Whitefish Bay High School 75th Anniversary

Back from an one of the extensive tours of the school given by National Honor Society student-guides, I have to admit that the place they call "the dungeon" in the basement really seems like one. It is long and narrow with tall sides and although there is plenty of light, it seems dark and dank. It is used by the wrestling team for practices.

But for 10 to 15 years, it was the only "gym" the school had, our guide, Stephanie Hobbins, a senior, told our group of seven. Then Memorial Gym was built.

As dank and closed in as the "dungeon" was, the former rifle range was bright and almost uplifting. The facility on the first floor had a fairly recent facelift, Stephanie told us. The metal sheeting protecting the far wall that was mangled and almost shot away was gone and the whole range was painted a bright grayish-white. One would never know it was once a rifle range, except for the bullet hole in the glass block of a window.

We were told the range was for the school's former rifle club that used .22 caliber rifles to target-shoot. But somebody had to be using higher-caliber ammunition to rip the metal shield away, Stephanie said.

Although Stephanie said use of the range was discontinued in the 1980s, two Whitefish Bay High School grads, a generation apart and both decades before the 1980s, said they never knew the range was even there.

Another tour highlight was going up into the bell tower. It was a long trek over steep steps in a dimly lit, though wide stairway. Finally, we were inside the tower, looking out tall windows onto the school's flat roof and the athletic fields and homes beyond. We were not at the very top, however. There was another section of tower above us with another bank of handsome, tall window openings. But the bell that rang in the bell tower that most of us had seen on display in the field house probably hung in this room, Stephanie told us.

The tower room was bright but of a grayish rough finish. The room was maybe 24 feet on each side. Signatures of students and former students surrounded us. Anyone who contributed to the school yearbook by writing something or taking a photograph is welcome to write their name on the tower room wall. And many of them have.

We gazed back through the years at signatures from the 1970s, then one from 1967, and finally one from way back in 1953. There may have been older ones, but we didn't find them.

Back on a lower floor science room, we passed by a real human skeleton, not a plastic fake as most schools have. The woman's skeleton was donated when the school opened and is used today as it was in those early classes, Stephanie told us. Take biology, for example, and you will learn from the skeleton.

As we passed it by, we were on our way to the rooftop greenhouse. Long and narrow, with only one aisle and counters on either side, the greenhouse is no longer used for classes. It is glass on three sides and on the entire roof.

It's getting late and I'm going to head out now. The barbecue dinner should be starting in an hour and you can sample the custard flavor the Kopps Custard designed just for the anniversary. Also, a live artist will be at work at the art show.

The evening will continue with musical entertainment and a video made just for the anniversary by student Mike Cheslik. I am told he is a remarkably talented film-maker. Topping off the celebration will be the 8 p.m. closing performance of the student production of "The Odd Couple."

The walls of Whitefish Bay High School have remained the same, with a few additions, but what has gone on inside those walls has changed a lot.

One of the displays in the field house remarks on changes even since a relatively recent year: "In the 1971-72 school year, we see a department called Home Economics." That no longer exists. The display also notes that gym classes were separated by gender then, rather than being coed as now.

Student Case Bretzman is the creator of a display that looked at the 1932-33 school year, the first year for Bay High, and noted there was no band or choir. But the school did offer Latin and Citizenship, neither of which are offered today.

But looking at the blowups of photographs, I saw that the school had a band by 1936. Twenty members sat in uniform holding their instruments. Also, the choir by 1940 was about 40 strong.

Student Mo Foy put together a display of school clubs back in 1938 which shows some unusual ones, including the Chef Club, with 34 members, all boys. Others are Societas Romana with 38 boys and girls, the Shop Club and the Home Economics Club.

The blowup photo of girls sporting flips and other 1960s hair styles, took Dana Root aback.

"I can identify with some of those styles," she said, remembering her own high school days. Her children graduated from Whitefish Bay High.

Holding a 1972 yearbook, her husband, Kris Hansen exclaimed, "That's our neighbor," as he gazed at the photo of a high school junior. "He's changed a lot," Hansen said, laughing, but declined to say just how.

Bill Miller who attended Whitefish Bay High School from 1943-47 was looking at the scrapbook of the school when he told me that when he went to school here it had only a long, narrow gym with no seating. Basketball games had to be played at what was then Henry Clay School, he said. It is now the Middle School.

