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Reserve alumni reunite at Italian fest
By Ed Runyan
WARREN
Some graduates of Warren Western Reserve High School have no intention of letting their memories of their West Side school die.
This year at the Italian- American Heritage Festival, members of the Western Reserve Memorial Fund have staked out a spot near the water fountain to display and sell Western Reserve T-shirts and a Western Reserve DVD.
The tent also serves as a gathering place for Reserve grads, said Sharlene Humes Johnson of Burgettstown, Pa., a 1979 graduate.
Johnson says the group’s goal is to raise enough money to build a Western Reserve Memorial on the site of the Harding Memorial facade adjacent to the new Harding High School on Elm Road Northeast.
An architect has volunteered to design the memorial for free, and an attorney has agreed to provide free legal assistance for the project, Humes Johnson said.
The group would like the memorial to be a building to house Western Reserve memorabilia, she said.
The Western Reserve DVD is a compilation of photos of the walk-through of the building before its demolition in 2010, photos of the demolition and photos of the football banquet for the team that won the 1972 state football championship.
The DVD, which sells for $20 ($15 goes to the memorial fund), was created by Mark Clawges, a 1968 Western Reserve graduate.
It contains photos of the program used for the 1966 dedication ceremony for the building, which was located on Loveless Avenue.
“We want to make sure we still have a place in history,” Humes Johnson said.
David Astolfi, a 1973 Western Reserve graduate, created the T-shirts on sale.
Astolfi said he’s been asked why Western Reserve graduates can’t let go of the school and its history.
“The thing about Reserve, we were put over there and given the second-rate school and the second-rate respect, and you had to fight for respect,” he said.
“Some people ask what’s the big deal, and I said it’s because you never had to fight for respect. You never had to be looked down on and treated like you were second class.
“We just had to band together. It was like being the underdog, always,” he said.
Astolfi, of Warren, said he’s noticed because of Facebook that people are also quite nostalgic today about their history.
“It’s part of hanging onto your memories,” he said.