Amory High School - Panorama Yearbook (Amory, MS)

Page 15 text:

Z)he Qolden Panther a snarling nose brought harmonious cooperation out of a mighty hunter that held others at bay while he gorged himself on the kill. Again a session of docile playfulness and soft purring would dispel the mounting tensions that would lead to domestic discord and strife, particularly among the mother cats or kittens. For all that might be said of him, he was a leader. Maybe not in all, nor necessarily the fulness to be effective in helping accomplish that right. It is altogether fitting and proper that the recognitions that we give to respective leaders and outstanding students of our student body today, be such that recognize also these qualities of leadership as exemplified by that golden panther of long ago. We would be in keeping with the spirit of tradition to call this award for meritorious achievement the Golden Panther Award, to be presented at this time each year to the Amory High School Panthers whose contributions and achievements have, through the high school years just passed, been distinctively significant in advancing the ideals and purposes for which Amory High School stands and the program that is designed to achieve those ideals.

Page 14 text:

yiierltoriouA Achievement Award TJhe J egenii o[ Long, long ago, when this Tombigbee region still belonged to Mother Nature and her wild creatures that roamed the sloughs and ridges, maintaining their existence by their cunning and prowess in stalking and hunting on the one hand and their ability to escape becoming prey of a more formidable hunter on the other, there lived in this immediate area a den or pack of vicious and cunning panthers whose ambition it was to dominate and control all of the game areas, water holes, and salt licks within their range and put under their complete rule all of the other creatures of the forest. They organized themselves and set about toaccomplish this purpose, and since they were a strand of creatures that included many individual caj n unusual ability, they were not long in achieving their puupwre.dfwever, as is often the case when there are many powerful and talented indum!uaiy0 uch a conspiracy, the prolonged existence of their domination was at iffie opardy because of the need for one leader for the pack whtynljflj e able in some manner to reconcile i he driving amiuUuur of the big cats and It was in this n ’W raPr the fates seemed to smile on the ambitH of these creatures, for as their dominion began to spread and the plans and purposes of powerful leaders began on occasion to conflict, there came to the fore one of their number who, though not possessed necessarily with all of the outstanding qualities and strengths of all of the cats, (and indeed no two of the remarkable animals possessed identical abilities or talents in kind) nevertheless, he did seem to be able to come through with the peculiar and particular contribution necessary to reconcile these differences and unify the strengths of the pack into a force that established their domain and placed the entire area securely under their sway. This remarkable panther, though not as large and powerful as some, nor as cunning or resourceful as others, did, however, bear a mark that seemed somehow to distinguish and identify him. He possessed a coat of distinctive golden sheen, and his dealing with others was as distinctive as his coloring. Sometimes a smart spat of needle sharp claws across

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Kathy William£