The thing Lawrence Williams remembers best about Judge was how much of a “close-knit group it was.” He was amazed at how welcome he felt with his classmates even though he enrolled in the fourth grade in the 12-year school.

Williams has memories of the fourth grade sister who ran the class with a “ruler cladfast” although he never saw her use the ruler on anyone; it’s just the thought that inspired fear. He also remembers his fifth grade teacher, also a nun, who was big on biology and they would dissect anything they would find in the “lower terrace,” an overgrown, swampy creek where the football field is now.

A big part of Williams’ Judge experience, was when Judge won the football championship that was chronicled in the school’s first yearbook in 1949.

He loved to go to the parties that accompanied great feats like this. Williams loved to dance and often went to ones during the summer hosted by the J.C. Club, or the J.C.C. He also liked to go to the Mormon Ward dances. Judge would host four class dances: the Freshman Frolic, the Sophomore Strut, the Junior Ball, and the Senior ball. The Senior Ball was held in November at the Starlight Gardens or the Roof of Hotel Utah. Both The Sophomore and Junior dances were held in hotel ballrooms, and the Freshman Frolic were in the old gym, but only when “extensively decorated.” They also had victory rallies and especially the parties that happened after.

Judge provided many opportunities. They had traveling singers come and practice for them, like the Von Trapp singers from the Sound of Music, and the Boys Town Choir.

Hardly any of Williams and his friends had cars. On the bright side, parking at school was never a problem.

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When 1953 graduate John Stewart was a teen, Jim liked to “play football, date girls, and go to drive-in movies.” This was life back then and most teens were doing just those things. There were also things like KFC and pizza that were introduced. In fact, Jim remembers hanging out at the first KFC in the nation, opened in Salt Lake by Pete Harmon in 1954.

Dances were very big when Stewart was in high school.

“They were very special events,” he said, “they were mostly held in the old gym, which is still there.” Proms were more formal occa-sions and they were held at the Newhouse Hotel. “All the dances had live bands,” Stewart remembered.

Stewart also remembers a lot about his friends who became his “lifetime buddies.” One thing that Stewart says he hopes all Judge students will do is to incorporate the spiritual values Judge imparts to its students.

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Barbara Spaid, class of 1953, remembers Judge as being a pretty tough school. “You were almost always being tested to do better,” she said.

The school’s layout was quite different. The classes in the old hospital building whereas Spaid says,” Long, long, long.” Each row was 16 desks long!

Some of the more popular trends were ponytails, full skirts, slicked back hair for guys and saddle shoes or loafers. One of the other big trends was drive-in-movies. The food of the time were hamburgers and sodas.

She remembers a gym/auditorium where the Homecoming dance and basketball games were held. Music was always played by a band, never by a DJ. She explained that she never went to the gym because by the 1950s there weren’t any sports leagues for women.

The teachers at Judge prepared Spaid well for college and actually influenced her to become a teacher. They also taught her Physics, Chemistry, Spanish and English. English was one of her hardest classes. Spaid would like to remind students that, “You can never learn too much, whether it be in the technical fields, professional or just everyday living.”

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In 1945, Duane Garceau became a new addition to Judge, though somewhat against his will. It was his devout Catholic mother and father who chose for him to attend Judge; he wanted to go to West.

 But Garceau quickly overcame his adverse sentiments about attending Judge when he met some of the staff and students.

“We were a small school. Everyone knew everyone, which made for a family atmosphere,” he said.

Teachers like Father Mark Benvegnu, Sister Franzita, and Coach Tom Mares were also part of that family. “They were dedicated persons, who had the patience of Job to put up with the likes of us and still teach us so well.”

Some of the trends included wearing peg-pants and square toed shoes. This class was a ‘close-knit’ group then and continues to be now.

Some of the things that gussied up Garceau’s car included lowering knicker knobs, installing dual exhaust systems, and getting spotlights. Popular music consisted of jazz,swing, and the twist.

Garceau’s class had only 43 students, who apparently all knew one another very well since many of them had gone to Judge together since kindergarten. Everyone felt part of the community.