Akron High School - Golden Haze Yearbook (Akron, IN)

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CG,1'd7J6l0g'Ll6 of Seniors As we were awakened bright and early on a September morning of 1946, few of us realized that we were about to experience one of the most sig- nificant days of our lives. Fifty-six of us were intro- duced to the process of education by Mrs. lrelan and Miss Bollinger. After our adventures with Dick and jane, we were greeted in the second grade by Mrs. Mathieson and Mrs. Becklehimer, formerly Miss Bollinger. We were ushered through our geography and science by our third grade teachers, Mrs. Kuhn and Mrs. Hodson. During this year, the construction of the new grade school building was completed. lt was here that we finished our elementary education. Having absorbed, adequately, the three R's we were welcomed into the fourth grade. We were di- rected through our multiplication and division fundamentals by Mrs. Merley and Miss Bevington. Miss Rose and Miss Bevington aided us through our fifth grade learning. As big shots of the grade school, we were the power of the safety patrol and got our first taste of inter-scholastic basketball. We were helped through our new experiences by Mrs. Kinder and Mr. Parker. Now we're in the seventh grade. Boy, are we scared! The idea of finding a different room every hour seemed impossible until Miss Keyes and Mr. Parker, our sponsors, explained to us that the first digit of the room number corresponded to the floor. After learning the ropes, we sailed smoothly to our eighth grade graduation. Among those who passed through our class dur- ing our first eight years were: Nancy McHatton, Laniese Myers, Ann Friend, Sandra Stewart, Toe Dale Miller, janet Moore, Tom Floor, Susie Barnes, Merl McGee, Iudy Walters, David Floor, George Mollencup, jacob Darling, Gary Parker, joe Made- ford, Don Wallis, Ieannette Lynn, Donnetta Chap- man, Ianie Willard, and Rhoda Gates. We started a new era in our education with new sponsors, Mrs. Dyer and Mr. Heltze-lg new subjects, and a new name - FRESHMEN! We elected our officers as follows: President, Gary Sicksg Vice-President, Bob Burkett, and Secretary- Treasurer, Catherine Byrd. Our graduation day seemed much closer as we took our places in high school. During this year we lost Paul A. Shoemaker, Mary Worden, and Le Roy Martin. With the coming of our Sophomore year and gaining Larry Stiver, we began our long climb to- ward financing our Senior trip. Our first step in this climb was the traditional all-school skating party. Mrs. Dyer and Mr. Wilcox were our sponsors this year. Our officers were: President, Bob Burkettg Vice-President, Bob Kirk, and Secretary-Treasurer, Catherine Byrd. Finally we entered our junior year. Our sponsors were Mrs. Waechter and Mr. Yager. Things really started to boom! The boys in our class were promi- nent on the basketball team. Many of us spent our nights for several weeks knocking on doors, selling magazines, but our star salesman, Bob Burkett, did his selling while lying in bed with a broken leg. During the second semester we could be seen at ballgames calling our wares of popcorn, ice cream, and cokes. When our sales began to lag, Larry Sheetz, our canteen manager, gave us a pep talk to encourage us to greater sales heights. On March l9 we started our preparation for our play, The Little Dog Laughed, under the direction of Mr. Yager. During the three weeks of play prac- tice we learned many things about some of the kids in our class. One of which was that Bev Powell, Merlee Smoker, and Bill Burkett seemed to be expert painters! ln the spring of the year we decorated the Steer- Inn and invited the Seniors to an evening of dining and dancing. All of these events might have been more difficult for us without the help of our sponsors, Mrs. Waech- ter and Mr. Yager, who walked along with our offi- cers, Kent Groninger, President, Bob, Kirk, Vice- President, Karna Hoffman, Secretary, and Eldon Rager, Treasurer. We ended our junior year by giving the Seniors a semi-formal farewell dance immediately following their graduation. Eleanor Hopkins, Catherine Byrd, Wilma Sterk, Bill Iunkin, Gary Sicks, Gale Cox, and Dale Cox left us during this year and Frank Urbahns, Paul S. Shoemaker and Cecil Kelley joined us. SENIORS, the goal which we had set as under- classmen, having been reached, we caught sight of a new goal - Graduation! Mrs. Waechter and Mr. Yager helped us to pre- pare for this goal. At our first class meeting we elected our class officers: President, Kent Groningerg Vice-President, jack Boyer, secretary, Karna Hoff- man, and Treasurer, Eldon Rager. Realizing that we still needed money for our Senior trip, we continued to w-ork in the can-teen. We supplemented our income by sponsoring a sock hop and selling ads for our yearbook. One of our most enjoyable money-making projects was our Senior play, directed by Mrs. Striggle. ln April many of us attended our last Sunshine- Hi-Y Banquet, and in May, instead of hosts, we were guests at the junior-Senior Reception. Sunday, April 25, we gathered at the Akron depot with families and friends. Amid the last minute goodbyes, we boarded the train and began our Senior trip, which took us through Washington and New York. ln one short week we spent all of the money which we had been earning for the past six years. On the night of May 22, as thirty-six of us, having gained Mary Ellen Maxwell and lost lack Shoe- maker, received diplomas, we realized that even our goal of graduation was not as significant as it had seemed. We understood that a goal is not a place to stop and put ambition aside, it is only a stepping stone in the path to higher goals. Only as we realized this did we capture the ful-l, meaning of our class motto: SO LITTLE DONE, SO MUCH TO DO.

