Faculty Swing Band

HHS Faculty Swing Band

Preston Barry

John O'Hara

Irm Pierce

Theodore Ricci

Richmond

Charles Vickery

by Ginny O'Hara Wheeler

Being a teachers kid is much like being a preachers kid, everyone knows you and expects more from you. It had its pros and cons, but one of the pros was that I got to know many of the teachers personally.

Like the fact that Mr. Pierce was the nicest guy. He liked candy and shared it often with me. And the fact that Mr. Vickery was an experienced carpenter. He and my Dad (Mr. O'Hara) worked together building houses on summer break.

Some of the faculty got together to form a swing band. They never performed publicly, but would practice in each others homes. Mr. Vickery played the sax, Mr. Richmond played trumpet, Mr. Ricci was on violin, Mr. Barry on bass, and my dad played drums. Believe it or not, they were quite good. Some of the wives also joined in and sang or played an instrument. Some of the songs they played were "Let Me Call You Sweetheart", "Always", some Dixieland songs, and of course a few patriot songs.

 In the classroom I liked Mr. Vickery. Math and science were not my favorite subjects, but he made them interesting and understandable. He engaged his students in projects and had us work together to come to the correct conclusion. He worked with us to look for different outcomes for the same experiment.

 He encouraged us to be the best we could be. Of all my high school teachers, he stands out the most in my memory.

 The photo below is of a show when the teachers surprised us all! They dressed up and sang "The Lonely Little Petunia In An Onion Patch". It was completely hilarious! I was so embarrassed that my father was on stage in his UNDERWEAR! This was a great group of teachers and a wonderful influence on the students.