listing/roster of Charleroi, Pennsylvania High School Graduates/Alumni


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    THE 60's
      Margie Surovchak, '68
      Sam Woncheck, '69
      Paul Valovich, '61
      Jerry Parola, '69 IN MEMORIAM
      Stan Kemp, '63
      Libero A. (Lee) Tremonti, '60
      John M. Valovich, '63
      Don Saunders, '63
      Carol Semantic Claybaugh, '62
      Paul Hubinon, '60
      Pat Sanders Murphy, '66
      Cal Mongomery, '66
      William 'Gus' Pagonis, '60

Local woman recalls time as Steelerette... By Ron Paglia, For The Valley Independent, February 3, 2006
Tom "The Bomb" Tracy and John Henry Johnson gained more yardage, but Carol Claybaugh may have covered just as much ground as she strutted her way into Pittsburgh Steelers and National Football League history at Forbes Field in 1962.

"Was it really that long ago?" Claybaugh, of Fallowfield Township, laughed as she looked back on her time as a member of the Steelerettes, the first official cheerleaders ever in the NFL. "It seems just like yesterday. I have such wonderful memories of that time."

Claybaugh, then Carol Sematic and only a few months removed from graduation at Charleroi High School, joined the Steelerettes one year after their debut. She was added to the cheering squad with the encouragement of the legendary club owner, Art Rooney Sr., because of her awesome baton twirling skills.

She was a student at Robert Morris Junior College (now Robert Morris University) at the time.

"All of the Steelerettes were from Robert Morris," Claybaugh said. "You had to try out to become a cheerleader. They judged you on your appearance, athletic coordination and grades. Having a gymnastics background really helped, as did experience as a cheerleader in high school or college."

Claybaugh said the Steelerettes were formed in 1961 because "Mr. Rooney and the Steelers were looking to create a different type of atmosphere" for the home games, which were played at Forbes Field, also home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, in Oakland. The alliance with Robert Morris Junior College was a natural fit because William V. Day, vice president of the school, also was the Steelers' entertainment coordinator.

"I wanted to be a cheerleader, but they knew about my background with the band at Charleroi High School," Claybaugh, 62, said. "Mr. Rooney said he wanted me to strut my stuff and I became the Steeler Strutter. I still got to cheer with the Steelerettes but I didn't have to do the mounts, pyramids or other routines. I spent most of my time marching -- OK, strutting -- around the field to get the fans in a spirited mood. It was very nice."

While the Steelerettes wore traditional cheerleading costumes of that era and were decked out in black and gold, Claybaugh wore a black suit trimmed in gold and white boots. Her twirling trademarks were a pair of "fired up" batons with glowing flames at each end.

Socializing with the players was strictly forbidden, and violating this rule could lead to dismissal from the squad, Claybaugh recalled. But there was one time she made an exception to the mandate.

"We were standing in the runway getting ready to go on to the field for the home opener that season," she recalled. "As I stood there with batons in hand and practicing a routine, I spotted this big guy just a few feet away. It was Myron Pottios, and I just had to say hello to him."

Pottios, a Van Voorhis native, was a 1957 graduate of Charleroi High School who starred at Notre Dame University and was drafted by the Steelers in 1961. A ferocious linebacker for the Steelers from 1961 to 1965, Pottios later played for the Washington Redskins and Los Angeles Rams,

"As Myron and I were talking, we spotted another young man who was holding a trumpet in his hand," Claybaugh continued. "It was Paul Hubinon. He was a member of the Steelers' Field Band, which played at the home games. We thought that was really something unique, three Charleroi High School graduates together in that setting at Forbes Field, and we walked through a side gate and into the stadium together."

Hubinon, a 1960 graduate of Charleroi High School, was a talented musician who joined Ray DeFade in leading one of Pittsburgh's top bands of that era and later gained acclaim as a studio and club musician in Hollywood. It is his blaring trumpet that is heard in the musical introduction of the popular 60s animated television show, The Jetsons.

Like Claybaugh, Hubinon, who is now deceased, learned his ABCs of music as a member of the fabled Charleroi High School bands directed by the legendary "Professor" Ed Sweadner.

"What a great experience that was," Claybaugh said of learning from Sweadner. "He was a great individual, a good musician, and a man of discipline. The band was very structured, well organized."

While Claybaugh realized her dream of being a majorette with Sweadner's band, she also became proficient at playing the clarinet and bassoon.

"Mr. Sweadner had a strict rule that you had to play an instrument to be part of the band," she said. "There were no exceptions, so I learned to play. Mr. Sweadner gave me the title of drum majorette, and that was fine. We always did what he said."

