The NPHS Reunion Essay by Gary Garwacke, Class of 1969

Gary and his wife Cindy in 2016.  

I received a request from Howard Polskin to answer some questions he prepared to find out about what his classmates had experienced at NPHS and how it affected their lives some 50 years into the future.  I’ll have to admit I thought it easy at first but as I tried to write my answers I kept coming up blank.  Howard had contacted me back in early December and here it was August and I had nothing.  One thing that kept coming back to me was  remembering occurrences and events from all of the school years from K - 12.  Now I don’t profess to be the best person to remember past events correctly, I thought it interesting to put to paper some of the events I fondly remember and maybe others can correct my recollections where I erred or add their own, so here it goes. (Please excuse the grammar and spelling but typing on an iPad is always an experience.)

I remember going to school all the way from Kindergarten to 12th grade with Kathy Miller.  Geez…that was a long time ago but Kathy was always there. In fact I think she beat up Carl Houston because he was bothering me back in kindergarten.

Speaking of long-time relationships it seems that Bev Gaston and I were in home room next to each other from 7th grade through 12th and we will be sitting together at the reunion.

My best friends were Albert Misko, Mark McLoud and Jack Muldowney.  We did a lot of crazy things back then.  I am saddened that I lost touch with them because we had such memorable times together.  I regret not being in touch with Albert before his death.

I remember the Little League baseball games when we were growing up,  if you went to Somerset school you were on the Giants, Stony Brook was the Giants and Pirates, West End was the Reds and Cardinals, East End was the Phillies and Braves, and the hated Cubs 1, 2 and 3 were from St. Joseph’s.  I hated the Cubs teams because they had the three most feared pitchers, George Hummel, Al Misko (he would spit in the coolest way) and the most feared of all Rich Andronici  who was as big back in 6th grade as he was when he was a senior in high school.

I went to Stony Brook school and I used to test my memory over the  years by naming each teacher by grade.  Here it goes: K, Mrs Klein; first grade, Mrs Lewis; second grade, Mrs Backer; third grade, Mrs Stout; fourth grade, Mr Hudson (the guy was from England); fifth grade, Mrs  Martino (my all-time favorite teacher); sixth grade, Mrs Shepard.  Am I right? If I am, then that’s pretty sick that I can remember this stuff.

The first dance I went to outside of North Plainfield was at Cook School in Plainfield. Now that was something back then. Back in North Plainfield we went to dances at Somerset School, Holy Trinity Church, The VFW and of course the high school gym. (I forgot to include the South Plainfield PAL, which always led to some kind of altercation).

I always looked forward to a dance because they were so much fun. Some of the bands that played were The Man from Plainfield, the Doughboys, and of course our classmates who were in the Midnight Hour.  Speaking of the Doughboys, they occasionally still play at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park. Does anyone remember their one hit song as well as the band member’s names? It’s cheating if you Google them.  First boy and girl party I think was at Bev Gaston’s house.

I have to admit as much as I liked dances, I had a real bad experience at a Holy Trinity Church dance in my senior year. It seems some guy from Plainfield didn’t like Jack and

Junior prom, 1968.  Gary and Jack
Muldowney with their dates from
South Plainfield.

was out to get him one night. Jack and I were standing near each other.  We were both tall and wearing our varsity jackets. Well the guy hit me from behind in the nose thinking Iwas Jack, I crumpled to the floor and can only remember someone dragging me to the kitchen to stop the bleeding. I still have some chipped teeth and a small scar on my nose.

Does anyone remember drinking in the woods off Rock Avenue. We had a name for it which I can’t remember (Editor’s note: It was the Elephant Burial Grounds.).  How about going to Staten Island, to go to the Hofbrau, Tarrys and the Hitching Post.

Who remembers Howard Polskin’s Bar Mitzvah ceremony and party?  That’s the first time I ever had prime rib.

Gary Garwacke recalled Howard Polskin's April 11, 1964, Bar Mitzvah.  

Identifiable male classmates from left to right in the foreground: 

John Cregar, Jeff Tobey, Mickey Migdal, Richard Muglia (light jacket, 

back to camera) and Gary (dark jacket, back to camera).

