By Gillian Graham, Staff Writer

On Friday nights in 1958, Biddeford teenagers bopped along to rock ‘n roll at record hops,
sipped cherry Cokes at the soda shop and cruised Main Street in their hotrods. 

Next month, the St. Louis and St. Joseph’s class of 1958 will reunite for a “Rock Around the
Clock” weekend, scheduled to kick off Oct. 3 with a record hop at St. Louis Alumni Hall. A
committee has been planning the 50^th reunion for a year and about 70 percent of the class will
be in attendance, organizers said.

Back in 1958, committee members Dick and Priscilla (Grenier) Farrell were high school
sweethearts, wearing each other’s club jackets and exchanging class rings. They met in
kindergarten, began dating as sophomores and will celebrate their 46^th wedding anniversary
in November. 

Sitting in their living room near Ferry Beach in Saco, they reminisced about their high school
years.  “We danced the weekends away,” Dick Farrell said.  Priscilla Farrell said those years
were the “era of the club.” Groups of friends would gather to form social clubs to plan fun
events and outings.  In Biddeford, “Maineyacs” wore black jackets, “Flamingos” wore red
jackets and the “Lightning” wore green jackets. Each jacket was monogrammed with the owner’s
name. Girls were forbidden from wearing sweaters to school because they were too provocative,
Priscilla Farrell said.

“It was a much freer time, a much safer time,” she said. “We were really pretty protected
against all the problems in the world.”

Classes at St. Joseph’s and St. Louis were separate for boys and girls, but everyone attended
the social events together. The class of 1958 included 36 girls and 61 boys, Priscilla Farrell said.

At record hops and proms, chaperones stood guard to prevent teens from dancing too closely.
Dating was done in groups and friends would often go for long car rides, skate at West Brook
Skating Rink or hang out at the beach, Priscilla Farrell said. 

Some nights, Dick and Priscilla Farrell and their friends would pick up take-out from Ray’s
Lunch Van (now Rapid Ray’s in Saco), park their cars in a cluster and listen to music.

“We’d dance in the streets if we wanted to,” Priscilla Farrell said.  Dick Farrell said three
couples would often crowd into one car, fill up with 50 cents worth of gas and spend the evening
cruising downtown.  “It was who had the loudest exhaust. It was clean fun in those days,” he
said. “It was a lot of fun, it really was.”

St. Louis was a big football school and Thornton Academy in Saco was its biggest rival, Dick
Farrell said. Before each game, the St. Louis Band, cheerleaders and fans would march from St.
Louis Field to Thornton Academy, where the band would play “Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.”

Despite all of the dancing and cruising, Biddeford was a working town, Priscilla Farrell said.
Most teens had jobs, often working during the summer months in Old Orchard Beach. Dick
Farrell worked as a driver for a laundry business.  “I had to work to support my car and to take
[Priscilla] out,” he said. 

Many classmates attended their 40^th reunion, but Dick and Priscilla Farrell said they are still
looking forward to seeing more of their friends next month. The reunion committee has been
able to contact all living classmates, they said. So far, more than 100 are expected to attend the
thee-day reunion. 

“For a class that graduated without the Internet, we certainly utilized it,” Priscilla Farrell said. 
The committee has updated classmates about the reunion through regular emails, she said.
During its 18 meetings, the committee organized the Friday night record hop, Saturday golf
tournament, Saturday evening buffet with 1950s music, and a Sunday mass at St. Joseph’s
Church to honor deceased class members.  “Obviously we want their memory to be part of the
celebration of the weekend,” Priscilla Farrell said. 

The record hop will take place at St. Louis Alumni Hall, which Priscilla Farrell said is decorated
with memorabilia. The committee found a Maineyacs jacket, but is still looking for Flamingos
and Lightning jackets to display at the reunion. 

The class of 1958 was very close and many classmates have remained in contact throughout the
years, Priscilla Farrell said.  “I think a lot of us realize it’s not the last hurrah, but as the years
go on it’s important to celebrate our life,” she said. “They say you can’t go home again, but I
wonder. This is a lot like home.”