Testimonial from Yvonne (Lime) Fedderson

In the ninth grade, I made the decision to get a special permit to

attend Glendale High School,rather than Hoover High. It’s a decision I

have never regretted. I had many happy times, and continue to have many

happy memories of my years at Glendale High. I remember how exciting it

was to finally be in high school, and meet so many new people that would

become dear friends. Some of those friends are still close after almost

50 years!

Growing up in the ‘40s and ‘50s was great! You felt safe in school,

and looked forward to every day. Seeing your friends each day, getting an

education, and planning for the future were adventures we welcomed. Our

dances and social events were fun, and our parents never had to worry

about our using drugs, or having someone going crazy with a gun and

shooting a group of us.

While at Glendale High, I was fortunate to hold several positions as a

class officer, but my favorite was being elected student body song leader

with Jan Thornton, Bobbie Bowman and Eleanor Lackner in our senior year.

Going to all the games was always fun, and going to Bob’s Big Boy

drive-in afterward was a must! If you had your own car you were a hit,

but if you had a convertible, you were really something!

My years at Glendale High were a time of ponytails and poodle skirts

for the girls, and crew cuts and hot rods for the boys. A girl dreamed of

“going steady” with a guy, especially if he had a letterman sweater that

she could wear. Everyone looked forward to the semester breaks, and

Easter vacation week was always a time to go to Balboa Island with your

friends.

So much has changed over the years, and teenagers today do things so

differently. A favorite pastime for us was to talk on the phone for hours

with our friends, while today kids e-mail each other. Having a typewriter

to complete reports and homework was a luxury not everyone had back then,

while today almost every teenager has a computer. While the modern

conveniences of cell phones and computers are a great help, in many ways,

I think they have also made us less social and interactive with one

another. Teenagers today spend far less time interacting with one another

on a face-to-face basis, participating in sports and other outdoor

activities, and too much time online.

Being a teenager in the ‘50s was truly a blessing. While we didn’t

realize it at the time, I think we had the best of all worlds.

YVONNE FEDDERSON

Class of 1953

*Yvonne Fedderson is a co-founder of Childhelp USA, a national

nonprofit organization dedicated to meeting the physical, emotional,

educational and spiritual needs of abused and neglected children.

Entertainer Merv Griffin recently donated a $10-million property in

Arizona to the group to serve as a treatment facility for severely abused

children.