Elston High School - Elstonian Yearbook (Michigan City, IN)

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Students Pioneer A Foreign Land ast summer two of h Elston's Seniors 9 . . deeded to skip town and Visit several countries in Europe. Actually it wasn't as easy as it seemed. After filling out an application and attending an interview, Donna Mershon was selected to go to Hamburg, Germany for the Children's International Summer Village tCISVl. There she was a Junior Counselor for forty eleven- year-old children from all over the world. Communication was difficult at first but Donna managed to pull through. She participated in activities ranging from organizing games for parties to swimming in the Baltic Sea. Greg Yeater was Chosen from a group of teenagers from 35 states to participate in the American Musical Ambassadors' European Band Tour. Greg also filled out an application sent to him for performing in a band concert at Butler University. He was accepted and became a member of the band, playing the baritone horn. Greg visited France, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Germany, England, and Holland. In Holland, instead of staying in a hotel, the band stayed with families. Besides playing concerts in parks and by rivers, the band was able to cut a record in Krekrade, Holland. Greg visited the Olympic sights in lnsbrook, Austria and enjoyed trying to communicate with the people he met. A tshurch in Heidelburg, Germany. summers

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Spots Focused On A Minstrel In Tunic ... his year's musical production, I'Once Upon A Mattress, was not an experiment. Stan and Cheryl Holdcraft, who are after all, tried and true, have directed, choreographed, and costumed four Elston musicals prior to this one, producing a more polished show each time. Mattress was not without problems, though. There is a factor in theater that always determines the quality of a show; money. Money for theater is scarce at Elston, and whether people realize it or not, money was the problem. Unlike members of many other stumbling high school casts who bellyache and are forced to pay for their costumes and makeup personally, Elstonls drama set began helping Mr. Holdcraft with his solution. It was called the HPatron System. The Patron System was a campaign to get ten or twenty- five dollar patrons to sponsor the show. After sending in their Checks, they received receipts and invitations to a reception following opening night. This, of course, insured a good house for the first performance. When everything was going so well financially, it occurred to Mr. and Mrs. Holdcraft that they had other problems. The cast of contrasting experienced and inexperienced students was failing to pull together fast enough. Scenes were slow, Characterizations were bad; Costumers, Kathy Smidt, Fran Booth, and Cheryl Holdcraft were having to slave away around the clock and a few members of the cast were lackadaisical. Each time the closeness of the show was mentioned, Mrs. Holdcraft would issue forth her well known grimace of no hope. Director Stan Holdcraft took care of all this soon enough. No one is more famous among the Elston musical Circle than H, who will blow his stack at the drop of a pin- or the drop of a steel cylinder. Its always neccessary and after it's done he's admired more than ever. So when the lights dimmed and the spots focused on a minstrel in tunic and tights and a beautiful ballerina to accompany his music, the audience, basically composed of patrons, knew that they had spent their money well; And when the curtain opened to reveal a cast decked out in psychedelic costumes that happily depicted the zany kingdom from which they came, everyone was sure of their financial intelligence. Ted Green and Matt Lau convince Heidi Lohse that she should est'ape the kingdom and find refuge in Normandy.

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Open the door, Five, six pick up sticks . l A Seven, eight open the gate! Parking Lot Yields To Expansion. . . new building is a new building is a new building building ... it is made of bricks and it is cold. It has no character. It doesn't say Look at me; look at all I've been through; look at everything I've seen. it just sits and stares, waiting for experience. Elston has a new building with a cold name: llElston Physical Education Complex . Sounds good? Yes, it does sound like a spic and span floor connected to spic and span walls, connected to a spic and span ceiling. Elston, however, survives on tradition. Perhaps someday, when Elston High is falling down, falling down, the physical education building will be a fair lady; proclaiming its nobility to all who enter. Building Blocks. i ;