Bisonalities, Again![]() ![]() A quarterly Newsletter dedicated to the Alumni of Waterford and Fort LeBoeuf High Schools
July 2008---------------------------------------- Summer Issue ---------------------- Volume 9 - Number 4
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Cat's Corner - by the Editor
Waterford Memories - by Harry Thomas, Class of 1959 Test Your Memory - Received from Elizabeth Potter, Class of 1955 Welcome to the Bisonalities, Again, a newsletter dedicated to the alumni (students, teachers, and administrators) of Waterford and Fort LeBoeuf High Schools. This newsletter will be issued quarterly. New issues will be posted for viewing on the Web site on, or about January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1. The Bisonalities, Again Web site may be viewed by going to: The success of this newsletter will depend on you. I need contributors. Do you have an interesting article, a nostalgia item, a real life story, or a picture you would like to share with other alumni? Do you have a snail-mail or an e-mail address of one of your former classmates? If you do, please send it to me at the following e-mail address: Please, NO handwritten submissions. The Bisonalities, Again Newsletter is available to any and all alumni, teachers, and administrators of Waterford or Fort LeBoeuf High Schools on the Web site, free. If you know an alumnus, teacher, or administrator who would be interested, tell them about the Web site. None of the material in this newsletter has a copyright unless otherwise noted. If you wish to make copies of this newsletter and distribute it to other Alumni or friends, please feel free to do so. If you are reading this newsletter on-line and would like a printable version of it, a PDF version is available on the web site. That is, a file that can be read and displayed by the FREE Adobe File Reader. This will allow you to print the newsletter exactly as if you had received it by snail-mail. If you would like a PDF copy of the newsletter, it is located on the Main Menu under as "Past Issues Bisonalities Again." ![]() Cat's Corner Spring started off early here. By the time April 1st arrived I had already mowed, edged, and trimmed my yard, twice. Like the first three months of the year, we averaged a couple degrees above our normal average temperatures but unlike the first three months we received a lot of rain. We were better than 4 inches short of our normal yearly rain fall by the first of April. By the end of April, we were 1.5 inches above our normal yearly rainfall. Then along came May. During a seven day period, from the 6th through the 12th we received over 8 inches of rain. Six inches of the rain fell in a two day period. We had some minor flooding in the area. Many roads were closed, but luckily no major rivers flooded and caused wide spread damage to homes and property like the Midwest has experienced. June came along and it was more of the same. By the time June ended our rainfall for the year was 1.3 inches more than our average for a full year. The one-liners and “Test Your Memory” were both received from Elizabeth Faulhaber Demmery-Potter, class of 1955. I am running out of stories. I need stories to keep this publication going. PLEASE, send me stories of your adventures in life. There has to be a million stories out there, please, share them with the rest of us. The Bisonalities Again web site (www.bisonalitiesagain.com) contains information on most classes from 1947 through 1980. Recently I expanded the alumni pages to include the years 1981 through the present graduating class, but I have been unable to contact anyone from these years to furnish information so I may complete their web pages. If you know anyone from the years 1981 through the present, please have them contact me with the information I need to add their class to the web site. Thanks! The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river; one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon River is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States. ![]() Waterford Memories By Harry Thomas, Class of 1959 I moved to Waterford in 1957, just before the start of my junior year in high school. I grew up in eastern Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania Dutch Country) but moved after the death of my mother, to live with my older sister, Helen Shiffer. She took me in. My brother-in-law pushed me to go out for football because I was fairly big. I had little experience in football as my old school had just started a football team in my ninth grade year and had only assembled a scrimmage squad to learn the basics before joining the county league. My move to Waterford and the decision to try out for football proved to be a life changing experience. I made friends which have, literally, lasted a lifetime. Guys have stayed in touch with each other for now over 50 years. I still get together as often as possible with Buck Davis, Dave Pifer, and Walley Mahle, to mention a few. While we have physically changed a bit, our friendship remains as close as ever and, probably, deeper than ever. I still see Coaches, Bonito, Shesman, DeLuca, Wolf, Orris and others when I attend area functions or go back "home" to Waterford for Heritage Days or other gatherings. It is a testament to the quality of caring and integrity found in our Fort LeBoeuf coaches and other teaches we knew that THEY also regularly get together as friends today as they have over the years. To me, this is clear evidence of the true community spirit we experienced as we grew up in Waterford. I remember: There are, of course, so many more memories. Hopefully, some of your readers will take the time to send in some more. I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to spend my last two years in high school at LeBoeuf and to enjoy the friendships that began there. If it had not been for Coaches Bonito and Shesman pushing me to go to college I know that I would have probably joined the service. I went on to Edinboro and taught for four years. Then I went on to law school and practiced in Erie for 37 years. I am now working about half time. I try to stay involved in community service but also try to get back "home" now and then. Waterford has certainly changed over the years, but so much has stayed the same - that is the beauty of the place. Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches. Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert. ![]() Test your memory Received from Elizabeth Faulhaber Demmery-Potter, Class of 1955 Here is a little quiz to see how much you remember about some less-than-important things from a few decades back. Even the wrong answers may bring back a memory or two. Have Fun (but no peeking!). 1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways? Okay, that's it. Here are the answers.
1. D - Wonder Bread See you all next issue! |