East Grand Rapids High School - Interlochen Yearbook (East Grand Rapids, MI)

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Prophecy of the Class of '42 The corpse of the beautiful showgirl, Fleur de la Rue, lay outstretched on the white bear rug of her penthouse apartment, her bejeweled right hand tightly clutching a small object. Beside the lifeless figure a small, pearl-handled revolver lay smoking. The inter- nationally celebrated sleuth, Lt. Everett Berg, crouched beside the silent form and removed a tiny gold class- pin, inscribed with the letters E. G. R.-'42, from the clutching fingers. Turning to his assistant, Detective Al Ryan, Lt. Berg commanded, Call the coroners, and get me the list of the Class of '42 of East High. That evening a silent group moved uneasily about the inanimate form of the showgirl as doctors, Wayne Williams, Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation, Betty Lesley, President of the American College of Surgeons, and Robert Currier, new president of the American Medical Association, worked over her. At last one of the doctors removed a small bullet from the skull of the victim. Lt. Berg seized the missile cmd passed it on to Detective Ryan, growling, Exhibit A. Take it to the ballistics experts and see what they can find. As Ryan started out, his chief stopped him. Hold it. Lt. Berg paced the room peering intently at the blood-stained rug. Finally, he snapped his fingers and strode to the closet door opposite the body. As he threw open the door, a small, scarred bullet fell to the floor. Unperturbed, Lt. Berg delicately picked up the cylinder with his Nylon handkerchief and silently offered it to Detective Ryan. Take this along, too.' It might come in handy, he added. Lt. Berg then turned to the coroners. Well, doctors, what's the verdict? Silence enfolded the group as they breathlessly awaited the coroners' decision. Without looking up the coroners gravely replied in unison, This young woman has been shotI Now we're getting somewhere, Berg replied. The evidence points to some member of the famous East High Class of '42. Ryan, call the first suspect. A poised, glamorous beauty stepped into view- the stage star, Sally Petter, now starring on Broadway in The Little Wolves and How They Grew. The star, as usual, was accompanied by her press-agent- manager-body-guard, Gordon Iohnson. Miss Petter, growled Lt. Berg in his best detective manner, Where were you on the night of the murder? None of your business, the beautiful actress re- plied. Oh, all right, then if you don't want to play, growled Berg peevishly. You can go, whined the Lieutenant, looking appreciatively at his first suspect as she strolled out followed by Mr. Iohnson and a pet Pekingese. Next suspectl bellowed Berg. Two s u c c e s s f u l , sophisticated men-about-town slouched forward-the Messrs. Richard Ford and Iames Snow, owners of the Ford-Snow Engineering Com- pany-now at work on their biggest project, the Mary- Ellen Memorial Seminary. Berg eyed the sophisticates suspiciously and then in an attempt to trap the two startled the whole gathering by barking, l-low well did you know the victim? Mr. Ford suddenly stopped twirling his diamond- studded watch fob. Are you kidding? he asked in- credulously. Snow looked blankly dazed. Lt. Berg, although somewhat distracted by this reply, refused to let himself be baffled by these suave char- acters and called for the next suspect. A stunning, superbly-tailored creature strolled out- Iacques from the House of Drummond. Well, lim, began Lt. Berg jovially. Monsieur Iacques, if you please, requested the gentleman. Lt. Berg looked amazed, but drove on. Is is true that Miss La Rue frequented your establishment- the Drummond Salon? Oni, Miss La Rue was one of our best customers, returned the gorgeous Iacques. She not only got her perfume from you, but also had her hair done there? suggested Lt. Berg. Jacques looked uncomfortable, but finally declared, We furnished Miss La Rue's, perfumes, but, unfortu- nately, she patronized our coh1petitor's beauty salon -the Barkman's Bureau for Beautiful Blondes. Lt. Berg smiled knowingly and growled to Detective Ryan, Next witness. Two well-known career women stepped forward- the Misses Edwina Halliday, advertising magnate for the Barkman establishment and Mary lane Phillips, inventor of the marvelous, infallible, new Shur-Blink, automatic eyelash winker, which has taken the coun- try by storm. Lt. Berg was abnut to question the two when one application of Miss Phillip's miraculous in- vention changed his mind. No more witnesses now, he barked, but everybody be here tomorrow at ten sharpl The slightly anaemic smile of old Sol fell listlessly on the several mournful groups the next morning as the class gathered for further questioning. The num- ber oi world-famed celebrities in the gathering was astounding. Lt. Berg seemed to be having some diffi- culty getting proceedings started, for he conferred long and earnestly with his assistant. Meanwhile, the famous Wall Street tycoon, Harry Bowles, stood listening blandly to the latest exploits

