First Graduating Class of the “New” Norwood High Gathers to Mark Half-Century Milestone

Fifty years after walking across the stage as the very first graduating class of the “new” Norwood High School, alumni from the Class of 1928 gathered on Friday night at a Route 1 steakhouse to celebrate their golden anniversary. Traveling from New England, New Jersey, and as far away as Florida, former classmates reconnected—though many admitted that without name tags or self-introductions, they barely recognized one another.

Recalling their high school days of the late 1920s, alumni fondly remembered an era when the young “gentlemen” wore suits to school every day and the “ladies” attended dances nightly. Amid shared memories and laughter, attendees reflected on the trials of entering adulthood just as the Great Depression struck in October 1929, forcing many to immediately take on demanding work schedules, enduring 65-hour workweeks, or supporting their families.

Notable Alumni Share Lifelong Journeys and Accomplishments

The tight-knit class featured numerous standout individuals who left their mark across athletics, law, education, and the arts:

• Carl Clem: A barrel-chested former Boston University football captain who won 13 college letters across football, hockey, swimming, and track, and spent the evening swapping stories with classmate Ambrose Kelly.
• John Kady: Served for 36 years as chief engineer in the chart division of the Foxboro Company.
• Henry McLaren: A jolly, balding attorney with the Boston firm Sloane and Walsh who joked that he “could never afford to move” off the Westwood farm where he was born.
• Mary Butters: Spent 32 years as a town employee in Norwood after serving with the WAVES at Notre Dame and working for the Work Projects Administration during the Depression.
• Highland Diggs: A professional pianist, composer, and arranger from Rockland—and the class’s sole black member—who has accompanied music legends like Billie Holiday and Lena Horne, played with the Billy Williams Quartet at the Waldorf Astoria, and provided musical entertainment for the evening while preparing to release a new holiday record on the Marc Productions label.
• Absent Achievers: Classmates celebrated distant milestones, including Kenneth Reardon, an English professor at Duke University; Vincent Lee, head groundskeeper for a major San Diego high school; and Mary Keely (Sister Mary Claudia), who sent prayers from her missionary station in Jamaica.

A Moment of Remembrance Followed by Evening Festivities

The evening paused for a poignant moment of silence as the names of the 43 deceased classmates out of the original 128 were read aloud. Following the remembrance, the group lifted their spirits by singing the school alma mater, exchanging photographs, recounting old pranks—such as Edward Taylor remembering “freak day” when students mistakenly wore regular suits—and dancing into the evening. With handmade gold velvet roses as mementos of the occasion, the resilient Class of 1928 departed already looking forward to their next gathering.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger