Abington High School - Oracle Yearbook (Abington, PA)

Page 29 text:

question to everyone he met: Have you seen my medal, you know, my little silver medal? but the answer was always a sympathetic negative. When the time came to leave for the Dis- tricts, the medal still hadn't turned up. Feeling beaten before the gun, Rex climb- ed aboard the bus and sank into a rear seat. As the bus rolled along, Rex became aware of the low, nervous, but confident- chatter of his teammates. He looked around him. They were a melting pot of different faiths, some of his own religion, a Jewish boy, a Baptist, but all working together for one cause, which they all agreed was a worthy one. Without medals, without even the same faith he held so dear, they had followed him through a season of vic- tories long to be remembered in the annals of Crown Point cross-country. They all had faith in the Lord, but they also had another faith he now noticed-a faith in themselves, something he lacked. The medal was made by the hand of man, but he him- self, his legs, his physical strength, they were all direct works of God, and he had to believe in them. As he started to leave the bus for the Districts course, with a feeling of self-con- fidence growing inside him, the coach stopped him and, with the words, I thought you might want this, handed Rex the lost medal. The boy gazed at it in his hand, then, after a moment's hesita- tion, he handed it back to the coach, say- ing, This time I'll do it by myself' ' Today Rex Adams wears two silver medals. There 's an inscription on one that reads: H1950 District V Champion. ROBERT NAYLOR, '52 The Richest Moment of My Life Did you ever see a million dollars all at once? Packs of one, five, ten, twenty, fifty, hundred, five hundred, and thousand dollar bills piled high on a table before your very eyes? This really happened to me. There I was inside a large bank vault with the bank president and an armed guard presiding over the money and television cameramen, newspaper reporters, photographers, bank officials, and students representing other schools surrounding me. This was Bank Day in Philadelphia, and a group of students were touring the Phila- delphia Corn Exchange Bank. I guess we were dreaming at that time what we could do with all that money when a newspaper photographer grabbed my arm and led me to that piled up table. ' Then the bank official informed me that I, with the help of another girl, was to pose for a publicity stunt celebrating Bank Day. Amazingly enough, I was to handle all this money, placing a half a million dollars in the arms of the other girl. l The stage was set, and all eyes were upon us as the picture was snapped. I never expect to have so much money pass through my hands again. JILL BRENNER, '51

Page 28 text:

lit? X31 i Rex thought he cou1dn't win without ELLI RICKERT, '51 '7!ze Salam Maid Rex Adams was the hero of the Crown Point High School cross-country squad, and he looked every bit the part, tall with powerful shoulders and a deep chest, tapering off at the Waist to a pair of long slender running legs that were made to carry him over hill and dale with the speed and grace of a greyhound. Rex had been a varsity harrier since his sophomore year, and this year as a senior he had paced his teamlmates to victory after vic- tory over every opponent on their schedule. Rex had natural talent, and everyone knew this but the boy himself. Like many boys of his religion, he wore a little silver holy medal around his neck. However, Rex had much more confidence in his little silver medal than did most boys. With that medal around his neck Rex felt defeat was impossible and victory inevitable. The team was in perfect shape on the eve of the district championships, and it looked as though Crown Point was a sure thing to win. As Rex made his way home from school deep in thought over the big meet the next day, he passed by a lot where a group of his friends were playing touch football. Rex remembered what the coach had told him. You can't play two games at once and win, don't take a chance by playing football or any other outside sport before the Districts. But when his pals invited him to join their game, Rex just couldn't resist and, Besides, he thought, it'll help me forget the Districts for a little while. As the boy got ready for bed that night, he discovered his loss-the medal was gone! The chain must have broken in this after- noonls game, he thought. Rex pulled on his clothes and, taking a flashlight from his drawer, dashed down stairs and out of the house. He hurried to the lot where he had joined his pals in their game and covered every inch on his hands and knees, never giving up until his batteries gave out. The next day in school he put the same fi S 4

Page 30 text:

fi Q11 qw . '91 1 ?4 I ' , .ppy , an - 1 , s if it 1 ' 2 i r W .. 4 ' s LOR RAIN E BATES, '51 .Z. . Kraal Roy Brill, a sophomore at Abington this year, is the son of a missionary and has lived in Africa most of his life. When he was very young, his parents were sent to a mission station in the Belgian Congo, where for many years they worked among the natives. Roy spoke the native trade language before he learned to speak Eng- lish. He later attended a mission school which had only fowr rooms and sixty pupils and was run in three-month periods. Roy, who says that he has enjoyed his African enzperiences, hopes some day to be or missionary himself. Trudging along a narrow, winding path with tall telephant grass reaching high overhead, and entangling vines reaching out to trip the less prudent, I suddenly leave the maze of grass and vines and burst upon a small village. Natives come running out of their huts with cries of Sene! Sene! Azi malamu mingi kutala yo! fHello! Hello! It is good to see you lj Each native from the oldest to the youngest has to shake hands with me except a few shy ones who hang back. I see natives with peculiar tribal markings on their bodies, earrings in their ears, bracelets and anklets, and many diiierent kinds of hairdos. The men are wearing short pants bought at trading posts. One or two old men have the skins of animals carelessly thrown around their bodies. The boys wear a small cloth made from the bark of a certain tree. The women and girls wear leaves or what little cloth- ing their husbands buy them. I am asked why I have come to stay in their village. I tell them I want to see what a native village is like. The capita Chead- inanl sends some of the men to fix one of the huts for me to live in. My boys that brought my food and camp cot are also given a hut. On looking around me at the village, I see ten huts clustered close together with a lane running down the center. Beside the larger huts are small huts to store grain in. In front of each hut burns a fire with native mea.l cooking in it. Chickens and goats are running around and getting into