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began to think high school might not be so bad after all. Ruth Kaechele came, her face buried deeply between the covers of a book: and one Iohn Nadler, lady-killer. During this time we organized a travel club labeled Mac Cauley's Rangers. In the eighth grade Mary Lee Barkman returned to the fold, having deserted us for East Paris School. loe Martin, bedecked in one of his less somber ensembles fthat's what you call diplomacy, Ioel splashed into our midst. lean Zagelmeier, a quiet and popular young lady, was our last eighth-grade addition. We promptly proposed a hayride which was joy- fully accepted and over before Mr. McBride quite had time to regain his equilibrium. The eighth-grade girls were repeatedly admonished to stay away from the Senior room, where football heroes could actually be viewed at close range. One Mr. Donald Wilber was afflicted with our youthful adoration. Again our dramatic urge rose to the top, and the girls of Miss Wright's American history class presented an original costume play entitled the Boston Tea Party. Doris Barnett made a lovely Lady Birmingham and Connie Cargill, a charming daughter of Arron Burr, especially at the climax when she dashed a cup fschool potteryl to the floor, passionately declaring that she would pay no tea tax. The boys, not to be outdone, retaliated with the Treason of Benedict Arnold, unfortunately, however, owing to a shortage of willing boys, the noble George Washington fBill Farrantl was forced to assist the fir- ing squad in its realistic attempt to do away with Bill Benedict Arnold Faust-no they didn't use a B.B. gun. There was a veritable avalanche of brains, beauty, and talent in the ninth grade. From East Paris we welcomed Dora Kay I-loven, Bud Bowles, lack Dinge- man, Agnes Kleimeyer, and Mary Iane Phillips. From various other points there were Chuck Betts, Al Ryan, Martha Pleasant, Dave Kelly, Ed Ransom, leanne Busch, Bob Gilmore, and Edwina Halliday. Again we organized a successful hayride - at Kelly's of course. Because of our seniority we inherited much of the responsibility for the Iunior Mixer. We engaged a violin and banjo operated by two gentle- men who called themselves the Horseradish Twins. They did an admirable job of converting die-hard jitterbugs into passable square dancers. That was also the year that Norma Wetherby, lack Kennedy, and Dick Ford won the traffic quiz contest and had their names inscribed on the biggest plaque in school for posterity ever to admire. As sophomores we welcomed two glamorous young ladies, Barb Borough and Mary Oostveen. Fuzz Cro- thers and Gordy Iohnson, effective apple polishers and study hall terrors, bounced into our midst along with Norbert Grotenrath and Elvin Harris. As for ac- tivities, we simply hibernated, storing up ideas and energy for those formidable Iunior and Senior years when lack Crothers and Bob Darrah entered the foot- ball hall of fame. Chuck Betts made track history, and Bob Bennett and Dick Ford starred in tennis. Dick Chapman, with his convertible and sail boat, Io Ann Krieg with her red hair, Marjorie Schmidt with Bob Gilmore, and that glamorous, dark-eyed Betty Haynes came to add their talents to the ranks of the Iunior class. Miss Chase drafted practically an all-Iunior cast for the Christmas play, an act which we egotistically believed was in preparation for that great event, the Iunior Play. With blind faith in Gordy Iohnson's ad- vertising ability and the all-star cast, we left the raising of the Iunior-Senior reception funds entirely to the presentation of Seven Sisters. Rehearsals were frequently interrupted by Tom Rose appearing at the stage door to yodel, Gar-toon-ia, a battle cry which seemed to strike a responsive chord in the hearts of all the Iunior males. Nancy Ellett, under the impossible appelation of Mrs. Gurkovyks, began the harrassing but never dull job of marrying off the first three of her brood of seven. This was ef- fected through the aid of Barb Borough's strapless formal and three rather surreptitious kisses-remember Sally? Then came the Iunior-Senior reception, with a bar- rage of balloons, clusters of palms and tropical flowers, dainty corsages, and delicious cakes