Assumption High School - Assumption Yearbook (Davenport, IA)

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Pubs and mead halls at Assumption? . . . Yep! For those unknowing souls, meadhalls are Anglo-Saxon taverns where men talked and sang of their brave adventures. Shown admiring the products of the boys’ senior English classes are, left to right, Walter Hunt- ington, Mary Ann Sunderbruch, and Tom Atzen, all seniors. Coaches Pour Concrete; Curbs, Drives, Walks Greet Wheels, Feet by John Berntsen “What’s that you say? 25,000 sq. ft. of concrete on this school’s property? I don’t believe it.” Well, believe it or not, there is. Dur- ing this past summer approximately 25,000 sq. ft. of concrete was poured. This includes sidewalks, curbs and drives. The regular maintenance men and Coaches Ray Ambrose, Gene Walton, and Mr. Joseph Maher worked six days a week for nine weeks in order to have it poured in time for school’s opening. Fr. Robert Amborn and Coach Am- brose supervised the pouring. Accord- ing to Coach Ambrose, “It was a busy summer, but we poured concrete every- day in spite of the shortage of mater- ials and help. The cement job was fairly routine. Everytime we found a path where kids were cutting, we put a sidewalk.” Sidewalks are only part of the im- provements started or finished during the summer. So far 260 shrubs have been planted. Over 100 have been planted in front with the rest scattered around the back entrances and the flagpole. Most of the work needed for the planting was done on a volunteer basis. Mr. Emery Sedlock, Our Lady of Lourdes parish, Bettendorf, super- vised the planting. Some of the types are: Blue Spruce, Scotch Pine, Globe, Hill Dundee, Hick’s Yew, and Douglas Fir. Deciduous trees such as elm, oak, and maple will be planted in November or later when the sap has stopped running. Other improvements include the parking lot flagpole donated by Mr. Charles Lepetit and Mr. Herman Alter of Joman Steel. Two cut stone retaining walls were constructed, one by Section D, an- other behind the convent. The wall by Section D collapsed because of water pressure but will be rebuilt. Frandsen Excavating company will start grading work soon on the land north of the parking lot. In years to come this land will be developed into football practice fields, baseball dia- monds, a track, softball diamonds, and possibly tennis courts. Alumnae Traipse to Convent Life, Alumni Migrate to Minor Seminary by Kathy Kehoe What a life! No men, fancy clothes, cars, luxuries, or social life. Can any girl actually live without these things? Apparently so, for, in the BVM order alone, 2500 women are doing just that. Assumption graduates Alice Leh- man and Susie Springer spent the past summer preparing for entry into the postulancy of the BVM and Humility orders, respectively. Alice, who will be a postulant until February, left for the BVM Mother- house in Dubuque on Aug. 2. At pres- ent, her schedule is filled with varied courses, including social graces, typ- ing, and speech. She will begin reg- ular college work soon, although the emphasis will be on spiritually until the completion of her canonical year. As a member of the BVM’s, a teach- ing order, Alice plans to specialize in math. Even in the convent, housework can’t be escaped, and the postulants are assigned special duties in the dor- mitories. The novices have the unique duty of chasing bats when they are in evidence, a situation reminiscent of Alice’s ICA days. Life is not all work, however. Pic- nics, tennis, and badminton enter into the picture, and when the Lehmans visit their daughter in October, they will bring a pair of bright red tennis shoes. Susie Springer has been in Ottumwa since Sept. 7 as a postulant in the com- munity of the Sisters of Humility. She will also take college courses, prepar- atory to a life of teaching, and will remain a postulant until June 8. Sister Mary St. Marguerite, BVM, the former Ruth McMeans, ICA ’58, is presently a junior novice. Sister St. Marguerite recalled that when she bought her clothes for the convent, she always too ksomeone along for moral support. One day when shopping for black heels the shoe clerk just gazed at her and sad, “Are these for you? Are you sure?” With the exception of this incident the various other clerks were very encouraging. After she left, Ruth’s letters were filled with requests con- cerning distribution of her clothes, and greeting for friends and relatives. Long walks, garden work, classes and studying make these prospective religious welcome a 9:00 lights out. Sister Mary Marguerite sums up the feelings of all three about their new life when she states, “Naturally, I just love it.” Assumption is well represented in the St. Ambrose College minor semin- ary by seven graduates, Leo Feeney, Larry Brafman, Pete Hart, Bill Walz, Ed Botkin, Jim Murphy, and George Warner. We’ll hear about their life in another story. 8

