Class of 1940

by Fred Fries

The attached is from the Livingston Manor High School yearbook of 1938, the senior class of that year being the last to graduate from the old high school. The class in the photograph is the sophomore class of that year.

What prompted the posting of sections of the 1938 Manor High School yearbook was an inquiry to Judie Darbie Smith in searching for information concerning the family of Harry Hansen. Harry, his wife Louise, and his three children moved from Brooklyn to Livingston Manor in 1935, purchasing the Owl Service Station. The Owl's location, on the corner of Main Street and New York State Route 17, the main highway passing through Sullivan County, was ideal for business purposes and the Owl's restaurant and gas pumps made it one of the busiest places in town.

Two of the Hansen children went to the Manor High School before the school changed locations, and both graduated from the newly opened Livingston Manor Central School; Peter in 1940 and Anna in 1942. Both were active in school activities, participating in sports, band, drama club, library club, etc., and both are probably amongst the students shown in the photographs, though I am not able to identify them.

Sports - Baseball and Basketball

The Manor High School boys sports program consisted of basketball and baseball; not football.

When the school moved to its new location over on the Island in the early spring of 1938, a football program was adopted by the Board of Education to be initiated the following fall. The team was made up of six starters, three in the backfield and three blockers on the line. Peter Hansen was one of the starters on that team, being in the backfield. Unfortunately, the squad did not win a single game that year, losing to the likes of Youngsville and Narrowsburgh among other local schools. The second season of the program started out the same way until midway through the schedule, when on a rainy late fall afternoon, the Manor boys routed the highly rated Narrowsburgh team by a score of 49 to 8. They went on to win the next and final game that year. Besides performing well in the offensive backfield, Peter Hansen was a defensive standout and partly responsible for the team's sudden improvement. The following year, the LMCS football team was co-champions in the league, sharing the honors with the Jeffersonville team.

Music - Band

Plays

The early yearbooks from the old Manor High School were called "Ronam." Anyone interested in venturing a guess on why that name was chosen and what it means?