I spent a lot of class time with the Polskin twins, Howard and Emily. We went on a class trip to their family business, which I think was a pocket book factory, I hope I got this right. (Editor’s note:  Close but not accurate Gary, proving that you spent way too much time drinking in the Elephant Burial Grounds.  It was a women’s clothing factory.)

Emily was one of the cool girls in high school.  The other cool girls (Nancy Eddy, Marilyn Gross, Colleen Bersch, Kris Delunas and others) scared me.  I don’t know why because they were always nice to me but for some reason I felt not worthy to be in their presence, but that was my problem.

Anyone remember the big fight between Jack and some guy from South Plainfield on the street by the football locker room. I think Jack broke the guy’s jaw.  The cops broke it up before it turned into a melee because there was about 50 people there. I was scared to death.  But I remember Jack’s brother Paul standing right by him. I always admired him for that.

For some reason we had this affinity for South Plainfield girls, Jack and I had dates from South Plainfield for the Junior Prom, I wish I could remember their names. I have included some photos of that prom.

I remember walking home past the hoods -- who were those guys?—  on the bridge and then past the crowd at Chubby’s.  That was like running the gauntlet.

Who remembers being forced to take dancing lessons in 7th grade in our gym? No one ever danced like that in the 60’s.

I remember debating in Mrs. Riordan’s 8th grade Social Studies class that we had to stay in Viet Nam to halt to the spread of Communism. That was in 1965.  Boy, was I wrong.  Later in college it seemed like every day there was some kind of war protest going on.  I was so very fortunate back then. I missed the draft by an eyelash. I pulled number 3 in the first draft lottery of my freshman year at college but had the last college deferment granted until I either flunked out or graduated. By the time I graduated in 1973 the war was officially over and the draft had ended.  

I believe the saddest time for me was when Robby Gardner passed away in that terrible car accident.

Most memorable time in school was being selected for the National Honor Society as well as being on the winning State Indoor Track High Hurdle Relay team. Of course, the other three guys had to run the best times of their lives to make up for me.  It didn’t hurt that the best hurdler in the state, Vince O’Neill, was on our team.

I graduated from Newark College of Engineering, (now New Jersey Institute  of Technology) with a degree in Civil Engineering and ultimately passed the licensing  exam as a Professional Engineer, PE.  My career was spent mostly in Municipal Engineering and Public Works with a brief stint in real estate development.  I finally settled in as the Town Business Administrator and Engineer for the town of Manville and retired from there in 2015.  I even spent about five years (1994-1999) as North Plainfield’s Municipal Engineer serving Mayors Mike Haggerty and Janice  Allen.

My wife Cindy and I have lived Branchburg, NJ, since 1985 (prior to that we lived in Raritan) and have a second home in Bradley Beach, NJ. I can’t seem to get enough of the Jersey Shore.  We are right next to Asbury Park which is experiencing an over-the-top redevelopment phase at the moment.   Our two sons live in Brooklyn and Philadelphia.  Why they find the city so desirable is more than I can understand but they are happy

I’ll close with some names of people, places and things in the past that have lasting memories for me (and maybe you too!). I also have some memory questions.   Here we go: Steer Inn…Hojos…Johnston Drive…St Joe’s, Great Eastern,…Teppers…Park Conspiracy…Harrison School…Ethel Abrams…Vitelli’s…Somerset Rec…what was that crazy stone house across from the Von Tish’s?…Hoffman’s Deli…Mr. Peanut…anybody know who the Mayor was back then (I believe his son graduated in ‘68)?…who was that guy that  played the Wizard of Oz in the school play?…what sport was the whole Muldowney family known for?…what about that crummy cinder track that I must have fallen down on running the hurdles a hundred times and I’m still finding cinders in my knees…the Hole where the track was…what was the name of the deli in front of Vitellis?… asking for a dollars worth of gas…Carroll’s soda fountain…Deebles  Fountain ( had my first cherry coke there)…Kepples Hardware…Thursday night shopping in Plainfield…the Strand and the Liberty movie theaters…Drier’s sporting goods...Grillos Italian Ice in Scotch Plains.

I have some great memories from my time in the North Plainfield school system.  I cannot believe it will be 50 years since we graduated.  I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at the reunion.

Summer of 1969: Gary at his family home on Summit Ave.