By Debi Stilgebouer Kemp 72
Part of the George Dewey High School’s culture was the formation of non-traditional clubs. There were the Jokers, the Clowns, the Angels, the Kittens, and the Sunflowers. This article is about the Angels club and a few of its members from 1966 through 1970.
69-70 Angels: Standing: Sandi McGee, Stevie Santos, Theresa Havins, Michelle Santos, Diane Marshall, Melani Cladas, Seated: Denise Kelsay, Barb Havins, Wanda Marshall
When a student was asked to join the Angels, it would be by one of its leaders and another member. Similar to a college sorority, the student went through a two-week initiation period and was known as “Sinner.” During initiation, she had to adhere to what the Angels requested, and Angels would write notes about her progress. On the evening of the last day of initiation, the Angels made “Sinner” dress in a costume of a character that they chose. Then the time came for her to perform or parade around in costume at the Teen Club. After her appearance at Teen Club, “Sinner” was taken to the home of one of the Angel’s. At this point, the real test began. This test would show everyone that she was serious about becoming an Angel! It was required to eat strange and mixed substances of food that smelled and tasted incredibly awful, including eating a balut!! A balut is a Filipino delicacy of a boiled fertilized duck egg — it’s not like a regular egg since the shell contains a partially developed duckling complete with recognizable features.
When “hell night” finally ended, the Angels would present “Sinner” with a cake that had her new “Angel” name written on it. It was the custom that all Angel names started with the letter “S” taken from the name “Sinner.” And the name the Angels chose would have some meaning in common with that of “Sinner’s” personality or appearance.
Here are some of the Angels’ memorable experiences being in this wonderful club.
Wanda Marshall Winkler 70
Wanda, Angel name Swanki, came to Subic Bay in 1966 and shortly after was asked to join the Angels by Sherri Gilbert (“Sneaki”) and Stevie Santos. On Wanda’s hell night she was dressed up as a devil. When she showed up in her devil costume at the Teen Club, there was coincidently another prospective member from the Kittens club that arrived dressed as a devil too! But Wanda’s devil costume really sizzled–hot-hot-hot!! Wanda remembers being blind-folded during her hell night initiation, and eating the horrid and dreaded balut.
Wanda became known as the “Mama Angel.” Wanda designed the Angels’ black and white uniform, and designed the costumes for “Sinners” to wear on their hell night at the Teen Club. She also designed the cheerleader uniforms for the George Dewey High School. In the years preceding her career in real estate, Wanda designed clothes as a career in the Los Angeles area.
Wanda remembers that the Angels brought various supplies to a community of people that were afflicted with leprosy near Manila. They also painted a school in Olongapo which Wanda said was “a lot of fun.”
Wanda enjoyed being in the Angels because of what the club was all about and what it meant to her, which was “doing the right thing, being part of an important team, being a leader and part of a group that genuinely cared about one another. It was a ‘sisterhood’.”
Sandra McGee 70
Sandi, Angel name Skurri, moved to Subic Bay during her Sophomore year in January 1968, and in the fall of that year she was asked to join the Angels. Sandi remembers very little about her hell night except for having to dress up as a cave woman and feeling not pleased about the way she looked. One might wonder if she might have felt that if she could have, she would have banged somebody over the head with a club?!
Sandi McGee 70, ‘Skurri,’ Sandi’s younger sister, Dale McGee Fry, ‘Spanki.’ They are wearing their Angel t-shirts with their Angel names.
Sandi also remembers the service project at the leprosy community and that it was run by a Catholic priest. They collected and delivered supplies and visited the community twice and that experience really made an impact on her. “I was deeply touched by the residents of the village and by their strength and resolve. Over the years I have often thought about that unique experience.” In the article below, entitled “Subic’s Angels’ Visit Tala,” taken from the Subic Bay newspaper and saved by Sandi, is a story about one of their visits. The photograph in the article below shows Angel members, in front, left to right, Melani Cladas Boultier, Wanda Marshall Winkler, and Sandi McGee in back carrying supplies. Also, in the photograph, carrying supplies, is GDHS Alumni, Dave Pace (Class of ‘72).
