Columbia High School - Mirror Yearbook (Maplewood, NJ)

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Standing (from left to right): Adolf W. Hannes, Ernest F. Fiske, Theodore W. Jones, Theodore W. Mellotte, Peter A. Tencwitz, C. Leroy Darlington, Edward E. Buhrcr, Voris A. Linker, and Frank S. Micale. Seated (from left to right): Mildred F. Memory, Charlotte C. Smith, Corinne D: Seaton, Elizabeth D. Zielenbach, Elsie A. Ruback, C- Larue Crosson, and Francesca A. Palminteri. Not pictured; Lucy G. Ahern, David Meddaugh, Ruth C. Paine, and Margaret A. Sanders. Senior Class Guide—Mr. Irwin Thompson Class President—Bob Maxton Page 6 Senior Class Guide—Mr. Thomas Fleming Class Secretary—Ellen Assclmeycr

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Senior ¥ Our faces wore uniformly forced smiles as we tried to hide a definite, though indeterminate, fear on that bright September morning, when we first entered Columbia. When finally we were seated, our first assembly got under way. We learned to salute the flag, and we heard the first of Mr. Amsden's statistical orations upon the number of girls, boys, teachers, and holes in the acoustical ceiling in the first floor hall. We were in, our nerves were soothed, and school began. Sophomore orientation also began. We learned the mundane facts of school life, and wc also learned other things which were not printed in the guide book. Wc learned that in the lunchroom sophs just don't save scats, especially when a junior wants to sit down. We learned to pitch pennies in study, and to hit the kettle drum four out of five times. We also learned that he who leaves his lunch in front of the library 4' is a fool. The only thing that escaped our keen eyes was what they did in that course called Modern Living. We went out for clubs, sports, and committees. Some of us played football, some chess. We all kept busy. We bought activities btx)ks; we learned the songs and cheers; and we sat in the cheering section at football games. They even let us cheer a little. We were being oriented. Carlos Romulo came to speak to us in assembly, and when wc all came in coats and tics, Mr. Romulo thought that he was talking at Seton Hall Prep, but it all worked out. Niels and Mahgoub, the exchange students from Denmark and the Sudan, came to talk with us and to exchange ideas. The Curtis H. Threlkcld scholarship fund was established. We sat through our first year of letter assemblies, and we learned that Mr. Booth could explain anything. Wc plodded on; the orientation was over; we were juniors. Our junior year started off with a bang and a sneeze. Columbia was gripped by the Asiatic flu. and classes were reduced to less than half of their normal enrollments. Because of the new addition which was going up on the athletic fields, most of the rooms were re- numbered for our junior year, and wc could mis-direct the sophomores in good conscience since wc did not know where we were going either. This was the year of the German measles and the white Impala convertible. In March a princess of Siam came to speak in an assembly, and because of a minor blizzard, a mixup on radio reports, and the fact that it was Friday, most of us did not come to school that day. There was little danger that the princess would be faced by a hostile audience, for the total of herself, the stage crew, and the organist nearly outnumbered the listeners. Our Junior Night was Good News. and it was widely acclaimed. Tait College and the roaring twenties set the pace for a lively show filled with story, song, and Miss Hoxsie's tripping production numbers. Pooch, Babe, Marlowe, and all the crowd met with critical success and made Good News something to remember. Soon it was election time . The campaign was lively and was characterized by an abundance of issues and amusing artwork. After two elections Dave Dornbusch, remaining bloody but more or less unbowed, secured the position of the only junior in the final assembly. We took the Merit Scholarship exams, and for the first time all of us were eligible to compete. It is true that most of us weren't qualified, but we were all eligible. Many of us took the S.A.T.'s in our junior year, and four of our number—Bob Marcus, Bill Chenitz, Naida Tushnct, and Barbara Durchlag— exhibited superior intelligence by going to college one year before the rest of us. Licenses started to come in. and year-long friendships”with seniors went by the boards. We were self-sufficient. Junior girls learned the pleasures of an occasional Friday by the sea. Wc sat through more letter assemblies. Our swimmers took second place in the state, and our varsity eleven under their all-round coach had another of those years of crises. 1958 faded away, and we were seniors. We felt pretty good the first day of our senior year. We were the kings of the hill, and the gym, and the cafeteria, and, most important, the parking lot. We were a happy, carefree bunch, until the third day of school when that awesome word college was dropped in our laps. Wc applied all over the map and our gravy train had the lettering no achievement test required lettered on the side of it. Our Senior Play was in reality three senior plays in one, iof it was three one-act plays. Triangle was received with wide critical acclaim. We sat through more letter assemblies, and saw the best Columbia football squad since the 1951 state champions. This was the year of the Montclair clock, when the final forty-five seconds lasted two minutes. The cross-country team won the Essex County Championship, and Mr. Weiner put on the best monologue a letter assembly has seen in many a day. Because wc were all thoroughly familiar with the rotating periods, and had it all figured out, the administration instituted a third lunch sandwiched between the other two. Known affectionately by those who had it as lost lunch, it served to confuse us and the cafeteria staff. Lost lunch was characterized by an even more severe scarcity of anything good to eat than were the other two lunches. The new addition was opened in our final year at Columbia. Our assemblies were characterized by hcllfire and brimstone. They ran the gamut from bongo drums to trapped miners to the State Commissioner of Education, speaking about Russian schools. The two foreign students, Nadia and Lan, spoke in an assembly and exchanged ideas with us. And so we moved forward, upward, and outward. Miss Ruth Paine, an English teacher at Columbia, retired after many years of faithful service. As seniors wc look forward to many things: College for some, a job for others, a completely new life for all of us. Our three years at Columbia arc such a fleeting period of time that it is difficult to evaluate them, but Columbia has left a distinct impression on each of us. It saddens us to leave, and yet wc arc happy because of the challenge that this leaving provides us. When wc remember Columbia wc shall always think of it with gratitude, and with pride, and with honor, for it was here that our intellect took root; it was here that we first met ourselves. Page 8