Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

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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

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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

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Tnr HA r DAVE SANDY bouyancy of youth we soon recovered and went on doing more or less as we were told, and gaining every day in self- importance. We cheered lustily at all football games, got frightfully in the way at the sidelines, and in general had a wonderful time. The Taft game was the big event of the season, and for many reasons will be long engraved on the memory of the Class of 42. Not the least of these reasons is Timmy Syming- ton. Timmy indulged rather heavily in the delights of Lady Nicotine through the dubious medium of Bull Durham and a corncob. This, coupled with quantities of cider, peanuts, Coca Cola and other delicacies, would be enough to fell the strongest. Timmy, though far from the strongest, controlled himself admirably until the bus got back to school. He was the first to leave the bus, and when the rest of the form trooped wearily up the lVIain Building stairs, it was immediately evident that someone had been des- perately ill. In the midst of much com- ment Timmy appeared, distinct traces of violent nausea still clinging to glasses and chin, vehemently denying any con- nection with the outrage and asking in loud tones who the sissy was that couldnlt take it. The Choate game threw us into an- other fever. The game itself was heart- breaking, but the incumbent excitement compensated for it. After the Choate game, it was time to think of term exams and to start study- NIGGER Bixvx ing. Most of us, however, found vacation a more fascinating topic for thought. lt was a period of unrest in the Matin Building, with a great deal of bed-setting, pillow-lighting, and general roughhouse. It was the time when water bombs be- came the fad, and the old place was a welter of wet towels and puddles. This frenzy lasted almost a week until some perverted brain made a large bomb of Zonite and heaved it into Wfood and VVaters, room where it took the color out of every object it touched. The law stepped in at this point and bombs be- came a thing of the past. The exams, with all their incumbent horror, came and went. Clean-up and packing followed. It was a very weary little band of Second Formers who raised their shrill voices in the old familiar Xmas carols that last evening. After a night almost completely devoid of sleep. we hied ourselves away for the three long awaited weeks. The return to Kent in January was made in a good rousing snowstorm which did little to heighten the gaiety of the affair. Through the fog and filthy airu could be seen glowing dimly a beau- tiful array of Christmas ties, and just above these, glowing a bit more dimly, were the faces of their owners, each wrap- ped in blissful retrospect. Bill Curran was elected our president and worked hard for order in the Study Hall. However, it is feared that the com- bined Southern charm of his two room-