Up to 1,000 alumni plan to say farewell

One group of alumni plans to dig up an engine buried behind the school in 1970.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR EDUCATION WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- They're calling it "Wilson's Last Stand," and as many as 1,000 graduates of Woodrow Wilson High School are expected to show up to pay tribute to the 79-year-old educational facility.
Wilson is coming down at the end of this school year, destined to be razed to make way for a new middle school as part of a 190 million school rebuilding program in the city.
Jackie Gawron, Class of 1956 and one of the Last Stand organizers, said that 630 reservations for the May 25 dinner/dance at Mr. Anthony's in Boardman had been received, and that between 800 and 1,000 are expected before the actual event.
There are people coming from as far away as California, Texas, Washington state and Florida, she said.
The most senior alumni signed up so far are Julie Ingram Nellis and Thomas Motosko of the Class of 1940, Gawron said. Nellis still lives in the Youngstown area, but Motosko now lives in Wisconsin.
Wilbert Hubbard of Youngstown, Class of 1941, is also on the list.
A member of the Class of 1970 now living in West Dundee, Ill., is coming back with a special purpose in mind.
What happened in 1970
Lew Nuzzie was student council president that year, which happened to also be the year that the first Earth Day was celebrated.
To mark the occasion, student council, led by Nuzzie wearing a gas mask and wielding a shovel, buried an automobile engine (with the school principal's permission) behind Wilson High School in a symbolic gesture of support for the environment.
Nuzzie, now an applications development manager for Cincinnati Milacron's U.S. Injection Molding Business, said he and some of his classmates plan to locate and dig up that engine and recycle it.
Wilson's Last Stand will actually be a two-day affair, with the dinner/dance at 6 p.m. May 25 at Mr. Anthony's open to all alumni, teachers, staff and friends of the school.
There will be a running slide show of Wilson photos, and attendees will be asked to join in singing the alma mater and the school fight song.
Music will be provided by the Del Sinchak Orchestra (Sinchak and his wife are members of the Class of 1953) and DJ Anthony DeVicchio, also a Wilson graduate.
Tickets are 30, and reservations can still be made by calling the school at (330) 744-8525 or Gawron at (330) 744-7285.
On May 26, the school will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for alumni to take a final walk-through. There will be memorabilia from various eras on display, including a lot of photographs, and coffee and rolls will be served, Gawron said.
How this snowballed
Gawron said the effort to organize the event started with just a couple of Wilson alumni, but others came on board quickly as the group got organized and began holding open meetings to plan the activities.
"We have a lot of people giving their time," he said, noting that between 40 and 50 people from across the spectrum of graduating classes showed up to volunteer and offer suggestions.
Nuzzie and his crew will visit the school grounds May 25 with a metal detector in an effort to find the car engine, which they buried about 5 feet deep.
They'll come back Saturday with rented digging equipment to excavate it.
"Local classmates and far-away alumni from Houston, Detroit and California plan to attend. This is our legacy. We were part of the first Earth Day demonstration that started it all," Nuzzie said.
"Our graduating class was keenly aware of air and water pollution and its dire effect for future generations. Keep in mind that during this period, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland had caught fire because of its oil and chemical pollution, and the internal combustion engine was identified as the major producer of smog and air pollution in our country. There had to be a better way and we wanted to show the world we could lead the change," he said.
Many Wilson High students rode bicycles, roller-skated and walked to class that Wednesday as a sign of support, he recalled.
Burying the engine was a symbolic gesture in 1970. In 2007, technology has improved, and the correct process is to recycle the material.
The engine will be sold as scrap to a recycler to help defray removal expenses, Nuzzie said.
gwin@vindy.com