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Glass of 1 959 Marla Hammond I h rm Play cast 3 Aero s att 4 0 n 1 e I Haze Staff Wills 4 Cho us Rocheser 1' 25 Akron' Fay 3 4 Play Usb 4 Usher 3, 45 Haze Stat. 4. Paul Scott Shoemaker girly Sliver H Y 2 4 T k 1 3 FFA a arusai Class President 1 Haze gffff 4 Sm e 1, Bqsfketbqii i, Track lg Manage 4 Tennis, Captain l5 Akron: Haze Staff 45 Play Usher 3. Larry Sheetz Hi-Y 45 Basketball l, 25 Play Cast 45 Haze Statt 45 Canteen Manager 3, 45 Stage Manager 3. Karen Kreighbcxum Sunsfhine 2, 3, 45 Aero Staff 45 Chorus 45 Play Usher 3, 45 Haze Staff 4. Dan Flohr Hi-Y 3, 45 Hi-Y Vice-Presi dent 45 Class Officer, Stu- dent Council 35 Basketball l, 2, 3, 45 Track 35 Baseball 2, 3, 45 Basketball King Candidate 35 l7'.F.A. l5 Play Cast 35 Haze Staff 45 Cho- rus l5 Mixed Chorus 15 Master ct Ceremonies at Play 4. Frank Uzbahns Bushville: Hi-Y l, 2, 35 Bas- ketball 3, Track l, 25 Base- ball l5 Play Cast 35 Corn- rnencement Usher 35 Cho- rus 35 Mixed Chorus l, 2, 35 Student Manager 15 Cross Country 15 Football l5 Akrori Hi-Y 45 Class Officer, Student Council 45 Baseball 45 Play Cast 45 Aero Staff 45 Haze S-tall, Prophecy 45 Mixed Chorus 4.

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l .Beyond 'Ghe .Worizon I have just returned from a world tour and have had the most rewarding experiences, but 'lei me tell you how it all began. First, I saw lim Swick who is in charge of the depot at Akron. Akron is a thriving metropolis now and Iim has many res-ponsilbilities, There have been only two wrecks a year, since I started here, 'he said. lust then the train pulled in and I 'had to hurry to get on it. My baggage all stowed away, I sat down and began tc read a magazine. Soon I heard the familiar, Ticket-s? Tickets? as the conductor passed down the aisle. I opened my purse -- no ticket! I looked on my lap - no ticket! The conductor was beside my seat. I just can't seem to find - wthy, Iohn Stanley! What on earth are you doing? I exclaimed. I-t looks like .I'm collecting tickets, he laughed then went on to exipllain, My father-in-law owns this railroad line and I'm getting my start by working from the 'bottom up'. Having seen two of my former schoolmates, I began to wonder wthere the rest were living and what they were doing. T-he nextt time Iohn came past my seat, I asked if he knew anything concerning our 1959 Akron High School classmates. Well, he said, now let me see. Cecil Kelley tis a leading fashion designer for a prominent New York firm, and Ienny Barnes - Oh, yes! Ienny is the ed-itor-in-chief of the New York Times. Wonderful! Have you heard how lohn Little is getting along? Io!hn? Let me see. I remember hearing his name spoken just the other day. Oh, yes! He is in partnership with an lt1ali'ian and together they own a chain of ,pizzadpie drive-ins. It seems that they had a pizzta-rpie eating contest a few days ago and Phyllis Murphy won by eating 77 pies. Before I could ask if she became sick, the train pulled into tthe New York depot, I bid Iohn farewell. I found a taxi to take me to tthe Slkyiway Hotel, the best in ,the city. But why not? It is owned and operated by those two little old maicls Shelby and Merlee Smoker. I would have liked to talk to 'them but they had gone to ,San Francisco for a vacation. That afternoon in ltlhe lobby I recognized Iohn Hartman and Bob Kirk. It seemed that they had come to New York to be on the newest quiz show, What Can You Lose? and had won several million dollars. Close behind them was Eldon Ruger who worked for Uncle Sam in the Internal Revenue Department. Alter going through tthe necessary red tape and cus-toms, I finally got my passport and was on board the ship that was to take me to Europe. It was a spacious, luxury liner chri-stened the S. S. Frances after our former classmate Fran- ces Lewis whose husband was its multi-millioniaire owner. On -board I was in for another pleasant surprise, for one of the passengers, famed for sculpturing, was none other than Kent Groninger. We had a long talk one afternoon and he said that he had seen Gloria McCloughan. a fellow artist, at an annual Art Convention held in Paris several months ago. He said she was a wonderful portrait pa-inter and had a very wealthy clientele. Finally alter what seemed a long time, but in reality was relatively short, I reached England. I had always wanted to exiplore a castle, so I 'hired a car and chauffeur and went castle-thiuntiing. Some of the castles were crumlbling and run- down, but one was in excellenlt condiition, the furniture in place and the anoienit but well-'preserved tapestries were on the walls. A man stood guard at the entrance so that vandals would not destroy this work of art. When I inquired