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Closely Bound To Thee: Covering the Derrian for Fifty Years Looking for a unique Christmas gift this season? Look no further than Derry Area High School! To celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Derry Borough/Derry Township jointure, history teacher Tom Tatone and the high school yearbook staff have compiled a scrapbook entitled Closely Bound to Thee: Covering the Derrian for Fifty Years celebrating all fifty years at Derry Area High School. It’s all there! From the first elected school board to the high school donkey basketball games to the inception of the new middle school. Each page celebrates two years—from 1956 to 2006—by highlighting some of the people and activities that rocked each school year. Delfino Calvo, who led the band from the beginning and wrote the alma mater, is featured along with the words he penned. His wife, Susannah Calvo, who directed the musicals from the sixties through the nineties, can also be found in the pages of this book. See how celebrities such as Ken Rice, Myron Cope, Jack Bogut, and Joe DiNardo have also been a part of Derry’s rich history. Tom Tatone spent over two years compiling the data he used to publish this book. A history teacher and a board member of the Derry Area Historical Society, Tom naturally enjoyed exploring our local history. When asked why he undertook such a huge task, Tom said, “The number fifty was magical. I asked myself, ‘When would anyone do this again? In seventyfive years, the next logical time, many of the people who were alive from the beginning would no longer be around to interview. Would anyone be able to do this? It would be too cumbersome.’” When Tom was in high school, he was a standout on the wrestling team. Today, in addition to teaching and working as the yearbook advisor, he also coaches the girls’ tennis team. The book is eight-by-eleven-inches, the same size as the Derry Middle School yearbook, and is a great conversation starter. The cost is thirty dollars. Only two hundred copies of the book are being printed, so someday it may be a collector’s item. It can be ordered through Tom Tatone by calling Derry Area High School at 724-694-2780. Want to see more of Dr. Shirley, Mr. Akins, or Mr. Burchill? Call Tom and order your copy of the book today.
Mr. Tatone, in addition to teaching history in the middle school, also acts as advisor for the senior high yearbook staff and coach for the high school girls’ tennis team.
Mrs. Calvo was Derry’s musical director for thirty years and the widow of Delfino Calvo who wrote the alma mater whose words sparked Tom’s creative interest in this project.
Mr. Tatone dressed as Sinatra/Garcia/Jackson to pitch the idea of working on the project to the yearbook students. The students, in turn, felt the need to get a picture of the event for posterity.
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