Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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BCYS' PROPI-IECY Not many of you have played the role of Rip Van Winkle, but that is what I have been doing for the last twenty years. It has been twenty long years since I left my classmates, at Natick High, to go into the Katskill Mountains to work, therefore, I decided one day to drop over to New York, in my aeroplane, for a visit. The trip over surely was amusing, for the first thing I saw, while crossing Long Island Sound, was a fishing boat, in which I recognized John Topham, as the chi-ef fisherman. At first I was surprised, but then I remembered that he always could throw a good line. I landed at Roosevelt Field, early Saturday morning. The first thing I did was to look for a taxi. When I was crossing the field I m-et daredevil Ray Ayers, who had just returned from a trans-Atlan- tic flight, in which he tried t.o beat Lindbergh's record of 1927, but Ray, thoughtless as ever, had forgotten to stop at Paris and had gone straight on to Constantinople. Ray then directtd me to a taxi stand, where, to my astonishment, I found Francis Burke. It seems that after leaving High School, he had become a champion golf driver, so the Overcharge Taxi Company hir'ed him to drive their taxis. Fran rushed me to the busin-ess section of the city, where my old pal, Ralph Slamin, had an insuranc office, which a rich uncle had given him. On approaching the elevator I heard a familiar voice calling, Going Up . I looked to see who it could be and discovered Austin Fittz, all dressed up for the occasion, still taking his ups and downs in an easy way. Austin let me out on the sixteenth iioor and I proceeded down the corridor to Ralph's office. On my way down I saw a sign on a door, which read, Hollis Holbrook-Painless Dentist-Best Work to Cash Customers , but I was in too much of a hurry to stop. At last I reached my destination. On opening the door there was a great crash and the first thing I saw was the Immaculate Don Holden sprawled out on the fioor, covered with soap suds, and with a step-ladder on top of him. He was Ralph's office boy and was cleaning the drop lights to get a little more light on the subject. Don conducted me to Ralph's private office, where I found him feet up on the desk, smoking a cheap cigar. Evidently uncle had not sent his weekly allowance. The office was only a fake and really the rendezvous for his friends. On our way over we passed by Intinarellifs Beauty Shop, famous for its Face Lifting . On glancing through the window whom should I see but Cy Foley, sitting in the chair, having his face lifted.

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10 THE SASSAMON We all remember the day one of our football heroes was just going to take a bite of a nice, new cream puff, when Red Walsh came along and jogged the hero's arm with disastrous results to his face. But when the unfortunate one got mad, threw the cream puff fwhat was left of ith, at Red, and missing his aim, sent it into the middle of the gym floor, how we did enjoy seeing the poor fel- low mop it up under the direction of Coach Bike! At last we have reached the height of our ambition. We were Seniors, the name which we had for four years tried to attain. This was the most memorable of our whole career. At what we considered the most important game of the year, Framingham versus Natick, the score was a tie. Our boys had played well and we could feel victorious in preventing our opponents from scoring. The Senior Play, The Charm School, was a great success, both financially and socially, thanks to the hard work of the members of the cast and the teachers, who coached us. We scored on the class of 1926 by making a net profit of i p413.00. In May, through the generosity of the Rotary Club, the Senior boys accepted an invitation to attend a banquet and lecture, to be given in G. A. R. Hall. A number of speakers from outside towns tried to impress us with the desire for further education. A number of boys spent a few days storing up an appetite for this event, so did full justice to the banquet. Memorial Day brought a sudden change in our affairs. The whole school was dismayed and confounded to learn that we were to suffer a two weeks' vacation, on account of scarlet fever. This mis- ery, however, was cut short by the Board of Health, who summoned us back at the end of one week, so we could not be deprived of the pleasure of finishing our year's work. On Wednesday, June 8, the members of the Senior Latin Class, under direction of Bernard Trum, spent one minute in silent prayer for Daniel Mahoney, who at the time, was taking a college board examination in Latin. Unfortunately, Miss Mann, discovering it, cut short the time, but we hope Mahoney profited. When we entered Natick High School, as Freshmen, we felt that we Were, without doubt, the most industrious and brilliant class. We have proved this now by graduating with a large group of Pro-Merito students and a Valedictorian with an unusually high average. June 29, 1927, will be a long remembered date for every member of the class. Upon that night we will receive that precious docu- nlent for which we have struggled for four years. And now our battle with the world will begin. Never forgetful of the four years at Natick High School, we will strive, to the best of our ability, to secure a better and higher standing. RODNEY FRAZER, '27

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12 THE SASSAMON He was still trying to be a sheik. A little further down the street we met Francis Sweeney, carrying some bricks up a ladder. I asked him how he happened to take up brick-laying and he told me that it suited him, because he was on the rocks the greater part of his life anyway. We finally arrived at the ball park and what I saw there made my eyes water. Dutton, Dowd, and Bernard wore Red Socks uni- forms. Because of the excited condition I was in, I yelled down from the bleachers, How do you like the old Red Flannels? Immediately I received a few rotten tomatoes on the side of the head. Knowing that it was no time to rectify my mistake and also knowing that the Red Sox had a few friends, I took a hasty glance, saw my old class- mates, Frank Canzano and Bill Mahaney, both ex-service men, still keeping in practice, and I ran out of the field, feeiing I had barely escaped with my life. At the next corner we met Eddie Greene, Paul Bianchi, and Arthur Holmes. Eddie Greene was a traveling salesman, for the Walkover Shoe Company. He showed every prospective customer how well his shoes had worn. Paul Bianchi seemed quite stuck up , but I soon found out that he was in the Gum business, which accounted for it. Arthur Holmes was slipping quite a lot since entering the banana business. As I was by this time nearly starved we headed for Stubby's Lunch , knowing that the boys never found bones in the ice cream at that restaurant. f'Matt Murphy was the manager, so, of course, we expected a free lunch. Hank Rich was the tall waiter and Louis Flumer was the food inspector. Before we ate our food Louis came along with an enormous ladle and sampled it, to make sure it con- tained the right ingredients. My bill, however, was just as much as the charge to an ordinary customer and I could almost wager it was more, but the sign said, You Pay For Service . When we left the restaurant we met John Sandow, who was now a great general and was letting the standing armies sit down for a rest. With him was Bernard Trum, who had defeated Demar and Nurmi , in a spirited run, and was now thinking of running for Mayor. We then walked into a hotel to see what time it was getting to be and there we met Frederick Shipp, who was on his way to give a lecture on How to Study . Not finding any clock we rushed out. Theodore Robinson was manager and that was his idea of saving time. We then wentinto a barber shop to get a hair cut and found the chief barber to be Horace Langley. I was, of course, surprised and asked him how long he had been a barber, to which he replied, Why, l've been a barber ever since I was a little shaver .