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A golden reunion

By Audrey Levine Staff Writer
   MANVILLE — In 1958, graduation was held in the auditorium, and football games had to be played during the day because there were no lights on the field. Girls did not wear pants, and people in town still worked at the Johns-Manville plant, J-M Research or Calco in Bound Brook.
   But these aspects of life in town were normal for the Manville High School Class of 1958, which made history on its own when it became the first class to graduate from the borough’s new high school.
   Beginning Oct. 11, the Class of 1958 will celebrate its 50th anniversary, and the distinction of being the school’s first graduating class, with three days of ceremonies, meals and a football game.
   ”Being the first graduating class meant everything was new to us,” said Cecelia Negran, one of the organizers of the reunion and a member of the graduating class. “We were the first at doing everything.”
   To commemorate this milestone for the 95 members of the Class of 1958, the celebration will begin with a tour of the high school, football game and pizza dinner on Friday night. Ms. Negran said another dinner, complete with a DJ will be held on Oct.11, followed by a Mass at Sacred Heart Church and brunch on Sunday.
   ”It took us about a year to prepare for the events,” Ms. Negran said. “We have a committee of eight women, and we meet at my house once a month for about two hours to come up with ideas.”
   In addition to the events to celebrate the reunion, several members of the class of 1958 received a plaque from Mayor Lillian Zuza on Monday, commemorating the 50-year anniversary.
   With 17 of the former students still living in Manville, and some living nearby — including Ms. Negran who said she has lived in Hillsborough for 30 years — they have seen many changes over the years from their original school that hadn’t even been completed when they were juniors in 1957.
   Ms. Negran said they have seen the expansion of the programs, and the building itself, over the years to offer current students more opportunities. The school’s 11-page course selection sheet was only one page long in 1958.
   ”When it came time to decide on the courses to take, we were handed a one-page mimeographed sheet with the selections listed of English 1-4, social studies, three or four math courses, physical education, home economics, wood shop, metal shop, secretarial courses, language and a few electives,” she said. “Gone now are the home economics and shops, and in their place is the technology curriculum. They also have an expanded performing arts curriculum.”
   Aside from course changes, Ms. Negran said, there have been location changes, with the guidance department being moved from the main office into what was once a social studies classroom. In addition to these, she said, the business department has been revamped to include computers, and the library’s card catalog is now fully computerized.
   Still, despite attending a newly built school, Ms. Negran said the students were able to make their own fun in 1958 with a graduation party at what was once the Polish Home, near Roosevelt School, and a senior class trip to Vacation Valley in the Poconos, among other activities.
   ”Gym in the warm weather mean playing ball on an open grassy field with holes and stumps,” she said. “We had sock hops in the gym. Our prom was in the gym. I think the theme was ‘Moonlight and Roses,’ and I remember making hundreds of crepe paper red roses for the decorations. And we had a real band playing.”
   When the 95 Manville seniors came together at the new high school, Ms. Negran said, many of them were meeting for the first time because they had been split among different Somerset County schools through the previous three years.
   ”Since Manville didn’t have a high school in 1954, we were given the choice to attend either Bound Brook High School, Dunellen High School or St. Peter’s High School (in New Brunswick),” she said. “‘We’ means the eighth-grade graduates from the public school and Sacred Heart Elementary School. When we came to Manville High School, we had students from all these schools.”
   Despite not knowing each other, this small first class worked together and began the school’s yearbook, and newspaper.
   ”We worked on both without input from experienced staff who would have come before us,” Ms. Negran said.
   Armed with these memories, and pride at being celebrated as the first graduating class, Ms. Negran said that many of the students, their spouses and a few former teachers will come together to commemorate the reunion.
   ”Besides being in a new school, some of us met each other for the first time (our senior year),” she said. “We had fun times.”