and ices. I hope you Iuniors are taking this all in. In a breath, we were Seniors. Immediately we were confronted by the terrifying prospect of having two principals for teachers. However, Mr. Ellett soon put us at ease with such legal sounding terms as habeas Corpus and ex post facto , Miss Waterman did the same with something from Chaucer which sounded like Dinah Shore's rendition of Deep in the Heart of Texas with her mouth full of potato chips. Straight from Fifth Avenue for was it Brooklyn?l came lane Clark, and from Kalamazoo, Ginny Bliss. Dorothy fMrs. Orcuttl Mills was the last 12-1 arrival. The battle cry changed from Gar-toon-ia to the more streamlined Gus or Zeke -Gordy Iohnson set up a booth in the library where for a nominal fee he exhibited his black horse-Dick Ford was presi- dent of the Student Council-Ralph Colorado joined the Navy-the B.B. Gun was published-there were snowball fights outside 301 the sixth hour-then came that super-colossal Chase production, Stage Door. The actors were sustained throughout r e h e a r s al s with cokes, candy bars, and hamburgs furnished by angels of mercy in trousers. Ieanne Busch contracted to have a potluck spread for the cast, and Al Ryan gave a coke party. Incidentally, we did give a play. At Christmas we adopted a family upon which we lavished our cobweb-cloaked tops and those which we had smuggled from our infant brothers and sisters. We also had access to Mr. Ellett's supply of confis- cated water pistols and yo-yo's. As the new semester began, we welcomed back Francis Baker, who returned to graduate from East. Earl Hickman promptly earned his ticket to 201 by designing the best Interlochen cover yet to appear. Our last addition was a genial chap, lim Burton. lack Kennedy and Bob Darrah deserted the class to enroll as Freshmen at Michigan State where we hear they are doing justice to their Alma Mater. Quite suddenly and frantically we were presented with the Interlochen budget, A cursory glance at our bank account revealed the ugly fact that we were not plutocrats. The fertile brain of Betty Haynes suggested a style showy another suggested a carnival. Again the class of '42 rolled up its sleeves and plunged its hands into the frenzy of preparing for these projects. Then we found ourselves autographing Interlochens. cramming for exams, and whirling on the receiving end of the Iunior-Senior reception. On a warm Iune evening eighty-five Seniors, fear- fully balancing mortar boards, marched up the aisle of the East Grand Rapids auditorium to the tune of Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. The empty chairs on the platform enfolded the finished products of thirteen years on East's campus.

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of his greatest competitor, the famous broker, fand we do mean brokel lack Iacobsenp while Wall Street's famous corporation lawyer, Ioe Martin, cautioned businessman, Iack Kennedy, about some of his billion- dollar transactions. Near the exit the majority leader, Senator I. Dinge- man, solemnly conversed with the world-famed author, Mary Lee Higgins, parent of the widely syndicated column My Way. Word has come via the White House switchboard operator, Dorothy Marsh, that Miss Higgins may support Senator Dingeman in the coming elections, although Donald Clark, of the Clark News- paper Syndicate, is opposed to the involvement of his feature-writer in legislative politics. Lt. Berg made an attempt to start proceedings but thought better of it and decided in favor of the ad- vancement of science in the form of the discussion between three of the class scientists, Iane Clark, Ieanne Busch, and Dora Kay Hoven. These avid scien- tists were absorbedly discussing Miss Clark's newest discovery, two-toned invisible ink. Miss Clark ex- plained that the discovery will find great use in hos- pitals where blue ink used for admittance records will within three days automatically turn to the red used when the patient dies. Dr. Dale Van Otteren, Super- intendent of the Van Otteren Sanatorium for Mentally Maladjusted, it is reported, has purchased all the available supply: for as his head nurse, Ruth Rich, explains, It's so much cheaper that way. Miss Busch, statistic's expert at Carnegie Institute, was recently voted America's Best Authority on Figures-but that's hardly news to those who knew her when. Miss Hoven, famed dietician, is waging a verbal war against the complacent philosophy which is the by-word of the future dieter- I'll start tomorrow. Suddenly, into this calm, intellectual atmosphere an Indian warwhoop heralded the arrival of Torn Rose, originator of the Quiet Hour, a program of ancient