Sweadner's bands were so popular over a span of some two decades that football fans - at home and away games - seldom left their seats when the halftime show began and the CHS musicians and majorettes took the field.

"Definitely," Claybaugh said. "That's how popular they were. Even as a young child and watching and hearing them, I knew I wanted to be part of that band, part of something special. The Cougar bands were comprised of great individual musicians, and he (Sweadner) had the ability to bring those talents together."

The Charleroi band was chosen twice to participate in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City, and Claybaugh was part of the honor the first time.

"I remember the Macy's people coming to the high school to listen to the band and to watch our routines," she said. "Mr. Sweadner had everyone ready and in top form. He knew what it meant for the town and the school for our band to be chosen for that parade."

The experience of learning from Sweadner and being in the CHS band has remained with Claybaugh over the years in her role as the founder of the Mon Valley Super Stars Baton Corp of Charleroi.

"I've tried to incorporate many of the techniques and concepts that Mr. Sweadner used with our band with my students," she said. "You never forget those types of learning experiences."

In addition to continuing her work with the Mon Valley Super Stars, who have been in existence for some 40 years, Claybaugh also offers private baton twirling lessons and works as an instructor with the majorette and color guard squads of the Charleroi Area High School marching band, which is directed by Denise Bilott.

"I truly enjoy that," Claybaugh said of her work with the current crop of CAHS students. "It brings back a lot of pleasant memories. Those were fun days and we took a lot of pride in being from Charleroi High School and wearing the Red and Black. We were fortunate to have outstanding teachers, people like Mr. Sweadner and Rab Currie, in our midst. We had people who emphasized pride and self-esteem and respect for yourself and for others. We learned the importance of a strong work ethic and understanding responsibility. I've always tried to emulate those people and perpetuate the qualities they possessed."

In doing so, Claybaugh also carries a message she received from Bob Hodgson, a retired Charleroi teacher who was a football standout for the Cougars before graduating in 1960.

"Bob, who was a strict disciplinarian in the classroom, told me many years ago that we put too much emphasis on what the kids are doing right now," she said. "He said we should be concentrating on what they will be taking to the future. We have a distinct responsibility to help them take the right things with them. I'd like to think I have some influence on them, that I make a difference in their lives."

While Claybaugh, whose late father, Michael Sematic, was a longtime projectionist at The Coyle Theatre in Charleroi, is concerned about the future of the children she teaches, she relishes reminiscing about the past. Especially that 1962 season with the Steelerettes.

"We keep in touch through the Web site and e-mails," she said of the history-making cheerleaders. "Many of the girls live in other parts of the country, so it's difficult for some of them to get back to Pittsburgh for our reunions. But we try to keep in touch as much as possible. Everyone has families, of course, and there's so much to talk about."

Like the day at Forbes Field when the Steelerettes and their male counterparts, the Ingots (also students at Robert Morris Junior College) scared the heck out of the Steelers and their fans.

"Don't tell me you were there that day and saw that?" Claybaugh chuckled. "Oh my, that was rather embarrassing."

As part of their routine, the Field Band would play the original Steeler Fight Song and the Steelerettes would launch their victory routine every time the team scored a touchdown. To complement this crowd pleasing celebration, the Ingots fired a cannon set up in the corner of the end zone.

On this particular day, All Pro wide received Buddy Dial caught a pass for a touchdown and was streaking into the end zone. Just as he crossed the final white stripe, he stumbled and his head was lowered just as the cannon - obviously too close to the field - was fired. Dial tumbled to the ground, fearing that he had been shot. He said later he thought he was going to have a heart attack.

Dial was not injured and made the Pro Bowl team that year, but the incident didn't do anything to endear the Steelerettes or Ingots to Buddy Parker, the Steelers' feisty coach, and his staff.

"It came as no surprise that the cannon was conspicuous by its absence at the next home game," Claybaugh said.

Which was fine with the coaches and the players.

"I don't know that they had any real disdain for us," Claybaugh recalled. "It was more a matter of them tolerating us. Having cheerleaders was Mr. Rooney's idea, so everyone accepted it."

Claybaugh, who studied business at Robert Morris Junior College, has worked in business, real estate and secretarial positions over the years. And she has remained a faithful Steeler fan.

"Absolutely," she beamed. "We've been following them for years."

Claybaugh said she and her husband, Gerald F. Claybaugh Jr., will spend a rather quiet time at home watching the Steelers and Seattle Seahawks match skills in Super Bowl XL Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit. Their sons, Brendan and his wife, Tracy, of Erie and Brodie, of Pittsburgh, will most likely partake in livelier celebrations.

And while Claybaugh won't be bringing out the flaming batons, she will be cheering long and hard for the current Steelers to write their own indelible chapter in the team's history. She's already a part of that legacy.