Patterson High School Alumni Association Inc. 100 Kane Street * Baltimore, Maryland 21224-1789 This complimentary copy of the Alumni newsletter is provided with the hope that you will become a member of one of the most active public high school alumni groups in the metropolitan area. This mini/letter is only a sample of our regular features.  We publish at least three full issues each year; dues are only $8. Financial Report -Year 2,000.                                                                      (Reasons to join the Alumni) Herein is a brief report of How the Alumni Helped Patterson this past year. Keep in mind that our only fund-raiser is the "School Support Projects" form we send with each issue of the newsletter First- understand that things are not what they used to be The school system only supplies text-books and related learning materials for Math, English, Science and Social Studies (note - the acronym by the school system is MESS - truly, this lack of sufficient funding is really a "mess" in the opinion of this retired educator (32 years in Balto County). The Alumni paid for almost $8,000 of computers, more than $2,000 for textbooks and other learning materials for health, foreign language,  technology (shops), dance class and drama. We purchased two art kilns (total almost $4,000 -(one of which was given in memory of Mr. Tom Bush). Also a 35mm camera and copy stand for the Art Dept We also funded attendance incentives (prizes to classes and individuals) as the State counts attendance and dropouts as a large factor in judging educational progress. We also paid for courtyard maintenance (labor, a new lawn mower, and hedge trimmer) and Hall of Fame assembly expenses and an ice making machine, lacrosse uniforms, scholarships, school security (officers for commencement and the prom, also i.d. badge materials and labor; a social studies field trip, soccer equipment ( funded from proceeds of the every-other-year Soccer Alumni Game and Bull Roast (coming up again this year), Yearbook message to the grads and an ad. We wonder how some less fortunate public high schools "get by" without an active Alumni !? Meanwhile - Gov. Glendening aims to boost book subsidy for private and religious schools to $6 million in the next fiscal year. Thanks for your School Support Project donations. Please read and re-read the article under "Ye Olde Neighborhood" - "What Chances for a Job ?" Nationwide Search for Pattersonites. We ask for your cooperation. [You may have already received a postcard.  Please respond by calling the special 800 phone number - Toll Free 1-800-235-8780.] The Alumni has contracted with a renowned publisher - Bernard C. Harris Publishing Co., Inc.  - to produce an Alumni Directory. This is the second experience we have had with this company and we have no doubt that it will be as exciting and complete as the first time. In 1995-96 they helped search for Pattersonites nation-wide. They published a very fine - first class - hard-bound Directory of more than 300 pages that helped link classmates with classmates across the nation - yes, across the world. This nationwide search for those who attended Patterson is provided at no expense to this alumni association. It gives us (1) names and current addresses for potential members and (2) up-dates our records so we can help reunion committees. Plus, it is a highly visible proof of numbers- and numbers mean strength when dealing with the elected officials. PLEASE COOPERATE WITH HARRIS PUBLISHING.  When called or contacted by mail they will ask for your present address and phone number and other interesting information - such as occupation, name of spouse, etc. You will be given several options. Watch for details in the March and June/July editions of your Alumni newsletter. You'll find the directory helpful in renewing acquaintances with old friends and it may be of help in whatever your occupation may be, also.  Start-up date for the search and time schedule info forthcoming. Sad news - loss of a Friend of Patterson = John Steadman called Irv Biasi "The Vince Lombardi of high school football." Mr. John Steadman, sports-writer and much more, died of cancer at age 73 January 1, 2001. Memorial contributions may be made to the John F. Steadman Scholarship c/o William Dunbar 801Quincy Rd., Towson, MD 21286, or The American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 43025, Baltimore, MD 21236. Under Sail -- What's happening at Our Patterson these days ?   Do traditions continue ?  