lullabies. Mr. Rose has had as his scenarist the well- known radio script writer, Dorothy Mills, but it is be- lieved a break is imminent, for, as Miss Mills explains, He's so quiet the silence is nerve-racking. Playing a sprightly game of passing the buck were the country's two greatest football heroes, lack Cro- thers and Bob Darrah. Butch Darrah, it is rumored, is thinking of establishing a college with matriculation in football only, with the degree of Doctor of the Pig- skin as the much-coveted award. Coach Crothers, lately associated with Phillingbott University, recently bade farewell to his old Alma Mater in favor of the highly-prized position of head coach at Vassar. As Lt. Berg attempted vainly to round up his sus- pects in an orderly fashion, the four naval enthusiasts, Dick Chapman, Ralph Colorado, Norbert Grotenrath, and Bill Poisson inspected the bathtub minutely as a possible scene of manoeuvres. Admiral Colorado, al- though insisting that in an emergency the hull of a ship should be drilled to allow water to escape, was willing to concede to Commander Grotenrath that such a plan would be impractical in the instances involv- ing steel battleships. Captain Poisson, owner of the large chain of steamers operating on the Great Lakes, remarking on the action of the third Normandie com- mented that she cuts a nice figure, to which Com- modore Chapman, appraising the statistics expert from Carnegie Institute, readily agreed. 24 In the center of the crowded room Lt. Berg distract- edly questioned two internationally-recognized musi- cians, Francelia Whitfield, the concert pianist, and Ed Ransom, the Stokowski of his day. Besides the com- ing series of concerts at Carnegie Hall which Con- ductor Ransom is planning for Miss Whitfield, it has been rumored that the two artists are working on musical masterpieces which will be designed to fit the moods of the new dress collection put out by the House of Fashion, the style-dictating firm headed by the renowned designers, Sally Berry, Marcia Goetz, Constance Cargill, and Barbara Iarnac. Paris and the world are breathlessly awaiting the new showing of creations for the coming season, but the concern's foremost super-salesmen, Iim Roon and Bob Gilmore, refuse to give out professional secrets. The grapevine reports that the department store scion, Richard Petter, is in line for the exclusive rights to the gowns of the House of Fashion. Mr. Petter's reliable buyer, Miss Virginia Bliss, who is responsible for much of the Petter stores' success, is said to be arranging for a contract with the fashion establish- ment. The Kenneth Hicks' Advertising Agency, with the aid of its president's two right hands, Dorothy Pierce, the renowned efficiency expert and author of The Human Side of Business , and Agnes Kleimeyer, who has been successful at entertaining the foreign buyers in this country, is attempting to make the American public Petter conscious -- as if it weren't already. Mr. Kenneth Nickel, owner of the extensive Nickel Theaters, stood conversing with the two Hollywood photographers, Bill Faust and Ierry Lugthart. Rumor has it that the s ervic e s of Miss Mary Edison, New York's most famous model, have been obtained since the recent loss of the services of the Valentino of '55, Allan Parrott. As Lt. Berg was slowly but surely shedding his toupe, Presidential nominee, Robert Henry Bennett, was agitatedly bemoaning adverse publicity to the Secretary of Agriculture, David Kelly, and gentleman farmer, Martin Sprite: while the Einstein of the day, Robert Behnke, listened disinterestedly to author V. Stuart Foote's account of his latest saga, The Pink Elephant Element in Snipe-Hunting. Professor William Farrant, exuberant lecturer on the fourth dimension, and his associate, Professor Iames Burton, brilliant exponent of the social element in busi- ness relations and inventor of the famous fourth dimen- sion perpetual motion machine which automatically squeezes oranges at 8 a.m., were surrounded by a bevy of clubwomen attempting to persuade the wily profs to make a lecture tour together. Mary Oost- veen, Mae Adele Wagner, and Io Ann Krieg were vainly attempting to lure the gentleman into touring the country under the sponsorship of the Vanishing Pore Cream Company. The Miss America of 1955, Doris Barnett, just back from Atlantic City, and Iean Zagelmeier, recently voted Americas Nicest Girl, who is the new head of Vassar's culinary department, were appreciatively eyeing the naval experts: while society's Cobina of 1955, Barbara Borough, was being persuaded to tell it to the Marines, Clark Caskey and Chuck Betts. In a far corner three other former class members glared