The scrapbook done by United States history students is a good half-foot thick and stuffed with photos and information about each decade, from current events to fashion as well as with school news.

In it is a Milwaukee Journal story about the school costing $391,000. It also lists 1932 to 1943 prices as $595 for a Dodge and $2,150 for a Packard, sirloin steak being 29 cents a pound, a gas stove, $23.95, and a 60-day tour of 11 European countries as $495.

But those prices are against a backdrop of annual ernings in 1932-34 the students list as $1,040 for a secretary, $1,227 for a teacher, $2,520 for an engineer, $3,382 for a doctor, $4,218 for a lawyer, and $8,000 for an airline pilot. 

Among the many blowups of vintage photographs is one of a car suspended over the Whitefish Bay High School swimming pool.

The legend reads that 10 members of the Class of 1977 suspended the car as a prank on Sept. 30. The prank resulted in a $100 fine.

"I thought it was weird," said 10-year-old Meagan Kosteretz who is at the celebration with her mother, a Whitefish Bay High School graduate.

Suzanne Hotz who graduated from Bay in 1985 said her oldest brother talked about it at the time and thought it was very funny.

The big bell that once hung in the Whitefish Bay High School bell tower is ringing again. Visitors to the field house gym are ringing the throaty bell using the handle provided.

"It's still easy to ring even after 75 years," said Diana Del Rosso-Felland, who had just made the big bell sing. That was so much fun, she said, they should leave it there all the time. But then she thought better of it.

"Then the kids would be ringing it all day," she said, smiling. She has one child at the High School and three at the Middle School.

The bell gives accidental punctuation to the music that is playing in the gym. It is from all the decades the school has been around, from croners of the '30s to rock of the '70s and beyond.

And in the lobby, a string trio of students is now adding to the ambiance at the art show.

In the gym, most of the interest is buzzing around table after table of old Whitefish Bay High School sportswear. That is a little to the consternation of those staffing the Duke Pride Spirit Wear booth where not a customer was to be seen. However, Duke Pride, the High School athletic booster organization, is the one selling the old sportswear.

The reason the vintage sportswear is more popular is simple. The old sportswear that actually looks brand new is selling for bargain prices. Jerseys and shorts are $5 and warmup jackets, sweatpants and sweatshirts are $10. But there is also the nostalgia factor.

"We have people come in asking for a specific number for a specific sport," said volunteer Peggy Coffey, who is on the Run the Bay committee and has two daughters at Whitefish Bay High. They are looking for the number they wore. She and John Gustafson, school activities director, help them try to find what they want and Gustafson actually searched the piles downstairs waiting to come up for the sale for one customer. So far, they have come up with one of the articles requested, a soccer jersey, Coffey said.

The crowd has thinned out from what it was just after the run.

"Everyone after the race came in here, it was a big crowd," Coffey said. And at her table, customers were welcome to the leftover breadsticks supplied by Great Harvest Bread in Whitefish Bay for the occasion.

I caught up with Emma-Lisa Murphy, who was the women's winner in the Run/Wak the Bay this year. The Whitefish Bay Middle School eighth-grader with long blonde hair covered the distance in about 22 minutes, unofficially as an official tally is not available just now. Emma-Lisa came in second in last year's Run the Bay and took first for her age group the year before.

"It was fun," she said, with a big smile. "I'm pretty tired."

Already she is a star of the Middle School girls track team. And 22 minutes is not her best time for the 5K, she said. That would be around 21. She got to the race a bit late and just sprinted a little just before to prepare.

The overall winner was Goeff Horton who finished almost neck-in-neck with his Class of 2006 classmate Steve Markson. Both were Whitefish Bay High School cross country stars.  Both are going to college on athletic scholarships, Horton to the University of Minnesota and Markson to the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Horton's time was something over 16 minutes.

Young Madeline Crider, a Whitefish Bay Middle School eighth-grader, was among the sprinkling of people ljust now ooking at the Friends of the Visual Arts art show, when she came to an intricate drawing of a house and exclaimed, "Whoa, that's really good."

At first she thought it was a photograph.

"It kinda looks like my house," she said. The donated piece carries a value of $300. The show of all donated pieces lines the lobby of the field house.

Madeline had just finished the run and already is a pro, having run in the event since it started.

"My leg is hurting, I think I need new shoes," the youngster said.

The Friends of the Visual Arts might just investigate moving the sale permanently to coincide with Run/Walk the Bay, said Tracy Luber, art sale chairwoman. The Friends did very well last night, the first day of the sale, she said, and the runners are a big plus. But not the only special thing the sale has going for it.

