Wayne High School - Sentry Yearbook (Fort Wayne, IN)

Page 18 text:

Shxmmtr mm. Reflections of summer Ripple through my mind. Hazy images of breezy summer evenings and sultry afternoons, Those times we shared together, Echo in my mind. . . ■-■ - — v--. ::- -.- . ' v

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R we retrace me relive our live he bicentennial year proved to be a time of reflec- tions. Observing the past, analyzing the present, and con- templating the future dominated thinking. Restoring bits of our heritage became a major activity. Bicentennial Minute, A Moment in Fort Wayne ' s His- tory, and Hoosier Album hit the air waves and the Freedom Train chugged into town loaded with two hun- dred years of history. Exhibits featuring the Constitution, Hank Aaron ' s ball and bat used to hit number 71 5, the . dress Judy Garland wore in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar ' s converse stocked the 25 red, white, and blue cars. Fort Wayne caught on to the idea of preserving the past with efforts to rebuild Fort Wayne, the Canal House, and the Diehm Museum while the Johnny Appleseed Festival revived early American crafts. Build- ings on the Landing fell with the wrecking ball as efforts to save the charred structures failed. Several projects to recreate the past reaked with the money-making odor of the present. Bicentennial slogans rocked the advertising world while red, white, and blue trinkets cluttered store shelves and even the coins to buy the items turned bicentennial. Some activities focused on the present. Steve Bates and crew captured a first place in the home-made division of the Raft Race during the Three Rivers Festival. A model congress sponsored by the Bicentennial Commission also added to the mood of the times. Reflecting toward the future slipped into ' 76. The metric system seeped into Gens ' worlds with Celsius temperature readings and highway kilometer signs. Fort Wayne ' s sister city relations with Takaoka, Japan and the Peabody Report recommending integration of elementary schools forecasted better human relations. The Alaskan pipeline further reflected toward the future as it guaranteed energy in Generals ' life-times.

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ummer implied freedom for Gens. Three months without homework, teachers, or rigid desks meant time to earn money and time to spend it. General jobs ranged from cooks and clerks to massage parlor receptionists and baby sitters. Swimming, skiing, biking, and boating top- ped summer fun after work hours. Although Generals took a vacation, the world didn ' t rest. In the spirit of detente, U.S. and Russia combined for the July 1 5 Apollo-Soyuz rendezvous as the world looked on. The financial state of New york City also evoked world-wide attention as the giant city headed for bank- ruptcy. Although bicentennial quarters, half-dollars, and silver dollars didn ' t provide much help for New York, it represented the biggest coinage change in America and Gens pocketed the silver as anticipated collectors ' items. In the spirit of the bicentennial, congress restored Robert E. Lee ' s citizenship after nearly a one hundred year alien- ation period. In addition to world and national news earning head- lines, Fort Wayne news stories also netted front page cov- erage. The movie JAWS proved to be the top box-office seller in history and the song MR. JAWS swam to the top ten while radio and television broadcasted the summer heat with Celsius temperature readings. Gens took it easy on the conveyor belts of the Freedom Train but the seem- ingly endless line drew attack along with the train ' s per- sonnel. The Three Rivers Festival provided the summer highlight. A fourteen year old boy, however, shook the Festival as a drowning occurred for the first time in the Raft Race ' s seven year history.