First Old Rochester alumni honored with a picture-perfect display

MATTAPOISETT — In September 1961, 718 students from Marion, Mattapoisett and Rochester came together for the first time, establishing the bulldog tradition at Old Rochester Regional High School.

Over 15 alumni from the classes of 1962 through 1965 returned to the high school on Thursday, May 1 to witness the unveiling of an alumni wall in their honor.

Kathleen Brunelle, a National Honor Society co-advisor at the high school, spearheaded the event, which she said was devised so people remember the high school’s original first four classes.

“We thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be a good project to make sure that people do remember them?’” she said.

Several of the alumni featured on the wall attended the unveiling event, including John DeMello, who graduated in 1965 and was his class’ vice president.

“There was a little bit of struggling going on the first day we got here,” he said, explaining how most of the students were meeting each other for the first time and many of the teachers were brand new and in their early 20s.

DeMello added, “We felt pretty cool because we were going to be the first class to go through four years.”

After traveling to other high schools through the National Honor Society, Brunelle and students in the club noticed many of the schools they went to displayed their history on the walls, which Brunelle said inspired the alumni wall.

“We did a lot of brainstorming about what to do and came up with different ideas, and then this year is when we really put everything together,” Brunelle said.

Students in the National Honor Society looked through old year books and selected photos they liked. Brunelle then looked through the photos with principal Michael Devoll and chose which to display.

“We tried to pick a representation of each year,” Brunelle said.

She explained that they shied away from sports photos, except for a photo of cheerleaders and football players stacked in a pyramid, since the school already has a hall of sports. They also chose to include candid shots of students in the hallways and classrooms, photos taken in areas of the school current students would recognize and pictures of each grade’s class officers.

“It’s important to know the history of the place where you attend school,” Brunelle said. “I think it helps to bring people together and to feel more connected to the place where they go to school.”

Alumni who weren’t able to make it to the event can email Brunelle at kathleenbrunelle@oldrochester.org to see the wall and tour the high school.