Simpson College - Zenith Yearbook (Indianola, IA)

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“Junior Gale.” HEN ’07 arrived in Indianola it was raining pitchforks. Other classes have been ushered in by hail, mist, fog, and thunder- storms, but when the class of Naught Seven arrived its advent was heralded by peal of thunder and flash of lightning, by storm of hail and rush of wind, by cloudburst after cloudburst, as though the very angels in heaven were engaged in a last desperate effort to dampen the college ardor of the young Freshmen and quench their thirst for knowledge. The conservative Indianola citizen called up his neighbor on the telephone and between thunder claps aked him what had happened to cause such a celebra- tion on the part of the elements. Said he, as Casca said before the death of Caesar. “Are you not moved when all the sway of earth Shakes like a thing infirm? O neighbor! I have seen tempests when the scolding winds Have riv’d the knotty oaks, but never Till the knotty Sevens came to town, never till now. Did I go through a tempest like to this.” Thus was the present Junior class welcomed to Indianola. The first class meeting was held in the Greek room. Ira Ruby presided and Ella Brown was secretary. Class colors were discussed, and Ed. Golisch made a suggestion that we have Ruby and Brown, which was the first ’07 pun and duly applauded. These things, though small, are vastly important as shedding some light on the ancient history of ’07, and pointing out the way for other Freshman classes. Election of class officers occurred at the home of Ella Brown. Ruby again presided, and Walter G. McKinley was elected first class president, Leone Peasley, secretary, Ella Brown, vice-president and J. Carl Pryor, treasurer. Dark green and white were then and there made class colors and have stood the test of time and decorations excellently well. They are nature s favorite hues—colors of the grass and the snow,—symbols of youth and purity. The next meeting was less important, as the minutes record simply the following: English Room, Oct. 29, 1 903. Class called to order by the president. Motion that an order be drawn on the treasury for 30 cents to purchase a secretary s book. Carried. Motion to adjourn.”

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Our first bum was out at Berry’s woods. There we played games, roasted weiners and got acquainted. Early in November the class began to make arrangements for the annual debate with the Freshmen of Iowa Wesleyan University, which was held May 12, 1904. Frank L. Mott, J. Ldson Preston and Shirley W. Allen repre- sented Simpson ’07, and their efforts were crowned with victory, receiving a unanimous decision. Naught Seven was enthused that night. Then that winter, too, ’07 won the girls championship in basketball, and for a full year the green and white shone out from the northwest corner of the library reading room. Late in the spring, when the inter-class track meet was held, ’07 again was victorious and captured another trophy cup. In the winter term sometime, there was a boD-ride, when the whole class, in order to form a more perfect union, piled into one bob; and on towards commencement there was a banquet, whose incidents Wayne Stahl has thus immortalized in verse: “The Soph is come. That cruel Kleptoman, the Sophomore, Who stole our sled the night of Saturn’s day. Oh, he is here, that scatter-pepper Soph, Who strews the carpet on this festive eve. Sneeze on him, brothers, take him to his doom. What curses for electrical divorce. Producing darkness at the banquet time. Can Nemesis afford this Sophomore?” The poet proceeds to recount that the Sophomore was so frightened at Prexy’s threats of investigation, “That on his head the capillary growth Portion vertical assumed, his tongue did freeze. And each of his two knees attraction for The other found. About commencement time we all went home. We had learned to give old Brek-ke-ke-kex like a house afire, and had most of us managed by hook or crook to get past Freshman Algebra, that Cerberus which guards—ah, too vigilantly—the gates to Sophmoric bliss. At any rate, our verdant days were gone. In the fall most of us came back, elected Frank Mott president, Beth Dunhegan secretary, Rowena Smith vice-president, and Harold Flint, treas- urer, and then began to plan for the spring term reception. That was to be the most glorious reception ever held in the old chapel, because it was ’07’s first. The class’s chief occupation for the year ’04-5 was getting ready for that recept on. First there was to be a play to take most of the evening, and The Professor’s Love Story” was bought. Then the reception evoluted through various stages, eras and epochs, the “Pike” stage, the “Houseboat-on-