Weymouth High School - Campus / Reflector Yearbook (Weymouth, MA)

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' JpiiK loUowing lew pages are lormally dedicated to the liistory of the Class ol and anyone not in that distinguished group (correction, please— anyone wlio reads it) is liable to be sentenced to a jjeriod of not more than (ilteen, nor less than live minutes ol boredom. Ol ' course, the above paragraph is written in jest. For in the following ])ages of black print, there are many words that help to recapitulate uidorgetful events that occurred during tlie lour, wonderful years that we, the graduating class of ' 49, spent together. It is not an easy task, as Mr. Kearns will testily, to express in an interesting way those events that will be forever dear to us. Our class history is written in an indirect way. The eventful parts of our four years at W.H.S. are written so as to coincide with a series of events that also took place in the year ' 49, one century earlier, 1849, when gold was discovered in the Sacramento Valley of California. To California many thousands of people went by wagon across the plains from the North, the East, and the South, always subject to the attacks of Indians and death by starva- tion or thirst. Their journey to the West is not much unlike our four-year journey through Weymouth High School. While they had hoped to attain at the end of their long and perilous trijj a pot of gold , we dreamed of the great, now historical day, when we would receive our sheepskins. So remember as you read this class history, to try to synchronize the two expeditions. STAGES ONE AND TWO Notice was given by Mr. Mapes of a caravan forming for a trip to the gold country in September of 1945. All interested members were to report to rcxmis 101-206A of Weymouth High School for further information. A Maroon and Gold circular containing instructions and directions relating to the four-year journey to be tmdertaken was given to those reporting. The head coachman, Mr. Whittle, with his assistants, welcomed the pioneers, who were just starting on their perilous journey. Supplies were given to all, and the forty-niners who had assembled from the various sections were soon well acquainted. When the caravan began to move onward, various reactions were noted among the group. Most were extremely serious, being frightened by the size of the caravan and by the numerous rumors they had heard about all the impending dangers. Our first difficulty occurred when a group that had been sent out for food failed to return, so a scouting party had to be dispatched to locate them. They were finally safely returned to wagons No. 101 and No. 114. (Remember those split lunches?) However, after miles of walking, pushing, and ricling in those hard uncomfortable wagons, all became adapted to the routine of the trip. The first two years of the undertaking were rather uneventful. Each year fol- lowed more or less the same routine. To break the monotony, however, sports events were planned with a series of football games being played when other caravans were met along the route. Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by our team, coached by Paul Sweeney, playing a team from Cronin ' s Creek. To pep up the group and to cheer the team on to victory, a Booster ' s Club was formed under the leadership of Miss Toomey and Mr. Ghiorse. Once a week this group provided pre-game entertainment by a series of skits which were usually presented at some loclge along the route. The season closed by paying honor to the athletes by a banquet, at which awards were given to the most outstanding ones, followed a few days later by a Victory Dance which all who attended greatly enjoyed. During the winter season, a new group, the Chess Club, was organized by Mr. Matthews to provide entertainment for chess players and any interested spectators. The leaders were Bob McCarthy, Robert Marr, Allan Patterson, and Ronnie Bresnahan. Page Seventeen

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Class History Committee JOHN DELAHUNT, Chairman, High School FRANK COLBY, Chairman, Vocational School JOAN AUSTIN BETSY BROWN MARGARET CRONIN ROBERT FITTS JOHN GRANT ANN GREENE DONALD KARSTUNEN JUNE KENNEY ELSIE McKINLEY GEORGE McMULLEN ALLAN PATTERSON MANUEL PIRES NANCY REMINGTON MARGARET STEEVES HILBERT THORNBERG

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Travelling along, we found a number of musically talented people with us. At various times, they provided entertainment while we sat around the campfires. In appreciation of such, money was obtained to purchase colorful maroon and gold uniforms for these entertainers. On oiu- join ney, we found sorrow occasionally interrujjling our happiness. Such was the case when death took Mr. Calderwood, who, lor a great number of years, had aided musical groups in our home sections. A short time l)efore, everyone had been greatly shocked by the loss of one of our aiUomobile mechanics leaders, Mr. Bryan. The first stage of oin- trip was broken by a ten-week rest stop, during which time fresh supplies were taken on and general repairs were made. Some desired to leave the caravan at this time. Among them were Miss Chase, Miss Jones, Miss Pray, Mrs. Oppler. and Mr. Matthews. There were a ninnber of people who had listened to oiu ' stories of adventiue and, as a restdt, wanted to continue along with us. Lack- ing facilities, we could take only a few, including Mr. Erwin, Miss MacDougall, Miss Salo, and Miss Ghiorse. Mr. Cleaves, who had been detained in protecting a section of our roiue against an Indian raid, rejoined us early in the year, followed a little later by Mr. Arlanson. STAGE 1 HREE The beginning of our third year found us just packing up to leave the Weymoiuh Hotel in Kansas City, Kansas. Some of us had been fortimate in being assigned to rooms freshly painted in rather unusual colors, rose, blue, ( r green. During our stay there, more changes took place with Mr. Loud, Miss Silverman, Miss Pearson, and Mr. Sherwood leaving us, biu in return. Miss Hill, Miss Gill, Mr. Stuart, Miss Fla- herty, Mr. Pieper, Mr. Roy, Mr. Rudolph, and Mr. Dwyer joined us. En route, the group, weary of the constant toil of travel, decided to take time out for recreation. The caravan divided into a number of different teams called Brock- ton, Weymouth, Quincy, North Quincy, Abington, Hingham, etc. to play a series of football games. Oiu spectacular Weymouth team under Co-captains Covency and Bicknell won by a score of 7 to 0, over the Brockton team. At other times dining the trip, brief encounters were held among the caravan groups and, at the end of the series of games, two tro])hies were awarded; one to John DiGravio, the other to Jimmy Coveney. To build up enthuiasm, three of our members, Barbara Weidman, Janet Melville, and Ann Russo, were selected to head a cheering section. In one town where we stopped, the people were experimenting with a newspaper called the Spectatoi , which was later discontinued because most of the townspeople moved westward with the gold rush. The carpentry and rej air crew stopped oft for a short time at the foothills of the Rockies to build a house for one of the caravan leaders, Mr. Driscoll, who had found the basis lor his dreams in one of the small mining towns we passed. During the Christmas season of our third year, the entire caravan was again deep- ly saddened by the accidental death of one of the outstanding members of wagon No. 223, Ethel Voigt. So again our wagon wheels rolled westward. On our way we elected officers. The outcome was: John Siieehan, jjresident; John Mclniosh, vice-president; Helen McGlynn, secretary: and John Chase, treasurer. The maintenance and repair crew chose Frank Colijy, president; Lawrence Raby, vice-president; and Edward White, secretary-treasurer. It was a stormy, rainy night on May 4, 1948 as we took lodging in Denver, Colo- rado. To relieve the strain of our hardships, a party was held. Fhe building was gaily decorated with marine decorations and sea growths. George McCue ' s orches- tra su])i)lied the nuisic . Joan Fieeman and Eddie DeLuc a were crowned king and Pa ' c Eighteen