Subic’s ‘Angels’ Visit Tala
GIFTS: Father Angel M de Moreta receives food and clothes, from the “Angels,” a group of high school students from Subic Bay.
The “Angels,” were not heaven sent, but were from a more earthly abode; the U.S. Naval Base, Subic Bay.
The “Angels,” A group of high school girls, along with their escorts and several boys, brought food, clothes, candy and various other items to be used at Tala.
Their first stop was at the Holy Rosary nursery. There they were greeted by Father Anthony Hofstee, Chaplain of Tala and Father Angel M. de Moreta.
Children, all sons and daughters of patients, live at the nursery. “They all seemed so healthy and well cared for,” said Wanda Marshall. During the tour they had time to visit with the children and learn a little about the way they live.
The children are taken from the moment of birth and put in the nursery. They spend the next six years there and are permitted, twice a month, on Sunday, to visit with their parents. During the visit the children are separated from their parents by a glass partition. At the end of six years they live with their parents.
Unlike most institutions, where uniforms are quite common, Tala tries to make the children feel as if they are individuals. They can assume a feeling of importance, rather than just another child.
“When we first started, I was asked,” said Father Hofstee, “What type of uniform do you want, blue, red or green? My answer was — the one thing I never want to see on these children is a uniform.”
After their tour and lunch at the nursery, the “Angels” visited the leprosarium. They toured the college, built for the sons and daughters of patients, and visited the chapel.
The remainder of the day was spent visiting the dorms and talking with the patients.
The “Angels” met Tala’s two artists, one a sculptor and the other a painter.
The “Angels” learned that leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, is a disease of the nervous system which affects the skin and causes it to decay. While it is incurable at present, the use of modern drugs, in cases considered negative can control outward manifestations of the disease.
Therese Havins Miller 70
Therese, Angel name Smirki, joined the Angels in 1968. She was asked to join the Angels by Diane Reid and another Angel by the name of Connie. She rarely saw these two Angels as they had graduated high school earlier that year and often hung out at the Cubi O’club “scouting for fly boys … boy did I miss out on the action.”
During Therese’s sinnership, she remembers her hell night “vividly” because she wore a genie costume, “felt naked with her entire abdomen showing,” and wore a “jewel in her belly button which kept falling out.” After appearing at the Teen Club, the Angels took Therese, still dressed in her genie costume, outside the Olongapo gate telling her to ask sailors for donations and for spare change. One of the other Angels, Cindy Hale, remembers that one sailor even waived a hundred dollar bill in front of Therese! But Therese admits having no memory of the incident. Below are photos of Therese, as a “genie” on her hell night at Teen Club.
Therese remembers that the last thing to happen on hell night after eating the traditional balut, was that “Sinner” gets to take a shower and is presented with a cake with her Angel name written on it. Therese couldn’t figure out the written name on her cake, but was told it was “Smirki.” The Angels chose that name because Therese had a certain “smirk” that she would do all the time.
Therese also remembers that Angel Wanda “Swanki” designed the Angel uniform and that she sketched and designed the sinners’ hell night costumes, “Wanda was, and still is, so talented in clothing design.”
Therese enjoyed wearing the Angel uniform and walking around “like we were all that.” Being in the club gave her a sense of belonging and improved her self-confidence. “I was painfully shy through my Freshman year and gradually came out of my shell and then especially once I became an Angel.”