Each morning and again in the afternoon 23 MTA buses line the curb on Kane Street to handle more than 1700 students; because of the isolated location of the school only a few walk to school. In December, the Maryland Functional Writing Test and Math tests were administered. "The Angels of Patterson" collected toys and financial donations for t he homeless. After school coach classes were offered for those ninth graders "in Jeopardy" in Math, English, Science, Social Studies, and Foreign Languages. They also were offered "vacation packets" to work with during the Christmas holidays. Students participated in the Toys for Tots program. "The Play's The Thing" - comic scenes from Shakespeare were offered. In January the Red Cross Blood Donor Drive was allowed for students age 17 and older (restrictions - over 110 Ibs., HQ body piercing); but they receive community service points if they successfully donated. The second week of January scheduled the Maryland High School Assessment tests for Biology, Geometry, Government, and English. Things are different today = students must sign a permission slip to allow their home address to be printed in the 2001 Yearbook. Faculty will participate in a Call-A-Thon" targeting students with poor attendance. Faculty will call homes to elicit help from parents-guardians. The Alumni will help to supply pizza and soda for the staff volunteering their evening time.  Patterson athletes - members of the Jonathan Ogden (Raven's player) Club, helped with a Christmas party for 215 students at the John Ruhrah Elementary. Athletic Director T. Roger Wrenn stated: " Many Pattersonites are not well-off themselves but they take community service seriously." in the past, the Varsity Club has volunteered at the Special-Olympics, assisted in the Lou Karpouzie pre-Thanksgiving meal for elderly, escorted Holabird Elem student to the Aquarium, etc. Weeks ago Ogden took a group of the athletes to Frostburg State to see college life and understand the regulations of college recruiting, in conjunction with the National Football Foundation (NFL) "Play it Smart" academic coaching program. Winter sports offer Boys and Girls Basketball, Co-ed swimming, Co-ed Indoor Track, and Wrestling - where we are favored to win the 4th City championship in four years. For Spring we'll watch J.V. and Varsity Baseball; J.V. and Varsity Girls Softball, Girls lacrosse, Boys lacrosse, Girls Track and Field, Boys Track and Field and co-ed Tennis. Of 17 (Yes, seventeen) high schools in the Baltimore City system, Patterson took more championships in the 1990's (and 2,000) than any other shcool - in fact, one-third more than the second place high school !!!  We are tied with Poly in offering more sports than any other public high school in Baltimore.  (This is another reason to support our Patterson with donations - team sports cost money.) T. Roger Wrenn - premier football and baseball coach and Patterson's Athletic Director is being honored January 19 as one of the first high school baseball coaches to be inducted into the Olde Timers Baseball Association of Maryland, Inc. Hall of Fame, Jan 19. For ticket info call 410-465-8847.  Congrats to Coach Wrenn. Thank you Rose Marani Cernak (J 48) Her Yearbook writeup stated that she provided cheer wherever she goes. So True. Now Rose Marani Cernak sent in one of the first commercial ads for the 2001 Yearbook.  She has some connection with Olde Obryckis Crab House = now located at 1727 E. Pratt St., Baltimore 21231, 410-732-6300. We Thank You, Rose. You are truly a blossom that gave the Yearbook staff confidence that there is an Alumni Association supporting the 2001 Clipper Yearbook. Let's keep up the traditions. Reunion Information - The Alumni acts as a "clearing house" keeping lists of reunion committees, plans, and contact persons. We supply the committees with as an up-to-date lists of names and addresses as possible. And, we make the committees aware of tax obligations, ways to save money to keep the cost down, and other recommendations. In this Mini-newsletter we do not print all the information. Join the Alumni ($8 dues per year) and you will receive the very latest, most accurate information possible. As a brief summary - we have information on the following class reunions and will publish all information in our March newsletter - sent only to our dues-Paid members. Well give all the details for Feb and June 1941, Feb 46, June 46, Feb 51, June 51, Feb 56, Feb 61, June 61, June 66. At this time (early January) we have not heard from committees for the following classes, but may have info by March = let's hear from June 56, June 71, June 76, June 81, June 86, and June 91. If you wish to volunteer to help plan your reunion - simply write to the Alumni giving us your address and phone number, and the best time to call you. Well contact you and offer as much help as possible. IF YOU didn't belong in the year 2,000 you missed forty-six (46) pages of news about good things happening at our school, Clipper traditions that continue, notes about the community, distinguished alumni, special events, "tid-bits" about classmates, and class reunion notices. And, you missed twenty-seven (27) photographs. The Clipper Log is the most comprehensive high school alumni news- letter in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area and perhaps the entire middle Atlantic region! Join us for 2,001 - it's called " Patterson Pride."  