27. Second row ‘65 cross-country, ‘74 boys’ soc-cer. Third row down: Marie Spi-nelli, Dan Chubbuck, Glen Sene-cal ‘75. Bottom row Alan Chandler ‘65, 1927 undefeated boys bas-ketball season.

2012 Hall of Famers

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2012 Hall of Famers (Continued)

Clockwise: Walter Modliszewski with Ted Fatsi circa 1943, Coach Tom Auclair circa 1975, Marie Spi-nelli (UCONN Soccer), 1987 boys’ basketball, Miss Gahagan’s field hockey team circa 1938, 1987 boys’ bas-ketball, Ray Bates with his new wife in Paris France circa 1945, 1987 boys’ basketball (middle).

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Tourtellotte Memorial High School Alumni Office

PO Box 437

North Grosvenordale, CT 06255

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

PLEASE SEND US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO:

TMHSAA@charter.net