I loved my high school. Good old New Trier in Winnetka, Illinois. I mean, I really loved it all.
From advisory (home room to you un New Trier people) to study hall, I relished every moment of it.
WNTH (our radio station), the swim team, (some of my beaux), the mobile classrooms, the crowds (the reason we needed mobile classrooms in the first place. My class alone was 1200 out of the 4700 students), everything about New Trier resonated loud and clear with me.
I bet I had three sick days total in four years. I just hated missing out on anything that was going on in school that day. It was where the action was. And to say that I was proud to be a Trevian was an understatement.
At the age of thirteen, New Trier gave me an identity beyond my immediate family. I was part of something larger now- an entity that didn’t believe in divisive, superficial things like prom queens, homecoming court or high school fraternities and sororities.
New Trier had great academic and sports tradition, and a belief in itself as a place where great teachers molded future generations of movers and shakers.
And a preppy dress code that suited me down to the ground.
Weejuns, wheat jeans, Gant shirts for boys, Villager, Lanz, nothing blouses, circle pins, John Romaine purses and Betty’s of Winnetka for girls.
I had a blast.
Good grades and good boyfriends. Homecoming motorcades (although my buddy, Steve Gersten, did get the entire caravan lost on its way to Hinsdale), proms, Choraliers (my voice wasn’t good enough for Musettes) Lagniappe, Inklings (our literary magazine. I don’t think my poetry was good enough for that, either) honor roll (with three A’s- and a D. When I went in to take the senior year honor roll picture for “Echoes,” our yearbook, I got a standing ovation. Very few people made honor roll with a D on their transcript.)
Every day there was terrific. And it’s easy to see why I get nostalgic at the sight of the old place.
So it was surefire that when I found a group on Facebook called “You lived on Chicago’s North Shore if you remember…” (courtesy of my sister-in-law Mary Lu, former pom pom girl and 2015 inductee in New Trier’s Hall of Honor) that I would jump in with both feet.
The group was started by John Yager and Terry Winkless. Both ahead of me at New Trier and both, I remember, very cute. They had moved away from Chicago- John lives in Cali and Terry in Canada now- and they had this brilliant inspiration to reach out to people all over the world who felt the same way about spending their childhood on the North Shore as they did.
They guessed right. The group has over 1800 members now and is growing every day. And it’s fun.
It’s a fab way to reconnect with long-lost friends- and make some new ones.
Old photos of long ago icons like the Teatro and Glencoe movie theaters are put up. Guys and gals wax nostalgic about Silver Dollar Surveys and their favorite slow dance songs. Wilmette Beach pics are posted, thoughts about beloved homes now torn down in the name of McMansions are aired, nostalgia runs high.
I started a whole discussion with one word.
“Madras.”
And members contribute precious memories and photos of long-saved beloved icons. Like this:
That’s John Yager’s old assignment notebook.
And he brought it along when we had lunch in Los Angeles. He had come from out Pasadena way just to show me his town.
Over lunch we reminisced, of course, about our beloved high school and how and why we still felt to passionately about it- and its alumni. We both came to the same conclusion that we felt a bond, a kinship of spirit, with all who had gone there.
“It’s like shorthand,” John said. “It just saves so much time with all the cultural references and stuff. You know they’re going to get them.”
“And have the same core values, too,” I chimed in.
(I know this is a sweeping generalization. I’m sure if you try hard enough, you can come up with New Trier alums who have done awful things. But as for myself, I prefer to remember all the fabulous kids who went there.)
When lunch was over, John graciously offered me my pick of tours. I’ve spent a lot of time in L.A. but I had never been to the Greystone Mansion off Sunset in Beverly Hills. So off we roared.
It was built by the Doheny oil baron of There will Be Blood fame. (For those of you who aren’t familiar with this landmark, click here.)
And it was spectacular. A huge Norman castle with battlements, turrets, flagstone paving and black and white marble floors.
And landscaped gardens to die for. I could have moved in happily in a heartbeat.
I was busy snapping away with my iPhone, but John is a gifted photographer who actually brought a CAMERA. And when I remarked that the lily pond put me in mind of Giverney…
Voilà!
A very nice hommage to Monet, courtesy of John.
And also courtesy of New Trier- and the loyalty we still feel towards it.
“Here’s to our team, they’re the green and the gray…
Rah Rah for old New Trier.”
That Beach Boy’s hit came out in 1963, btw. The same year I entered New Trier.
And if you’d like to see how the Beach Boys- and all the rest of us- looked back then, check this out.
See you in the rotunda.
I felt the same way. Loved New Trier. And even though I was at the West Campus, my loyalty to the institution stayed true. Thanks for the shout out. Being inducted into the Hall of Honor is a highlight of my life, for sure. Fight Cowboys Fight!
Glad you mentioned West. I had it in, then I took it out, then I put it back, then…to many descriptors attached to your name. See how being so talented messed me up? We were lucky, indeed. (As is everyone who got to go to a great school.)
West was best–as in Niles West; East was least; and North had air conditioning.
We were taken over to tour the new campus when I was a senior. (We were the last undivided class back then.) And I learned to park in its parking lot. My father took me and I backed into a light pole. Do you think I’m still liable for the damage? Thanks, Rick. You gave me a good laugh this morning.
I don’t believe so–the statute of limitations has undoubtedly run. You’re safe from a property damage claim. However, I’m sure the subject lightpole is still dented.
Good to know. Please send your bill to my first ex husband. He can afford it.