Membership is only $8. Well Always Loyal Be. Ye Olde Neighborhood- A regular feature of the Alumni newsletter - a survey of changes in the Baltimore area especially for those Pattersonites who live outside the metropolitan area or in other states. "Nothing lasts forever, nothing stays the same - the house you used to live in, the games you used to play. No, nothing lasts forever, nothing stays the same except for our friendship and it will always remain." What chances for a job? East Baltimore Hard Economic Situation-For those who moved out of town we reflect on what was and what is to help you understand just how important the Alumni is to Patterson these days. Certainly not in chronological order, these are just some of the employment opportunities that no longer exist: A and G Clothiers, Hamburgers and Tru-Fit: American, Arrow, Gunther and National Breweries; Annex and Home Laundnes; B.G. and E. and other such employers pressing for "voluntary" early retirements, Also gone are Crosse and Blackwell, Epsteins and lrvins, Ebert Plumbing, Esskay Meats, General Plumbing, Goetze's Meats, Goulds and other pharmacies closed. Grand, Patterson, and other movie houses are gone: Haussner's, Hess Shoes, Hochchild Kohn, Hutzlers, The Hub, The May Co., Stewarts Dept Store, and now Montgomery Ward, with many Sears locations to close soon, Koester's Bakery and many neighborhood bakeries, family-owned/operated hardware stores like Dittmar, Meyers, LV. Miller, Schumann - closed due to security problems and warehouse home builder outfits. ( Eastern Hardware-6200 block Eastern Ave near Eirino is closing ). Gone is Koester's Bakery, Kresge's and Woolworth, Langs Pickles and kraut,  McCormick Tea (moved to Cockeysville), Monumental Motor Tours; no News American and no Evening Sun papers; Procter and Gamble, S and N Katz, Sonaborne and other downtown mens clothing manufacturers, Western Electric, Wielands Furniture, Will's Dairy, Yeager's Music and others that used to offer instrumental music lessons, plus employment cutbacks at the GM Broening Highway plant and Sparrows Point Steel mills. The result - few job opportunities for high school drop-outs, second generation families moved out, more rental properties, single parent families, limited part-time and summer jobs, churches closing, welfare rolls, higher taxes and fewer commercial and patron ads for our Yearbook, less Work-Study employment, fewer second and third generation Pattersonites. All these result in lower income base and as teachers require appropriate salaries, lower educational budgets for maintenance and essentials like text books and computers with little funding for sports and nothing extra for music, art, etc.  These are some of the reasons why we need your support to Help Us Help Patterson Today.  Now for some good news, perhaps you may not read about anywhere else for weeks. The Babe Ruth Museum will open a special exhibit about Memorial Stadium Feb. 10th. with memorabilia, etc. See special mini-article - this issue - "Babe Ruth Museum." Our camera will visit the exhibit this Spring - watch for a feature article. Yearbooks Available - These Yearbooks are for sale only to the Year 2001 Dues-Paid Alumni members. These are for sale at $30. Write to us to be sure the Yearbook you need is still available. As we go to press we have: 1940, 41 (2 copies) , 42 (2 copies ), 43, 44, 45 (2 copies), 46 (2), 47 ( 2 regular one leather bound), 48 (3), 49, 51 (3),54, 55, 60,70 (plus the supplement) 72, 79, 81 (4), 82, 83, 85 (3) 86 (4), 89 (3).  We also have two copies of the 50th Anniversary 1984 edition of the Clipper Yearbook. This traces the history of Patterson and life from the 1930's thru 1984 and is 423 pages full of photos, etc. We have to ask $40 for the 1984 edition including postage. Do Not Send Payment ahead. Simply write to us; be sure to include a day-time phone number as well as home phone number and best times to call. We will contact you prior to shipment.  If you have a copy to share - write to us; well call you to arrange mailing.

The Patterson High Alumni newsletter is provided to Dues-Paid members 3 times per year = March. June-July and November-December.  Annual Dues are $8 (calendar year). Mailing address is Patterson High Alumni. 100 Kane Street. Balimore, MD 21224-1789. Editor = Bill Miller (J.50). President = Bryon Ivins (J 65) 410-396-5194, V.P. Rita Wazlavek Pyle (J 48): Sect'y  Randy Veale (J 83). I.R.S. Non -Profit 501 (c) (3) number is available to donors upon request  in writing.