"Mother's Day has been a big boost," she said. "People are buying a lot of gifts." 

One of the people browsing the art was Sandy Murphy who really liked what she saw.

"It's fantastic, I love the post cards, old pictures of Whitefish Bay," she said. The post cards were beautifully framed. They were amid many paintings and drawings, and even kicky Cosmopolitan cocktail glasses, a colorful mosaic mailbox, scarves, handcrafted jewelry and more.

Already most of the runners and many walkers have arrived at Whitefish Bay High School to rousing band music and outdoor tents offering coffee, water and lots of treats. Some called puppy chow is a confection of cereal, chocolate, peanut butter and sugar. Sales are going just fine, said Rhonda Downey, a volunteer at one of the tents. Her sales are raising money to support the High School art program. She has a son and a daughter at the school.

Holding a refreshing bottle of water, runner Lis Deblitz said, "I was determined to finish without walking." And she did. Her secret was pacing herself with a friend, she said. But that only lasted so long, because the friend who rushed off quickly, laughing when I asked her name, is training for a triathlelon, and finally loped ahead.

Deblitz also ran "with" her 13-year-old daughter Emily.

"She was way ahead," finishing 12 minutes faster, the pooped mom said. Both mother and daughter said they can feel the strain in their legs.

However, young Emily said, "Actually, I could run it again."

The runners had lots of encouragement. Bugler Colin Han, a freshman, played the "charge" at the start, and upperclassman James Brennan dressed as one of the school mascots was a joyful encourager on the route.

While the  5K run/walk was going on, the Child's Mile was in progress. Lots of kids about waist high or smaller were spread around the track. Each one crossed the finish line to cheers. Replicas of the Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages were at the Child's Mile, adding to the fun of the day.

The run/walk is a fundraiser for the Whitefish Bay Public Education Foundation.

After a brief ceremony at the starting line, Brewers infielder Craig Counsell raised the starting pistol and with a bang, the runners and walkers were off on their 5K route. Before his starting duties began, Counsell took a minute to speak with me. He was dressed casually in a green sweater and jeans. He had walked over from his Whitefish Bay home accompanied by his 5-year-old son, Brady. Counsell said he loved growing up in Whitefish Bay. The favorite memories of the major leaguer are riding his bike to ball games at Cahill Square and elsewhere.

"What was nice about Whitefish Bay is that in summer you were riding your bike everywhere, to a friend's house and to all the different baseball games," he said.

He graduated from Whitefish Bay High in 1988 and remembers his favorite subject was math. The logic of it appealed to him. He jokingly said he wasn't good at math, but he had to then admit, yes, he did earn an accounting degree at Notre Dame.

Counsell was a star growing up in the Whitefish Bay softball and baseball programs. He now has two World Series rings.

He regretted that he could not stay for the rest of the celebration. He has a game today at Miller Park.

Although most people are running the Run the Bay event, it also invites everyone to walk the Bay, and that is just what Teddy Werner is doing with his 2-year-old, curly-haired daughter Isabel. The little one is equipped with a comfy stroller and will have an easy "walk."

Dad said, "I'm just hoping to finish." The patience of a 2-year-old is not indefinite.

The sun is shining and runners in white Run the Bay T-shirts are milling about. Everyone is awaiting the 9 a.m. start and Milwaukee Brewers infielder Craig Counsel who will officially start them off. Counsel is a Whitefish Bay High School graduate. The run will start at Richards Elementary School and will wind its 5K way to the High School where the rest of the 75th anniversary celebration is set to take place.

One of those waiting for the starting gun is John Revitte, a 20-year resident of the Bay. His daughter, Natalie, is a volunteer at the run. She is a freshman at Whitefish Bay High.

"I'm running to benefit the cause, otherwise I would be at the gym running anyway, I might as well be here having fun," Revitte said.

The weather is supposed to be fine for Saturday's all day celebrataion of Whitefish Bay High School's 75th anniversary. A big crowd is expected and I'll be there, too, sending dispatches starting with the Run the Bay kickoff. The official starter will be Milwaukee Brewers infielder Craig Counsell. The day also will hold tours of out-of-the-way places at Whitefish Bay High, a fine arts sale, a display of every yearbook except one since the school doors opened and much more. It will be a great celebration and we will bring it to you.