Eighth-grade graduates of Hillcrest Elementary School in West Milford in 1955. (Photo courtesy of Ann Genader)
Middle school, high school and college graduation ceremonies for 2024 are now in the history books.
Most students who completed eighth grade at Macopin Middle School will be moving on to West Milford High School and working toward another milestone graduation ceremony in four years. Many also will go on to college or a trade school. Others will join the work force or the military.
Things were different in the mid-1940s and early 1950s, when eighth-grade graduation at Hillcrest School was the end of formal education for many people.
Some of those graduates about 70 years ago are senior citizens in their 80s today.
Before West Milford had a high school, those who continued their education after eighth grade traveled in buses to Butler High School.
Members of the Hillcrest School graduating class of 1955 were Regina Afferbach, John Aiello, Deanna Babcock, Brenda Babula, Michael Banta, Fay Ann Bazick, Wlliam Bazick, John Belline, Floyd Caywood, Norman Chaplin, Ellen Copley, Edward Corter, James Finn Jr., Andrew Fletcher, Donna Lee Fullard, Peter Hamburger, Ronald Hamilton, Steven Hand, John Henches, Janet Hennion, Frank Higgenbotham, Thomas Hughes, Carol Hummers, Carolyn Kucha, Gordon Larson, Philip Lidsa, Dorothy Loomis, Gladys Joyce Markwis, Thomas McArthur, Kathryn McGuinnes, John Michalka, Lee Michelfelder, Francia Nettles, Louise Kaen Olin, Evelyn Parker, Carl Pasko, Carolyn Pasquale, George Paterson, Edward Poole, Walter Procopio, Judith Pulis, Amme Ragg, Harold Rhinesmith Jr., George Richardson, David Rohlander, LeRoy Ryerson, Lorena Salem, David Saner, Elizabeth Schuermann, Barbara Scribner, Linda Spritzer, Diane Struble, Judith Taffe, Ralph Taggert, Joan Taylor, Julia Townsend, William Van Orden, William Vogel, Clarence Vreeland, Evelyn Weaver, Marilyn Whritenour, Mary Whritenour, Ruth Ann Wiley, William Wood, Richard Wright, Arlene Wroldsen, John Young and Sherman Zwiebel.
When Hillcrest School opened in the 1940s, the rest of the township’s one- and two-room rural schools closed. Some of the members of the 1955 class attended those schools before Hillcrest was built.
Graduation ceremonies at Hillcrest usually included prayers at the beginning and end, conducted by a local priest and minister. A couple of graduates would give speeches, and diplomas were presented by a Board of Education representative.
H. Joseph Ragg was West Milford’s first superintendent of schools, and from the time he was hired, he participated in the ceremony.
Longtime teachers who had worked in the rural schoolhouses were teaching together in the early days at Hillcrest. They included Belle Bishop Tintle, Florence Williams Bossard and Verina Mathews Genader. They were friends from the Butler High School Class of 1921.
Helen “Nellie” Weaver, Verina’s younger cousin, also taught at Hillcrest and graduated from Butler High School in a later class.
There are many “growing up” memories for the Hillcrest graduates of 1955. It was a time when many job opportunities were available in the North Jersey area. Ford Motor Co. opened a vehicle-assembly plant in Mahwah, at the time the largest in the nation.
People were buying homes in the suburbs and developers seeking approvals were keeping township boards and the Township Council busy.
Persons were buying new cars, televisions and refrigerators. The average annual household income was $4,130. A new home could be purchased for $10,950, a new car for $1,900, and gas was 23 cents a gallon.
Fast food and television were all the rage. People were playing the card game Canasta.
The music that kept people singing along included “Rock Around the Clock” with Bill Haley and his Comets. Tennessee Ernie Ford was singing “Sixteen Tons,” the Platters did “Only You” and the Four Aces featured “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing.”
People were reading the book “Lolita” and the polio vaccine was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
President Eisenhower signed legislation requiring that “In God We Trust” appear on all U.S. currency.
The Cleveland Browns were NFL Champions.
The Vietnam War started and would continue to 1975.
The microwave oven was developed by Tappan with a retail price of $1,295 (that equals $11,579 today) with only 34 units made the first year.
The Harley-Davidson look was established once and for all. There was the 1955 Chevy - now an iconic collector car.
The Best Picture of the Year was “On the Waterfront” and America’s sweethearts Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds were married.
Back-to-back rain events resulting from remnants of Hurricane Connie, followed by Hurricane Diane caused major flooding statewide.
It was a great summer, especially for those who liked to go down the Jersey Shore!
The Garden State Parkway, opened for traffic July 1, 1955, along the entire 165-mile length from Cape May to Paramus when Gov. Robert B. Meyner became the first person to cross the Paramus Toll Plaza.