who owned the property I was told that it belonged to Paul Scott Shoemaker who at the present was in ndtia hunting for a temple or monument to resurrect. Also, while I was in England, I visited Oxford University and found that Dan Floor was one of the best science teach- ers in England. At a large city hospital I found the world- famed surgeon, lack Shoemaker. I Paris came next on my itinery and I discovered Linda Nelson modeling for a large clothing concern. Sthe informed me that Pat Overlander was also in the city and that she was one of the most popular beauticzians in all France. Italy, at last! This was a favorite ccuntry of mine. I hurried to a restaurant whose advertisements read Roberts, the Spaghetti King. I expected to find a small, dlark Italian pro- prietor, but instead, the owner and manager turned out to be a tall, blonde, American, known to AHS Class of '59 as Bob Burkett. While I late he told me ot several other people including his cousin Bill Burkett. Bill had a large cattle ranch in Argentina and was a skilled bolo zhrower. Kama Hoffman had gone on the stage and was on cr world tour, and Karen Kreiglhbaum was a famous opera singer, now playing in Brussels, Belgium. Having finished my lunch, I toured Italy to my satisfaction and a few weeks later found myself on a ship crossing the Mediterranean to Egypt. In Cairo, as l was sigth-teseeing and trying to find some ivory souvenirs I was directed to an ivory collector who had a shop on the m-ain drag. This man was dressed in Eastern fashion, but it seemed to me that I recognized him, All of a sudden it came to me. Why, Max Helvey. of all people! And sure enough it was Max. He had tired of t-he rat race of American Civ-ilization and had come to Cairo to relax. As with every tourist, I wanted to ride on a camel so I set off with the next group going for a week's journey on the desert ship. I found the camel a very unpleasant creature who was very lousy and who kicked, bi-t, and spat at me constantly. On our journey we were to rest and relax for a day at an oasis and also we were to visit Sliiek Fer Anck and his harem. You can imtagine my surprise when I dis- covered Fer An-ok was our guides mispronounoiiation of Frank, for our host was Frank Urbahns. Soon I was traveling again, this time my destination was somewhere in darkest Africa. I met :ny guide and collected supplies and started. My first stop was a diamond mine owned by Larry and Ierry Kuhn and managed by their cap- able friend Larry Stiver. After Larry Stiver had taken me or a very interesting tour of the mine and had given me a couple of souvenirs I con- tinued my canoe trip dtown river. One night we happened ulpon the cam-p of a ,pair of ibrig game hunter-s. At first I didnlt recognize them in their Bermuda shouts and jungle hats, but they soon gave themselves away and I realized that they were Iohn McCloughan and Bill Whittenburger. 'Iliring of the African jungles I struck off in the direction of China and India. Here I had heard about a giant agriculture experiment operated by an American farmer to see if Chinese soil could not support the Clhinese population. Of course, it was Larry Sheet: and he was being helped by the Secretary of Foreign Aid of the U. S., lack Boyer who gave him many bushels of surplus grain. Striking off again, this time in the direction of Australia, I wondered which of my classmates I would find in this coun- try. On a wild hunch I tpicked up o newspaper -to see if I would find anyone I knew in the Australifa News. Sure enough, before I had hunted long I fcund the article entitled: Hamimond's jumper Wins First Prize. Reading further I found out that Marla Hammond had been experimenting in crossing Australian lack Rabbits with Kangaroos ftthis animal is called a Kangarabbitj ianid had won first prize in n animal show. By now I was tired of traveling for a while so I struck out west and nort-h aiming rto lfand on the southern coast of the United States. As luck would have it, a hurricane blew up and we put in at Rio de Ivanerio for supplies. v As I was walking through the city I saw two women, obviously very wealthy, walking French poodles in a park. I beaan to get that old feeling of believing the ladies were familiar and this time, too, I was right, For these were Pat Kuhn and Beverly Powell whose husoandts were partners in a giant Brazil nut pltanftation. Loiokfinig at my list I found only two classmate-s wthose wthereatbouts were unknown to me. but Pat and Bev soon supplied the information Esther Landis was the proud owner of seven oil wells in Texas and Mary Ellen Maxwell was a nurse in a mental institution and a part-time author. With a sigth, I boarded the boat and started for home. MARY ELLEN MAXWELL ' 1