Agawam High School - Sachem Yearbook (Agawam, MA)

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How well I remember those four intelligence tests we took in our Sophomore year. Here’s a clipping from the New York “Blatter” about them. “SOPHOMORE CLASS AT AGAWAM HIGH SCHOOL RATES AS HIGH AS COLLEGE FRESHMEN IN INTELLI- GENCE.” In this same year we realized through newspaper notoriety that mem- bers of our class were connected with celebrities. Here is a picture of the eclipse egg, owned by Edith Bessette’s grandfather. And here are the pup- pies which were so kindly treated by a hen, all of which were owned by Paul Cesan’s brother. All of these stories have been preserved for posterity in the Agawam Mirror of June, 1925. Here arc the class officers during this Sophomore year: Gordon Wal- lace, president; “Dot” Skinner, vice-president; Phyllis Letellier, secretary; and Paul Ferrarini, treasurer. In September, 1925, we came back, facing a hard year, one of hard studying as well as hard work in other affairs. In our Junior Class election Gordon Wallace was chosen president; Grace Pond, vice-president; Phyllis Letellier, secretary; and Paul Ferrarini, treasurer. It was at the beginning of this year that we welcomed Mr. Davenport as our new principal. So, of course, here is a picture of him. In May, 1926, our class shone. We were the first producers of a school cabaret. Needless to say, it was a great success. The idea originated with “Dot” Skinner. Here’s a picture of how the gymnasium looked all decorated as we had it. There’s Mr. and Mrs. Davenport with Mr. and M rs. Harmon Smith sitting at the table at the end, eating banana salads. May was the month of many important events, a gymnasium exhibi- tion at our school, and a typewriting contest conducted by the Connecticut Valley Commercial Teachers’Association at Springfield, which was attended by two members of our class — Marion Blair and Mildred Swarts. Then came the Junior Prom. That was the climax. What heated disputes we did have about the selling of ice cream! Had the ice cream been there, I am afraid it would have melted very quickly. The auditorium was prettily decorated with apple blossoms, laurel and toy balloons. At the end of the Junior year, Mr. Davenport announced in assembly that two of our class, Vivian Brown and Hazel Marsh, had been elected to the Pro Merito Society. After the close of the school year, we all journeyed to Congamond Lake for a picnic. Here’s a picture of Preston Leonard trying to be funny, as usual, and falling into the water instead of landing, as he should have done, in the boat he was pushing out. I can remember his saying, “Just heft that sweater. Heavy, isn’t it?” We were tired when we got home, but we had had a wonderful time in spite of the weather — it rained in the afternoon. We were very grateful to Mr. Duclos, Evelyn’s father, for the use of his garage as a girls’ dressing room. Then we all separated to meet again as the Class of 1927 in a Senior year. Fittingly at the beginning of the account of our Senior year is a photo- graph of Miss Smith, who was also our guide during our Junior year. And here is a picture of the Senior class officers: Grace Pond, president; Law- [12]

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Glass 3hClstory S %o you believe in premonitions? I am beginning to have such a € JL jL feeling, for in my Freshman year a little bird told me that I might ✓uK Jr. be elected “Class Historian.” I am sure you will be interested in it J) this Scrap Book which I have kept. You remember the morning we walked into the study hall and found Miss Jaucb our room teacher? Here is a picture of her up in the right hand corner (just like a star). She hasn’t changed much in the four years, in spite of the worry we gave her. And here are pictures of Irene Costa with her long, golden braids, and Preston Leonard in short trousers. Don’t they look cute? We won’t forget Mr. Pease, our English teacher. By the way, I sup- pose you have all heard of the announcement of his engagement? How real he made Ivanhoe to us! Do you suppose Ellen Worthington remembers how provoked she would get when Leonard called her Rebecca? And here are the pictures of our first class officers. Here’s Gordon Wallace as president, shining as he did for three years in that office. Here’s our Titian-haired “Dot” Skinner as vice-president, Paul Cesan as secretary, and Paul Ferrarini as treasurer. Both of the Pauls proved very capable at their offices. I am sorry you cannot see these pictures, but my explaining them may help bring back memory. On the page marked “December” arc the details of our Freshman Christmas party. Just see, here’s Consolati all dressed in kid’s clothes and playing the role of Baby Larry in the Birds’ Christmas Carol. Here is a picture of Mary Holmes as she looked with her long curls, playing the part of Carol Bird. This is the brief line about the party, “A good time was enjoyed by all.” Now for February, 1924, here is a paragraph. “We all took our mid- year exams. Being new at it, we hope that we made no terrible mistakes.” And for the rest of the year, “Nothing very important happened dur- ing the next few months. Then came graduation and we could picture our- selves marching up for our diplomas.” That was three years ago — and day after tomorrow the deed actually takes place. We enjoyed that first graduation because it was all so new to us and ours seemed so far away. This picture is of Miss Sanderson, pardon me, Mrs. Cole, our home room teacher, our second year. If we did get unruly at times, we hope she has forgiven us. We trust she has. This snapshot is of Miss Button, our English teacher. Among other tasks, she had us take notes and write themes. Here is an extract from one. “Standing in the woods, birds can be seen singing and chirping in all direc- tions.” 1 hen she tried to make poets of us. Remember Vivian Brown’s famous poem, “The Plane that Flew Around the World”? A very appropriate title now would be “The Plane that Flew to Paris.” We expect to see many of her poems published in a book called “Golden Gems” bv Brown. [ ]