Great blog Ellen. I was part of the first class to graduate from West and we all began at East until West was completed. I liked NT plenty, but for me it’s my 8th grade class from Glencoe. We generally have a reunion the night before any HS reunion and it’s more highly attended- by far. We just had a ” When we’re 64″ reunion last month and had about 65 attendees including representation from 12 states. I’ve known many of these people since 3rd grade and see at least 10-15 regularly all year. We also had emails of apology from another 30-40 who were unable to make it but stay connected on our email distribution list. Many are on the North Shore FB page you mention as well. I play every year in our 8th grade reunion golf tournament at Glencoe too. NT was fun, but for me it’s in 3rd place behind Central School in Glencoe and also my Fraternity in college. We have reunions every year as well, but we probably suffer from self inflicted memory outages from those days as we reminisce. Thanks for bringing back memories of school- all of them!
I got a kick out of seeing my Avoca school chums when I went back to attend New Trier’s 26th reunion. I was surprised to see that they were not nine any more- and had spouses and kids. Thanks for giving a name check to Central School. Many of my readers have very fond memories of that place, as well.
What I would love is an Avoca class of 63 reunion!
You’re right. Should we run a flag up and see who salutes?
Yes! The only people from our Avoca class I’m in touch with are 810 and 814, so I won’t be much help rallying the troops. How about you?
Well I could put up a few public notices on some FB sites. And maybe Elken K. would help. Let me see.
Ellen. You sure brought back a lot of memories for this old codger. One of the best was running into my favorite elementary school teacher while attending a parents night at school. Her name was Ruth Durlocker and she had twin sons who were probably in Mitchells class
or Richards. She was an absolute love and when she recognized me she actually had tears in her eyes. Any how, great memories.
I’m sure you were a great kid to have in any class. I’m glad this brought back good times. I hope that’s the way we should all remember our schools. No matter where we went.
With apologies to David Halberstram and his irony, we were the Best and the Brightest and New Trier was a large part of why.
No apologies needed. This school self-confidence has a reason. We have a lot to be proud of. (Dr. Boyle would NOT approve of that last sentence. Ending with “of?” Oh no.) Thanks, Mitch.
You just knew this was coming…………!!!
You can talk to anyone that grew up in the late 50’s, that lived in the city, and especially on the South Side (South Shore), there was NOTHING like it!!
We on the South Side were a unique bunch of kids. We knew the entire city and you North Siders, whether the north suburbs or north side of the city, had no idea what was south of Roosevelt Road. (You probably didn’t want to know, anyway!!)
And besides, believe it or not, South Shore High was ranked higher academically than New Trier back then.
So, I’ll say with much cheer…
“Up with South Shore,
And down with New Trier”!!
I DID indeed know this was coming. And that’s ok by me, Bernie. You should be “true to your school.”
Thanks for the praise, E, and lunch, and glad you enjoyed the tour. As co-administrator of the NSG (North Shore Group), I got a message yesterday from the New Trier Board of Regents to the effect that that D?…Well they re-checked and it wasn’t a D after all. It was somewhat lower. And it was in a subject critical to your academic development. Long story short, you’re going to have to repeat all four years. The Regents, realizing that this will be a shock and inconvenience for you, will try to soften the blow with full- ride credit cards to Trooping the Colour and other favorite stores, and have a monogrammed red lumberjacket for you. And, of course, you’ll be 13 again. Enjoy!
And that D was in French. Don’t ask. Miss Cardenas, my very smart French teacher, thought I could do better in Italian and she recommended me for Mr. Thomson’s four level Italian class- even with that D she had just given me. I was tops of the class from then on. And Italian has been a big part of my life ever since.
Of course I am happy to repeat all four years. Didn’t Francis Ford Coppola make a movie about it? “Ellen Sue Got Married.”
And I want to add this link for all those who had a gifted language teacher. http://www.newtrier.k12.il.us/page.aspx?id=7582
Thanks, John. For everything.
My pleasure, E.
It’s so true, what a special place and time we lived in. I transferred to NT East in 1963 from St. Louis. I came from a school of 1800 and when I hit the front door of New Trier I was at first taken aback by it’s size. But it didn’t take long for me to realize what a special place I was in. Life on the North Shore was great……the Rolling Stone, drive-in movies, Wilmette Beach, working at the A&P on Green Bay road and hating Evanston (just the high school). I will always be true to my school….my only disappointment is that they changed their name….as I have stated before, I will always be an Indian.
Sorry I forgot you today, Steve. I was running around and somehow I thought I replied to this great comment. Rah rah for old New Trier. It brought great guys like you my life. How nice for me.
They were great years for me too. How do you sign up.
You weren’t in my car to the game – my mother’s Lincoln convertible with 7 people crammed in – and I was not 16 yet so I didn’t have a drivers license!
Sorry that I’m so unmemorable. I WAS in the car-in the back seat with Bruce Robbins- who had a January birthday and thus was a licensed driver.
I love reading your blog! I’m a 73 graduate from NTE who really appreciated the school even more when I looked back at how fortunate we were there. The 40 th reunion was fabulous a few years ago! Mr Boyle was hard on me and made me think but now I own a large real estate school and teach! My art teacher gave me one of my few “D’s” but I am an artist! I used lifesaving skills I learned at NTE to save the lives of people in a boating accident ten years ago! I appreciate your stories and posts! You have quite a style! Thanks!
No, Natalie, thank YOU! On this chill April morning, your comment warmed my heart. And so nice of you to share your own NT experiences. Loved reading about them.
It’s so great to read your posts! Takes me back to a happy place. Home wasn’t so happy back then…I vaguely (as I am on so many things now) recollect working at the radio station. What fun! I miss everybody on the North Shore and the kids I grew up with and haven’t been able to get back for a long time for any reunions…. Class of ’68.
Glad this was a nice stroll down memory lane, Jeannie. Thanks for sharing your recollections with the rest of us.