By Michael Perna Jr., Contributing Writer
Shrewsbury – During a recent cleaning out of some old (very old!) desks at Beal School, what appeared but a School Department brochure dating from 1940, entitled “Letter Writing.” The brochure was in perfect condition. It was authored by three teachers from that time, Mildred Shea, Isabelle Forsyth, and Arline Stirk, and was published by another teacher, Domenic Vaccaro, and his Industrial Arts students. Of these, Miss Shea had a very long career at the High School, serving well into the 1960s, as this columnist remembers her from his high school days (1964-68). The booklet outlines many things that would be virtually foreign to students of today; such things as how to create carbon copies and how to use proper terms of address for a whole list of people, ranging from politicians, clergy of all faiths, everyday people, business people, and yes, even to include Royalty! Things back then were done in a far different way back then.