Natick High School - Sassamon Yearbook (Natick, MA)

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I4 Tllli SASSAMON him courage, endurance and power to overcome obstacles. Vflhat is it that brings the explorer through trackless wilderness to his final goal? It is that everlasting flame of faith that burns in every man's heart. We can look back into the pages of time and find this magic emotion of man committing masterful deeds. If George YVashington did not have faith in his men, and his country, how different Americals history might have been! Abraham Lincoln, by his faith in the endurance of the union brought America through another crisis. Such examples of faith by great leaders of time have played major roles in the development and construction of countries. Faith is a subtle charm VVhich binds us to the infinite, the voice Of a deep life within that will remain Until we crowd it thence. Vflith Shakespeare, we must recognize that nothing counterfeit can long endure and that it is in its natural spontaneity and genuineness that youth prevails. lo thine own self be true And it must follow, as the night the day, lhou canst not then be false to any man. 'l'hus in striving for achievement, we must be true to ourselves and realize that there is but one road to success - the hard straight way. You can never save time by cutting across the quicksand. Classsmates, let us start out with that unconquerable belief - the belief in mankind's goodness, the belief in our ambition, the belief in our ability to make good, and with the faith that we shall do credit to this school which has educated us. In our last farewells, l believe that we should also pay some sort of tribute to those of our class who are already in the service of their country and to those who before long will join them in striving for the rights of humanity and final peace. Of the parting word which must now be ours, Byron has said: Farewell, a word, that must be and hath been A sound that makes us lingerg yet farewelllu Carl Swanson YOUTITS FAITH IN AMERICA -Is the war clouds darkened the world in 1939 we in America felt that it was something which would affect only the people on the other side. l,ittle did we realize that this war was aimed directly at us. Men did much talking but took little action. But inwardly the youth of America was pre- pared. Athletics of all types have sharpened our minds and bodies so that with the attack on Pearl Harbor we were able to put into practice the ideas which would make our country strong. Vile wanted to do something! IVe were immediately possessed with the spirit of patriotism. Vile knew and understood Americanism. I . Vflhat is this Americanism? Those of us who have enjoyed all of the privileges, all of the luxuries - all of the power of this great country realize that our patriotism arises from a love - yes, from a Faith that we have in everything American. It is because of our very belief that America is the home of freedom and over all alike waves her sacred banner of liberty that we the youth of Natick are determined to enter this war-torn world in the same spirit that enabled our forbears in '76, '63, '98, and '17 to give to the world a civilization that is the envy of all nations and all ages.

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THE SASSAMON 13 Six Easy Lessons, written by Larry Dolph and Charles Gottwaldf' And so, with the close of this letter the scenes before the eyes of Madame Olympia slowly fade into oblivion. As the spacious salon is once more flooded with light we are stunned back to our present surroundings only to realize that our very delightful visit has come to a close. ADDRESS OF WELCOME GRADUATION Parents. Teachers, and Friends: Ir gives me pleasure as president of the Class of 1942 to welcome you to our graduation exercises. In these days of economy, of rationing, and of dangers from the enemy, let us be thankful that we can gather here this after- noon to enjoy an hour that means much to all of us. To those who have made our education possible, we are deeply grrateful. VVe realize that it is the youth of this nation who will be called upon in the near future to go forth and to help speed up production, that the war may be won and that a just peace may be attained. Democracy must not perish from the earth. Ir is our job to see that the liberties we enjoy will be a part of the heritage of all future citizens of America, just as you and your forbears made them safe for us. Let us say, as Charles Reigner said in his poem The American VVay : NO' God of right, make all our hearts to thrill anew Vfvith ardor for the way of life our fathers won. VVith passion for democracy our lives imbue, For Right makes Might-to this event the ages won. john Xloffatt FAREWELL ADDRESS There are some events in life that can never become commonplace. no matter how often the ritual of them may be repeated. The scene of graduation may be conventional to many, but its human factors are ever fresh and dynamic -new ones succeeding each year to take the places of those which have gone before. These are our farewells to Natick High - that is our material and physical farewells. As our lives move onward, there is no doubt that with each succeeding year our cherishings of high school days will increase. The memories of them will forever live in our hearts wherever our paths may lead us or what- ever fate may befall us. Though the world today is in a troubled and thoroughly turmoiletl state, the opportunities for jobs in all fields of endeavor are greater than ever before. Today, a person graduating from high school is not confronted with a difficult problem in finding a job, whether it be for the purpose of following it as aflife's career or for the furtherance of an education. But these are also times when we must be stronger in heart. faith and spirit. Hardships and sorrows that have not been known before must be faced. It is said that thev are stronger in arms who are stronger in heart. To keep our faith forever high. we must thus look to the spirit within us. So it is that faith is the essential emotion in a man's heart that will give

