Month: October 2021

Bill Guyer: Honorary Football Team Captain

Karen Holp

Congratulations to our own Bill Guyer, President of the RHSAA, selected to represent the Riverside Beavers football team as their honorary captain at their August 28 home game. With his wife Donna and sons Tom and Steven (both Riverside graduates) in the stands, Bill took the field for the pre-game ceremony. Bill is a 1967 graduate of Riverside High School where he was a lettered member of the track team, played on the football team, was a member of Student Council, and vice president of the Key Club. Because Bill…

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Childhood Bliss

Gretchen Reed

Summer days filled with walks through fields of roses with their wonderful fragrance and myriads of color were only part of my childhood memories. My parents had lived in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, when I was born but seemed to be on a quest to move farther east starting when I was a baby. They left Cleveland to move first to the south of Willoughby; but when I was almost five, they bought seven acres in east Mentor and built a house in what was then a rural area. Proof of…

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RHSAA Board of Trustees Elect Two New Members

Karen Holp

At the September 2021 board meeting, the trustees elected Beth Knezevich ’81 and Mike Nelson ’85 to fill two vacant trustee seats. The board also selected officers for the rest of 2021: Bill Guyer, president; Cathy Thompson Covill, vice president; Gretchen Reed, secretary; and Doris Moss, treasurer. Two other trustees were re-elected: Gretchen Reed and Loretta Vandervort. The other trustees who continue to serve are Marijane Watson and Eric Laika. Beth Knezevich has volunteered with the Alumni Association for several years.  She attended Melridge Elementary School, Auburn Road Junior High…

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Fall 2021 Beaver Bulletin Board

Karen Holp

Achievements 1950s Lola Reed Victor, Class of ‘55, and her husband Ralph celebrated their 67th anniversary at a party attended by most of their 57 descendants, starting with their six children, Kim, Jim, Bonnie, Reed, Lola and Todd, plus the grandchildren, great and great-great grandchildren. Ralph, a Mentor native, met Lola at Walton’s Roller Rink, and they eloped in spring of ’54, marrying when she was 18 and Ralph was 19. David Shaner cast Lola in the lead in the ’54 spring musical Annie Get Your Gun. Family and friends…

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Underground Humor and Pranks, Part 2

Gretchen Reed

Even though the RHS staff during the years I taught there seemed populated with many people who had finely-tuned appreciation for pranks and humor, students were hardly exempt from such “creativity.” In addition, almost all school personnel, functioning in an environment demanding much communication, are likely to fall prey to occasional bloopers or laughable moments themselves. One such person who has always been mindful of her own naivety is Elaine Uonelli, long-time speech and hearing therapist for the school district. Her schedule was arranged to allow visits to all the…

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Hale Road and Riverside Memories: Patricia Rae Wilbeck Thomas ‘59

Karen Holp

Guest Author: Patricia Rae Wilbeck Thomas ‘59 “One day a hush will fall, the footsteps of us all, will echo down the halls and disappear.” In my 80th year now, I still hear the fading footfalls of classmates on the hallowed halls we occupied several decades ago. I hear the fast clomp, clomp, clomp of my own feet racing up the stairs at Hale Road School, careening around the corner to my classroom, only to knock over my first-grade teacher, Mrs. Olson, who was my height but a few pounds…

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The Essence of a Gentleman: Alumnus Donald Pomfrey Remembered

Gretchen Reed

A phrase used most often about Donald Pomfrey was “a true gentleman.”  A member of the Class of ’54, he excelled in so many areas that honoring his memory adequately is a challenge. His service and dedication to the school and the alumni association were a major part of his legacy, but his unwavering strength of character is also worthy of praise and respect. Don died August 16, ‘21, at age 85. Three traits that Don was widely known for were loyalty, dedication and integrity. When the Pomfrey family moved…

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Remembering Don Pomfrey

Tom Trombley

It is a sad moment to realize that the time has come to remember our own Donald Pomfrey, who died August 16, only a year and two days after losing good friend Ron Balogh, former president of Harvey’s Alumni Association. Together the two men were the heart of the Riv-Har Duck Race and had worked together on the fundraiser for many years. It is almost fitting that we couldn’t hold the race this year because I don’t know how we could have done it without those two loyal alumni members.…

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