West Paris High School - Nautilus Yearbook (West Paris, ME)

Page 26 text:

HHH LITERAR 72' N X KKK YG L iatiq Q- 1? 'Z ET 5 '0ff,,,,Ij ' mx ,mr I :ffm-fn W 'xx S KK KW 157k R l W is X AES S S 5 ' x S ' N , g P

Page 25 text:

First It'm1': Iirhm rflrlmll, fllicr' Hrrlril, Marv Ann l'1'nlmm. ,loan Ilrm'kin.v, .Ynncv tllrllouqall. Ilfllll lfmlur, Srconrl Ilona' Iloflucv xllllmll. liluinc l,I'HlI'j'. Sllciln H1'r1lll.,lurIill1 Alrrylllmll. llnvm' llms 'l'llir'rl lffllli' llcilwll llyrmwirz, llr'zIu'i'I li.tlc.t', Ifllgl'Hl' l.l'll!fl. limi' lioozlzuin, llouglus Cmmul l.l'iglI Ilran, lil-FIIIHYI Hcz'r'icl:. jI'0JAH'l ell 'l'he class ol' I959 started their school career with pupils lrom Sumner, North Paris, Greenwood and XVest Paris making a total number ol' nineteen. Gary Goodwin lrom Livermore Falls joined our class in October. .Xt our lirst meeting we selected our class colors, blue and silver, and the yellow rose as our llower. 'l'he lollowing ollicers were elected: President Rodney .-Xhbott Vice President lilaine Penley Secretary Mary Ann Perham 'I'reasurer Sheila Heath Student Council Representative jean Farrar Mr. Reid is our class advisor. September 30 we were liormally initiated by the seniors. Herbert listes and Alice Hertell were elected freshman King and Queen. During our hrst money-making month we sold sandwiches at recess and held a lood sale at .Iohnson'sg we also made Christmas wreathes which was our most successlul project. Some ol' our members participate in athletics, band, and orchestrag some serve on the Readit and Nautilus Boards. 23

Page 27 text:

.' 'qs . I CROSSED THE OCEAN Until 1948 I lived in Helsinki, which is the capital of Finland. During the second world war our home was bombed and burned as the result of a sneak attack. i Because of the great need for help my mother, as a nurse, gave her services for her country. As we left the burning city, I remember seeing children of all ages at the station, with their suitcases and tags around their neck, waiting for the move to shelter. I was among them. Some of them were sent to Sweden, Denmark, and even to Norway. I went north to live with some relatives. After the war was over my father came home and we were a family once again until a couple of years later when he left us to come to America. It was in the summer of 1948 that I first became aware of some excitement going on in the family. It finally dawned on me that we were going to meet my father in America, the country ol' which I had heard so much. On july 28, at the break of dawn, my mother, sister who was but ll months old, and I, dressed in our best, shaking with excitement, and longing to see this America, boarded a plane in Helsinki's airport. That was the first time I had seen a plane that close, say nothing about being on one! 1 was terribly afraid that we were going to fall down, as I had seen so many do during the war, and to add to my fears, a lady dressed in a uniform came and tied us to our seats!! The next thing l knew, we were on our way, high up in the sky with the birds, traveling at lightning speed. This was all too much for me to take in at onceg I couldn't believe it was really happening to me. The stewardess brought us a tray, and the thing that caught my eye was a round fuzzy thing which reminded me of an apple. l had never seen one before. Hm-m, it was good, so I asked for another hairy apple. I wondered why she laughed, but I learned later that they are called peaches. The plane stopped once to refuel - in Copenhagen, I think. By that LIIIIC l was getting used to the plane and I felt very proud and important. Soon we were up in the air again, headed for Amsterdam. By this time, I didn't know what was going on because the new stewardess in charge spoke differently! At Amster- dam, we had a two-hour wait for a change of planes. There we were directed to a big hotel-like building, with an open porch covered with huge umbrellas to keep the hot noon-day sun out. Sitting in the shade, sipping my soda through a straw, I was thinking of what my friends would say if they could see me now!! VVhen our names were called, we boarded a bigger plane. This one had six big motors buzzing and making such a noise that we couldn't hear each other talk. This time we were heading to London, England, across the English Channel. The plane flew so low that it gave us a clear view of the Thames River winding along lazily under us. As you may recall, I9-18 was the year when the Olympics were held in l.on- don. Due to this fact, the city was crowded. A taxi from the airport brought us directly to our hotel which looked so nice from the outside, but to our great amazement, was dirty and filthy inside. The room had one big bed in the middle of the floor, a few chairs, and a wash basin. The air was so hot that it was hard to breathe. A few minutes later, I found myself walking down the street, clutch- ing a handful ol' English coins, to the corner fruit stand to buy some more of those delicious hairy apples. On my way back to the hotel, I froze in my tracks! l met a bunch of Negro ids running and laughing. I had never seen one before: l thought they lived in story books only!! After that, I stayed pretty close to the hotel except fora walk in the ark in front of the hotel. There I made friends with a stray pup, and it seemet good that someone understood my language. at least I thought he did. 25