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rence Houlahan, vice-president; Audrey Phillips, secretary; and Paul Fer- rarini, treasurer. In the operetta, “Windmills of Holland,” many of our talented class- mates were given prominent parts, in which they covered themselves with glory. Preston Leonard, as Hans Hertogenbosch, in his band selection, and the vocal duet by Emily Burnett and Audrey Phillips, have been recorded by the “Howler” Recording Company and now are sold at Woolworth’s Five Ten Cent Store. Here are the records. The next event of much importance was the Senior-Junior Kid party. It was hard to play the part of kids, but we did manage to dispose of some of our dignity with the help of lollypops and funny caps. Here’s a flash- light of Paul Ferrarini dressed as Santa, coming in the gym window. Some of our class are naturally gifted with a sense of humor of which they are totally unconscious, especially when making such remarks as these: Ferrarini declares, “All slaves born at the age of 25 will be free,” while Doris Stedman asserts, “At this time both Lincoln and Douglass were run- ning for a seat in Congress.” There must have been a crowded house! Vivian Brown declares, in French class, “She had flaxen eyebrows almost black.” What color do you call it? Perhaps our sense of humor has been increased by our English instruc- tor for she remarked one day, when discussing Johnson and his wife, “Mrs. Johnson had children old enough to be her sons.” By the way, our class will always regret that we couldn’t get out to Mabel Johnson’s place to see that old heifer she writes about. Here’s a picture of the cast of our Senior play, “The Charm School.” See Houlahan in the front row as the leading man. He surely showed us how to handle the unruly bunch of girls made up of Edith, Doris, Rachel, Ellen, and the two Vivians. We can hardly blame Phyllis Letellier, our leading lady, for falling for the Greek god. We won’t forget Dorothy Skin- ner and her “Isn’t that stupid of me?”, and Mary Holmes with her unusual dignity. Houlahan was well supported by Preston, the noisy young lawyer; Frank Consolati, the frivolous dancing teacher; Ccsan, the love-sick account- ant; and Paul Ferrarini, the man behind the moustache. And now for the Prom. We were the honored guests of the Juniors. Here’s a snapshot of the tastefully decorated stage. To the typewriting and shorthand contest Marion Blair, Vivian Brown, Caroline Cascella, and Hazel Marsh carried the name of Agawam. This contest was held by the Connecticut Valley Commercial Teachers’ Association at Brattlehoro, Vermont (Miss Button’s state). We note she started to learn to typewrite in September. Maybe she had visions of a free trip to her native state. We understand she has reached the speed of fifteen words per minute. This is our Class Day book with a beautiful copy of our school ring on the cover. Esther Stebbins was a peach to put so much work into it. This publication is a new venture and, while it is modest, we are very proud of it. Thus ends Volume I of the history of the Class of 1927 of the Aga- wam High School. May Volume II, yet to he written, which will deal with our history as alumni, be even more interesting and worth-while than the one which we have completed. r 3i Hazel M. Marsh