Melanie Cladas Boultier 72
Melanie , Angel name Sonsi, remembers how she felt when asked to join the Angels:
“First it was the thrill of being asked to join the exclusive club and the prospect of enduring the mysterious process of hell night. Then there was the fun of reading what the Angels had written about you in clandestine notes filled with symbols that you soon learned to draw. There was the terror of surviving the grueling process of hell night where you were forced to eat abhorrent concoctions of vile foodstuffs, along with a smelly and unsavory balut penoy. Then the elation of making it through the terrifying ordeal, then the refreshing shower to clean off your body covered with disgusting debris; and finally, receiving a cake in your honor at a celebration where you were given your own Angel name that begins with the letter ‘S’ which was specific to your personality.”
Melanie came to Subic Bay in 1967 and left in 1972. She was a Freshman when she and Diane Marshall (Class of ‘72) were pulled out of Mr. Croonquist’s chemistry class. The Angels surrounded Melani and Diane announcing that they were chosen to join the Angels Club.
Together, on their hell night, Melani and Diane put on a show at the Teen Club as Raggedy Ann and Jack-In-The-Box. There was a real crank that Raggedy Ann wound up before Jack popped out of the box. Melani “loved wearing the curly wig and having big freckles painted on her cheeks.”
Melanie remembers doing community service for the Tala Leprosarium. They collected towels, soap, toothbrushes, hair brushes and paper products for the occupants of the community.
Her favorite part about being an Angel was that it made her feel special. She enjoyed getting dressed up as a character and putting on a little performance at the Teen Club in Kalayaan.
Melanie and Diane Marshall as Raggedy Ann and Jack-In-The-Box on their hell night at the Teen Club.
Melanie Kelsey Therezo 73
Then we have the two Kelsey sisters, Simmer and Summer. Younger sis, Melanie, was “Simmer” and joined the Angels in 1969. She remembers being dressed up as Dracula on her hell night. “What does Dracula say to the mirror: terror, terror on the wall — who has the best bite of all?” Melanie probably wasn’t crazy about being assigned to playing Dracula, so perhaps she may have had a true desire to bite someone on the neck at Teen Club!
Melanie Kelsey, Simmer (left) and Nancy Hale.
Debi Stilgebouer Kemp 72
In the Spring of 1970, Debbie Merchant Cramer (Class of ‘72) and I were asked to join the Angels. I think it made it a little easier being initiated as “Sinners” together in the club. As I look back it really was like something out of the “Fear Factor” just a little ahead of its time! Hell night was a little rough — especially having to eat the balut! I remember telling myself during that terrible moment to just swallow the darn thing whole, shut my eyes, and not think about it. I knew that if I even tried to chew it, it would then be all over and I would get sick everywhere! For me, that was the most challenging part of becoming an Angel member!
On our hell night at the Teen Club, we performed a skit with Debbie playing a cute little girl standing on steps behind a platform operating her puppet Pinocchio played by me. After hell night came to a slow and long anticipated end, the Angels brought out the cakes with our Angel names written on them. Debbie’s Angel name was “Somber,” and I thought my Angel name said “Scallop!” After being put through all that torture on our hell night, I couldn’t believe that was the name given to me! I was thinking, “What do I look like, some kind of a soft-centered sea creature?” The Angels laughed and clarified that “Scarlett” was my name! Well, that was a tremendous relief!
The Angels’ names were displayed in engraved gold letters on a plaque at the Teen Club!
Though it remains a mystery as to how and why the Angels began in 1957, we share wonderful memories from those days. It has been a great pleasure to reach out to the Angels who have shared their stories for this article. The Angels and other clubs were a positive influence on us all, creating tradition and camaraderie among the students at George Dewey High.
A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
After speaking with Wanda a couple of times by phone, she specifically mentioned that she wanted to thank all of the GDHS Alumni who played a part in re-connecting us all together again by Facebook! To name a few, Wanda mentioned Larry Galinato, Al Morel, Steve Sego, John Sullivan, and the rest who have helped to keep the communications ongoing.
I am grateful and want to thank Al for the opportunity to write about the Angels. And I look forward to seeing many of you at the 2016 George Dewey Reunion in Las Vegas in August!