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THE SASSAMON 15 It is because every person living on this chosen land can say those three simple words, I am free, that we have faith that God will not forsake us in our own hour of turmoil. We truly believe that we have a constitution and a government which is as perfect as man can create - that we are neither bondsmen nor serfs nor slaves. It is because of all this that every student of this class will never rest in the performance of his duties until America is once again blessed with an everlasting peace. The Prime Minister of England, Winston Churchill, once said of the boys in the Royal Air Force after they had saved England from Nazi destruc- tion, Never in history was so much owed to so few. Truly do I believe that those same words will be said of the boys and girls who are about to pllt into practice the deep-seated concepts which have been imbued into all the youth of America. Never can America fail for never will our faith falter. All of our tradi- tions impress us with the need that former patriots have had for a victorious morale - we will have no less. Many of you are perhaps wondering what part faith has played in the formation of the United States. Let us go back to those days when our country was in its infancy. We were a young struggling nation of hardy frontiersmen whose only aim was to live peacefully with full expression of press, speech, and religion. Countless infringement of our ideals compelled us to declare our indepen- dence. To enforce our claims, stores of ammunition were concealed at Lexington and Concord. Highly trained mercenaries of the British government quaiters at Boston descended upon the few untrained and poorly armed Minute Men assem- bled to defend this ammunition. The battle that these men staged will be long remembered in history. With what did they fight? With superior arms? VVith better trained leaders? No, my friends, but with a faith so strong that it over-came all odds. Superior forces of British soon had the Colonial Armies at bay. VVash- ington was forced to retreat many times until his men were assembled at Valley Forge. While at Valley Fprge, the condition of his men was pitiable Not one in ten was properly clad for the rough winter and no one had a sufficient amount of food, but the faith that these men had in Washington and themselves. was so great that these conditions only made the victoryimore glorious. Today we are faced with a like situation. A treacherous foe has struck us in the hack. The taste of victory is dulled by the defeats, but the day of reckoning is not far in the future. If we will show our faith in the leaders and men who are so valiantly fighting the battle, this day will be only so much nearer. Lincoln felt that right would triumph over might in his execution of the Civil War. The North's faith was dimmed after the early defeats but with the decisive victory at Gettysburg, this dormant faith grew so strong that it was only a matter of time until the final and complete victory. The fact that the North was not a fair-weather country proves that we must have faith today. The first World War was fought to make the World safe for Democracy. As in all peace treaties, one side, the so-called vanquished, does not receive the fruits of victory. This bred a hatred and a despair in the vanquished nations. Thus it was not too difficult for Communism, Facism, and Nazism to rear their ugly heads. The men had lost faith in their old leaders and themselves. VVhen such hypocrites as Hitler and lVlussolini, promised them food for every meal, the people of these nations could not help but place their faith in these men. Little did they realize at the time that their faith had never been so ill-placed. Today we are fighting nations of men whose leaders have betrayed them. These leaders gave to the people but took back tenfold every iota that they leased. Mosse irisniure imnmv 14 EAST eemmi srmgr