RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Sunday, January 10, 2010

Triton cafeteria fight

It wasn't a food fight. And it was a silly issue, really.

What happened was: The class president, and the best looking boy in the entire class, was banned from the senior prom (class of '61). His name was Gerry Drinkwater. I don't recall why he was banned from the prom, but it may have had something to do with Gerry's inappropriate actions OFF campus, or it may have had something to do with his car and parking illegally?

Anyway, Gerry was banned and in protest the entire class of '61 decided to boycott the cafeteria. All I remember of the "event" was that we didn't buy any food for a week or so -- like the school administration would care if the seniors didn't eat their lunches for a week -- and we all wore signs that said: "Don't drink milk, drink water instead." Get it?

Just something I recall from those Triton years.

1 comment:

Bill Tracy said...

This is VERY fascinating to me. It's the first organized demonstration I know of in the sixties that didn't involve the civil right movement. But it obviously derives from the civil rights movement and its organized protests. Obviously, some kids at Triton were watching TV and had seen "students" doing sit-ins and other actions.

I'm curious how it got organized. Did Drinkwater organize it, either overtly or covertly? Did he manipulate it in any way? And what effect did it have, if any? Did the school back off and let him go to the prom?

Thanks for talking about this, Judi!