Ranchester High School - Rustler Yearbook (Ranchester, WY)

Page 29 text:

BERNARD THOMAS VISITS THE RANCH ESTER SCHOOL On December 13. all the grades of Ranchester school were honored with a visit from the famed artist Bernard Thomas of Sheridan. During his visit here he showed us some of his water colorings that he made while in the Infantry in World War II. With the showing of the paintings, he told of an artists views and thoughts during time of war. Some of the scenes were of the ways of life in Europe; others showed the waste and starvation of the country. Some paintings showed the expressions of fear and bewilderment on the faces of the war- devastated people. On one of the paintings, in the form of a wheel, were the busts of the important men during World War II. These were such men as Hitler and his fol- lowers. He showed in his paintings men and boys work- ing in mines under heavy guard. In one painting he portrayed a soldier who had been wounded and was trying to get up; above him stood the image of Christ with upraised hands, motioning him to get up and go on. In this selection of paintings he dis- played a poster, picturing bony hands clinging to a barbwire fence, above which were very touching and pleading words. Then he suddenly changed. He showed us some oil paintings he had done and framed. These were to be Christmas presents to relatives and friends. One of these was a beautiful picture of a man sitting on his porch steps with a pipe in his mouth, looking off into the distance with a very dreamy look in his eyes. One was of a cold winter scene in an Indian camp; and another one just opposite it was of a bright campfire with Indians sitting a- round it for protection from the chillness of the night and also the darkness of the forest. These paintings had beautiful coloring and wonderful feeling in them. Mr. Thomas, as you all might well know, paint- ed the beautiful mural in the Sheridan Bank of Commerce, as well as several other well known paintings throughout the country. Mr. Thomas is the person who helped our own young artist here in school. Robert Townsend. He has helped Robert in many ways, such as balance, color combination and other things for an artist’s success. As you probably have already noticed, the cov- er and drawings of this yearbook were drawn by Robert. I wish to congratulate him in his nice work, and I’m sure you will, too. I wish to . mention the fact that Mr. Thomas has rejoined the service to help free the people in Europe from the domination of communism. I wish him all the luck in the world. —Ina Jeanne Turner, Grade 10. 4-H CLUB The 4-H pledge is as follows: I pledge my head to clearer thinking, my heart to greater loyalty, my hand to larger service, my health to better living, for my club, my community, and my country. This pledge starts each 4-H meeting. When you think of all the thousands of boys and girls in our country who give this pledge, you can realize what a great organization 4-H is. It is a national organization, or it could even be called international, because some 4-H members win trips to foreign countries, where they live in rural homes for about three months, exchanging ideas. This helps promote good feeling between these countries and the United States. But to get closer to home. Our local club, the Canyon Livestock Club consists of members from Ranchester, Dayton and Wolf. We have sixteen members, most of them feeding steers, one feeding sheep, and some working on purebred projects. We meet once a month to talk about our projects and afterward have a game of baseball. The two things that are the most fun during the year are 4-H mountain camp and 4-H fair. Mountain camp is held in July at Arrowhead Lodge for all the 4-H members in Sheridan coun- ty. It lasts three days, and during that time there is always something exciting going on, such as games and target practice. Then there is 4-H fair, which is the end of the 4-H year. At the fair, no matter what kind of a project you have, you exhibit it there. They are judged and given, red, white or blue ribbons, according to how good they are. The steers are judged, and after a Grand Cham- pion is picked out, the rest are given ribbons. The night after they are judged, they are sold. This year I did not sell my calf, because the Bear Claw Ranch wanted to take him west with their show string. He surely had an interesting journey. Yakima. Washington, was the first place where he was shown; and he was Grand Champion of the steer class. Next he was shown at Portland, Oregon. There he stood second in his class. At San Francisco. California, he stood third in his class. The last place he was shown was at Ogden. Utah, where he stood second in his class: and then he was sold there. This ended my 4-H year, and along with the other 4-H members all over the United States. I'm getting my next year’s project started, and hoping to do a better job. —Dick Masters. Grade 10. —27—

Page 28 text:

