Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

Page 32 text:

History of the Glass of 1942 EPTEBIBER, 1937, was not, in com- parison with the same month of other years, particularly noteworthy. It lacked such spectacular events as the hurricane of ,38 or the declaration of war in ,39. It was, in fact, a rather innocuous placid September, a fitting finish for a quiet summer. In one small portion of humanity, however, the advent of fall did arouse great excitement. The forty- four youths who had at various times during the summer been the recipients of letters announcing their acceptance into the Second Form at Kent, were aware of intense agitation. From all parts of the world they came, laden down with parents' blessings and clad in what salesmen had assured them were the latest for campus wear. Slowly but steadily they trickled into the Valley land of Kent, leaving behind them doting fathers and mothers who smiled bravely and hoped for the best. Those who arrived early in the course of that fateful afternoon had the oppor- tunity to grab the best bed and, when the first flurry of unpacking was over, were left to their own devices. Wfe can still recall the heartwarming thrill of finding, among a pile of baggage in the musty recesses of VVest Hall, a familiar face. It was Fred Siefke who, with a glad cry, pushed aside the debris and thrust out a warm, moist hand. In the awkward silence born of un- familiarity, a small group of us advanced BARRY PETE LUD timidly from the sheltering arms of the Main Building and wandered to the foot- ball field. There, in a fever of pre-season activity, two dozen or more bronzed giants were hurling themselves about in what we were later to know as Hlimber- ing-up exercisesu. The sight of these monsters stirred up a multitude of doubts in even the stoutest of new boys. Soon, however, the redoubtable 6.05 pulled in with its load of boys and we were engulfed in a vast flood of yelling and seemingly carefree young animals. From that time on, things moved too fast for us to have any chance to brood over our situation, and we were rapidly drawn into a whirl of activity. Dinner that night was a rather mysterious affair, the only two things made absolutely clear being our position at the table, and the fact that we probably wouldn't gain much weight this first year. Chapel and the meeting in the Study followed in whirlwind sequence and we were rather breathless and bewildered when we finally seated ourselves on the Study fioor. Here assignments were given out by the imposing circle of masters which surrounded us. lt was there that the realization of our purpose here at Kent dawned upon us, and we knew that vaca- tion was over. Shortly following this, we were sent to our beds, happy in the knowledge that we had met Pater and had received our assignments. A vague pattern was beginning to formulate in GIL BAKE + ...i.W,.f...f...1-. n.iw.s...H..2:ln .'... ..-I..-.L-'. up

Page 31 text:

48 xvglalx 7 Cf5r9Ufw' ,fvvvvvvvvvsfsfsrx CLASS HISTORY In the following pages are to be found all that which has nmde our class us united a Forrn as has ever graduated from Kent in its thirty-six years of existenee. Our history is as it should he . . . filled with good tinies, conlrzlideship, and achieve- nient, yet scattered with small trials and ll'llJl1liLlQlO11S. In the n.zu'rz1tive that follows are to be found the inost insigiiiiicant and the rnost important of these events, inixed together with a dash of huniour.

Page 33 text:

ISAI L LEW our confused minds, and if there was a weeping and wailing in the old lVIain Building that night, it was among a very small minority. After the first hectic week of blind fumbling and uncertainty, the Second Form began to get a hold on themselves. Distinct personalities rose to the surface, and we really felt that the School could not get along Without us. Needless to say, this opinion was not shared so wholeheartedly by the rest of the school, but despite the fact that we were re- peatedly called the worst Second Form ever to enter Kentv, we kept smiling. The second floor of the hflain Building, which had enjoyed comparative peace and quiet for the first week, soon became the scene of much sound and fury. The more genteel residents of the lllain Hall were constantly at swords points with the Dead End Kids from West Hall. As the days rolled on, the raids became in- creasingly daring and in desperation, the lNIain Hall brethren convened to elect a mayor and to organize generally for defense. Lew Bartlett won the dubious honor of mayorship, but the organization succumbing to internal corruption, was shortlived and guerrilla warfare con- tinued. The rest of the school redoubled their efforts to imbue us with a sense of the finer things in life, but we repulsed all such attempts and went on in our hap- pily uncultured way. Class elections came up and there was intense cam- BoNzo BIG paigning, with the Bonzo Beach element ranging from speech-making to sadism in an all-out effort to elect their man. The elections were carried out in the Study under the supervision of Pater and, at the last moment, Bartlett nosed out Bonzo, and assumed the Herculean task of keeping the Second Form room in order. The football season got under way, and the majority of Second Form talent was concentrated on the Midgets. The work went on steadily and the Second Form, though still vigorously individual- istic, began to fit into the scheme of things. The Sixth Form, lead by the pre- fects, redoubled their efforts in our be- half and several times a week the nightly revelry in Study Hall was interrupted by the terrifying entrance of one or more of the prefects. There has never been and there never will be five more awe-inspir- ing individuals than those prefects. A single glance from them was sufficient to send the boldest brat', into paroxysms of fear. Second only to the Sixth Form in their kindly interest in us, was the Third Form. This group toiled diligently to impart in us a sense of their im- portance. One member, Johnny Lotti- mer, was so fascinated by us that he came as a missionary into our ranks. Idle talk about something called in- dicatorsu came to our ears around the middle of October, but we blithely ig- nored it. They came, and went swiftly, leaving us all a little shaken. WVith the Buooicm