The 1950s "Cleveland Browns Cassidyetts" cheerleaders hailed from Stark County
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There's a popular misconception involving the Cleveland Browns. Most people believe that they have never had cheerleaders.
It's not true. You might be surprised to know that the first group of young women to support the team on the sidelines hailed from Stark County.
From 1955 to 1971, different groups of cheerleaders took to the Cleveland Municipal Stadium sideline and served for multiple seasons.
The original squad − called the "Cleveland Browns Cassidyetts" − were junior varsity dancers and cheerleaders from Stark County. The girls performed during timeouts and at halftime of every Browns home game from 1955 to 1957.
Most of them called Alliance home.
"Wonderful memories," said former member Patti (Bolog) Schaefer of Alliance. "This experience launched several girls into a career in the arts."
For example, Schaefer, now 82, became a model and actress, later owning a modeling and performing art studio until she retired. Another member, Bonnie Lee (Leonard) Crawley, enjoyed a career on Broadway and performed on "The Jackie Gleason Show" as a June Taylor dancer.
Crawley, also now 82, was the squad's captain. She called the Browns experience "the most exciting thing" for a group of young girls from Stark County. Her youngest sister, Cynthia (Cassidy) Ivanoski, was the team's mascot, dressing as an elf.
At least one of the girls was from Massillon.
Bill Cassidy and George T. 'Red' Bird were friends
It all started in Alliance, where Crawley's stepfather, Bill Cassidy, owned a dance studio. The girls were his students.
Cassidy was friends with the Browns' director of entertainment, George T. "Red" Bird, a pioneer in today's marching band styles. Prior to that, Bird was band director at Washington High School in Massillon, and later worked for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Legendary coach Paul Brown brought Bird to the Browns from Massillon.
Bird formed the "Musical Majorettes" for the Browns − a precursor to halftime entertainment − and, in 1954, Bonnie Lee Crawley participated with group. A year later, Crawley and 11 girls from her stepfather's studio were invited to become the Browns' first cheerleaders, she said.
"That was (Cassidy's) connection," Schaefer said.
The Cassidyetts expanded to 24 girls for the final two seasons of their run.
They hobnobbed with Paul Brown, Lou Groza, Dante Lavelli and others. Later in life, Schaefer said she became good friends with Groza and they would catch up at Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival events.
The Browns play the New York Jets in the Hall of Fame Game on Thursday night in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton. Joe Thomas, an offensive lineman for the Browns, will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame on Saturday.
This year's Browns inclusion in the Enshrinement Festival has brought back memories for these living Cassidyetts. Several members have died.
The experience was positive ... and cold.
Reuniting for the first time in years at Schaefer's home were fellow Cassidyetts Mary Allen (Anderson) Clark of Alliance and Myrna (Axelrod) Goldberg of Jackson Township. Goldberg was born and raised in the Carnation City.
The women shared stories and laughs.
Clark, 80, is a retired controller for a research company. She briefly lived in Puerto Rico.
Goldberg, 81, had two careers − a school teacher followed by work with young offenders as a liaison for the Stark County Prosecutor's Office − before she retired. She used to coordinate the Fashion Show for the Hall of Fame Festival in the 1970s.
The Fashion Show experience "was quite enlightening," she said.
Both women called their experience with the Cassidyetts "positive" − except for one aspect, they all agreed on.
Cleveland Municipal Stadium was "so cold."
"There was a lot of wind that came off the lake," Clark said. "We were always at the bleacher end, which meant it was open."
Crawley, in a phone interview, said they would remove their jackets to perform at halftime or between breaks in the action. They then would run back for their jackets, and head inside the tunnel to get warm.
"They always had hot chocolate for us," she said.
Schaefer added: "Still remember it all, even the smell of that place. I just remember it all."
Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders are famous, not first
Arguably, the most famous cheer squad in the National Football League is the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, founded in 1960. They were not the first. The old Baltimore Colts were the first professional football team to use cheerleaders, in 1954.
The Browns were No. 2 with the Cassidyetts, a source of pride for Schaefer, Crawley, Clark and Goldberg.
"That does mean something," Schaefer said.
Clark carries the message of who came first.
"I always tell people that when they talk about the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders being first, I say, 'they weren't,'" Clark said.
The Browns also used different squads for a stint in the 1960s, and for one season in 1971. Reportedly, there are no team record of these squads. Plenty of clippings from newspapers and an old, in-house team magazine show their existence.
The Cassidyetts were not paid.
"After Sunday, we'd go back home and go to school. Just normal girls," Crawley said. "But we felt like these movie stars."
"And it started in Stark County," Schaefer added.
Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @bduerREP
The original 12 "Cassidyetts" squad
From 1955 to 1957, the "Cleveland Browns Cassidyetts" entertained Cleveland Browns crowds in old Cleveland Municipal Stadium. The squad started with 12 − later expanded to 24 members − and all were from Stark County.
The original 12 members, plus captain, were:
Bonnie L. (nee Leonard) Crawley - captain
Patti (Bolog) Schaefer
Mary Ellen (Anderson) Clark
Myrna (Axelrod) Goldberg
Loretta Conway Venables
Deanna (Vellesi) Magisano
Joyce Neely
Judy (Palen) MacLean
Kay (Cordley) Campbell
Karen (Schwalm) Perri
Sherri Unkefer
Lynette Traver
Lynn E. (Messenheimer) Jackson
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Alliance-area "Cassidyetts'' were Cleveland Browns cheerleaders in '50s