THE CHEMISTRY STUDENTS PERFORM AN EXPERIMENT OPEN LETTER TO ANY STUDENT WHO PLANS TO TAKE CHEMISTRY Dear Students: I have only one word to say to students who plan to enter the dark and mysterious realms of chemistry. Beware!!!! Standing at the doorway of the classroom is usually a smiling and benevolent teacher, but do not be deceived; for lurking behind that benevolent smile is undoubtedly a mind crammed full of sym- bols, compounds, colloids, and formulas. After you have timidly entered the confines of the laboratory, the smile on your loving instruc- tor’s face fades; and with a look of fiendish glee in his eye, he begins to cloud your mind with lec- tures on air and where to find it, and discussions on sulfur and sulfides. If you want to know any more about sulfur, just let your nose be your guide. It will never lead you astray, because even the dul- lest sense of smell couldn’t help but follow the nauseating odor of sulfur. Ooofff!!! And speaking of air, it seems to me that knowing how to breathe it is sufficient knowledge of the subject. Besides, there’s plenty of air gushing around—among the students and during lectures—so that we are ex- posed to it everywhere, and shouldn’t need to learn about such a common thing. After a little while in chemistry class under the influence of suirur, you are so dazed that you do not hear the class bell ring; and after much prod- ding and urging, you are finally persuaded to leave the classroom. This refusal to leave the classroom has brought about a false belief that all students love chemistry class, but, brother, don’t believe it! If, however, you do decide to take chemistry, be careful that it doesn’t take” you. Sincerely yours, A Deflated Chemistry Student P. S. Any idea that shows prejudice against chem- istry is purely intentional. —Bruce Portwood, Grade 12. SCHOOL SPIRIT School spirit should be a part of every school throughout the Nation. It helps the students do their work better, it inspires our cooperation between the students and faculty, and it helps the community support all school activities. School spirit keeps us in school when we want to play hookey. It creates good sportsmanship thru- out all the year. School spirit here in Ranchester High is some- thing we should all be proud of, because we have full support from the community, the students do their work the best they can, and we have coop- eration between the students and the faculty. These are just a few of the many things that make our school so enjoyable. —Betty Lou Goodill, Grade 12. —2fr—

Page 30 text:

THE PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB MAKE SOME REPRINTS PHOTOGRAPHY CLUB Every Wednesday of the second semester a rab- id group of camera fans met in the lab. Their main objective was to learn either through experience or from their sponsor, Mr. Ironhawk, all atout pic- ture taking and developing. On one of the first meetings, Jon Davis and Dicky Lyman were heard quietly discussing which pan was which—Dicky being the biggest, decided that the pan on the right was the developer. It turned out that might is NOT always right. Anoth- er time giggling was distinctly heard after some special film was developed, and blackmail was also mentioned. Enough of that—down to business now. The amateur photographers were as follows: Larry King. Barbara Fleming, Frances Birdie, Marvel Turner, Jeanne Turner, Jon Davis, Dicky Lyman, Joan John- son, Beverly Barbula. Betty Goodill. Bobby Lyman. Dale Okert. and Shirley Lewis. Mr. Ironhawk, as I already mentioned, was their sponsor. When the camera fans started, they knew next to nothing a- fcout the field of photography: but by the time school was out and the club was dispersed, they had learned all about developing, printing and en- larging. Jon Davis built an enlarger, and after sev- eral unsuccessful attempts it finally worked. As a whole the club was very successful, and everybody not only learned something, but had a lot of fun—the lights were out most of the time— but fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately) Mr. Ironhawk has eyes like a hawk. —Bobby Lyman, Grade 12. STUNT NIGHT The fifth annual Stunt Night was put on be- fore an extra large crowd, Friday night. October 27. Since this was the largest audience yet to attend a Stunt Night performance ,1 think the actors put forth their very best. This year there were several new features add- ed to the regular skits and stunts. These features were some songs sung by Francis Klinkosh and Bruce Portwood. Also, several solos were sung by Bruce Portwood. As a filler between acts we were honored with another visit from our great mathematician, “Peter the Great.” Because of last year’s great success of the stu- dent council’s version of “Frankie and Johnnie”, several similar skits were put on by the Senior, Junior and Sophomore classes. The Seniors acted out the songs of “Streets of Laredo.” with Bruce Portwood as the singing nar- rator. Johnson’s Jolly Junior Junk Janglers acted out the Spike Jones record of “Cocktails for Two,” with Dona Reed as Wiggles Reed.” The Sophomores re-enacted “The Shooting of Dan McGrew,” with Dick Masters as narrator. The first and second grades gave their inter- pretation of the old folk dance. ‘The Paw Paw Patch.” and the fifth and sixth grades danced an old fashioned square dance. This year the Dayton-Ranchester Rotary put (Continued on Next Page) —28—