The Press-Dispatch
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Firecracker The truck and tractor pull 94th Annual Petersburg High School Alumni Banquet A-4 tor, a general and the "best jump shot" in Southern In- diana were on hand at the 94th Annual Petersburg High School Alumni Ban- quet. The Saturday evening festivities touched on alum- ni business and class rec- ognition but then slipped into discussions concern- ing schooners of beer, pole vaulting and a certain 1955 Chevy among many other aspects of Petersburg High School history. A variety of anecdotes A Pike County band direc- By James Capozella were heard by 160 banquet attendees, courtesy of the three main guest speakers introduced by Alumni sec- retary Ron Robling. Pike County band direc- Wednesday, June 13, 2012 The Press-Dispatch tor and teacher Jim Bolte related the story of his first teaching job where a man with a Ph.D. was the princi- pal. Bolte stated "Doc" Wil- liam (Bill) Weathers called him to the forefront say- ing "Come over here, boy. You're from Dubois County and we know they drink a lot of beer over there. You don't drink in Pike County. If you drink, go over there!" Bolte said he checked that out in Ireland soon after and said he saw a lot of Pike County people and they had schoo- ners of beer in front of them. Just thirteen students were in the first band class and Bolte thought he would start out easy by playing the school song. Unfortunately, the students didn't know it. He then thought scales would be a good start, but when he asked the class, one student volunteered that the only scales they knew were on fish. Commenting on his teach- A crowd of more than 160 Petersburg High School graduates and their spouses sat down to a catered dinner and then meeting for the 94th Annual Petersburg High School Alumni Banquet. ry of pole vaulting ten feet and not being a top contend- er at Petersburg. Elsewhere in the area that was a huge leap, but at PHS with guys like Sanders going 11-feet using a non-flexing pole, not many competitors could match up. The Petersburg High shirts, blue ties and pants with dark shoes. He said it was something a sophomore had to do to save face and be respected. Mitchell related the sto- ing, Bolte said "the students here were a joy to work with. I couldn't find a better place to start a career." P.M. Sanders took to the podium next, and related coaching and family connec- tions such as Scott Rolen. Sanders, an Evansville Col- lege Aces basketball stand- out when television was new, kept students and fans on the edge of their seats with his regionally well-known prowess with the jump shot. Sanders was ready with lots of rough humor for the group. The story of a 1955 Chevy with a four-barrel carbure- tor and dual exhausts came from General Robert Mitch- ell's recollection of his se- nior prom. Judge Wyatt W. Rauch owned the "hot-rod" Chevy parked in front of the school. Everyone wanted to see what it would do, accord- ing to Mitchell, but it would not start. It became flooded and ran up and saved the day with his fire extinguisher. Wyatt Rauch was back at school with a replacement car shortly thereafter, accord- ing to Mitchell. Mitchell said that back gas down the pipes which caught fire. Back then, stu- dents had jobs in fire drills and the student in charge of the nearest fire extinguisher attempted to put out the fire, only to have the hose break and spray everyone dressed in their prom outfits. Luckily a fireman drove then, the sophomores served the food for the prom attendees, dressed in white School class of 1941 was the oldest recognized with one representative in atten- dance at the banquet. Last year, the 1941 class had three at the banquet. The 1962 class was the largest with more than 20 partici- pating. It was reported that nine class members were deceased. Howard Briscoe made the roll call of Peters- burg High School classes as the former principal and county superintendent has done for a number of years. Although most of the younger graduating class- es host a reunion every five years, some have opted for every two and one-half years and still others meet annually. This year's welcome and classes during the Petersburg High School 94th Annual Alumni Banquet this past Saturday night. Howard Briscoe made the annual roll call of Invocation was by 2012 Alumni President Rebec- ca Hensley-Howard. Secre- tary Ron Robling present- ed a short history of Peters- burg, beginning with the year 1891. Many historical items of note were recalled and examined. Recent social events were touched on, in- cluding the fact that a city dance was held at the Pe- tersburg VFW after every Petersburg ball game. An- other interesting fact relat- ing to the games is the in- crease in the number of women's sports at the high school level. During the business por- tertained a crowd of more than 160 guests at Pe- tersburg Elementary School which hosted the Alumni Banquet. Long time Pike County teacher Jim Bolte en- tion of the banquet, Jim White was named Alum- ni President, Marta Que- ry Vice President and Ron Robling and Larry Catt re- mained as secretary and treasurer respectively. The banquet program listed 44 contributors to the Peters- burg High School Alumni Scholarship Fund. Jim White made the gift presentations this year and Rebecca Hensley-Howard made the announcements. The next Petersburg High School Alumni Banquet is set for Saturday, June 8, 2013. gang for just $35/year! www.pressdispatch.net/edition Keep up with the old three speakers at Saturday's 94th Annual Peters- burg Alumni Banquet. Petersburg Graduate P. M. Sanders was one of "the troops" as one of three speakers at Peters- burg Elementary School which hosted the 94th annual Petersburg High School Alumni Banquet. 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