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Chuck Skelley ’61, amuses the student council and the freshmen class with his widely acclaimed impersonations during the Student Council program on Freshmen Get-Acquainted Day, Sept. 10. The program also included a mock Student Coun- cil meeting. Diocesan YCS Federates at Year's First Study Day; Parents Ponder Teen Problems in Christian Family by Mike Ceurvorst To form a diocesan federation, 230 Young Christian Students of the Dav- enport diocese gathered at Assumption high school Sunday, Sept. 27. At this Study Day they covered topics to be acted on by the YCS during the next three years. These include the fam- ily, human relations, and parish life. Highlights of the day included work- shops on such topics as the liturgy, labor, and the social inquiry. Focal point of the day was the Mass cele- brated by Fr. Marvin Mottet, YCS moderator. Led by Fr. William F. Wiebler the YCS’ers sang the Mass and participated in an offertory pro- cession. Fr. Louis Colonnese gave the ser- mon. He pointed out that the burden of reChristianizing the teenage society must be done by the members of that society, the YCS. Elected president of the federation was George Tibbets of Hayes high school, Muscatine. Sharon Rose, Our Lady of Lourdes, Bettendorf, was named vice-president. Art Johnson, lo- cal president of YCS, a parishioner of St. Mary’s, Davenport, was chosen national YCS representative. One of the events considered most interesting by the mixed teenage aud- ience was a panel discussion of par- ents who were in some way connected to YCS, either as CFM couples or as parents to YCS’ers. Controversial ques- tions were discussed. For instance, should the father ex- ercise his authority? The panel de- cided that the father must be the dis- ciplinarian but he should work with the mother. Parents should work on discipline that is understood by all. In regard to teens and rules made for them parents often forget that the teens think like adults while other younger members of the family don’t. But if a rule is restrictive to a teen he must be willing to make the nec- essary sacrifice if it will help the fam- ily. Some teens wondered why parents don’t explain the facts of life to their children. Panel members thought that often the parents don’t know when to talk about these things to their children. Either the children don’t ask or the parents don’t know how or what to say. The teens are often more ready to approach this subjects than are the adults. Advice to teens who have these questions is: pick the right time and place to ask. Remember that even if you know all there is to know about these facts you must have the proper moral perspective for that knowledge to have any worth. Parents should regulate their teens’ social life, the panel observed. The parents must set definite and strictly enforced rules concerning the tele- phone, television, study, dating (who- where-how long), nights out, what the teens read and don’t read. All of these rules must be elastic enough to adjust to a given situation but not so elastic that they become a farce. Students should put themselves in their parents’ boots if they can’t understand a rule. There should be mutual discussion of problems. Many and varied are the sources of irritation between parents and teens. Major problem is discipline. Discipline, respected discipline, is missing in many, many homes. It’s hard to give the kids what they want. Younger children are big problems. Few problems exist af- ter understanding is accomplished. Teens should think about this, panel members commented. Moreover, the parents must set an example of obed- ience to all lawful authority. Study habits should be regulated by parents. The primary burden of edu- cation rests on the parents, not the school. Parents must provide the right time and place for studying. Prayer life is difficult in the mod- ern home according to the experts on the panel. The busy trend of today keeps the family apart. It is difficult to get the family all home at one time. Everyone has “a lot to do.” If the cus- tom of family prayer has been hand- ed down, prayer is easy; if the custom has not been handed down, prayer is almost impossible. Parents must in- sure that the children receive the sac- raments and that they say at least the morning offering. They should en- courage their children to pray ejacu- lations during the day. Family prayers establish a close bond of unity that is hard to break. Making these observations were 3 sets of parents, each couple of which has a total of 7 children. They were: Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Walter; Mr. and Mrs. Francis Leonard, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Rossmiller. 7

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Interests center on the aerial artistry of quarterback John Fennelly as he hits end, Nick Miller, at last week’s game with Davenport. Assumption Knights Exorcise Blue Devils; Now Brace for Tough Opponents Ahead Despite their tremendous “victory” over high-flying Davenport, Assump- tion’s Knights still have a long row to hoe as they play six of their first seven games on the road. Tonight the Knights will journey to Niles, northwest of Chicago, to battle Notre Dame. Coach Gene Walton termed the Niles team “fast with a hard-hitting line and I don’t think they’ve been beaten yet.” Coaches Walton and Ambrose scouted Notre Dame when they buried St. Thomas of Rockford 14-0 in the mud last week. Dubuque Wallert’s Golden Eagles, formerly Loras Academy and St. Col- umbkille’s, will fly into town a week from tonight for the Knight’s first home game. The new central Catholic high school has been having its foot- ball miseries with losses in two of their first three games and injuries to key players. Galen Thomas, the Golden Eagles’ coach, predicted that his stellar grid- ders like big Fred Kummert and Dave Bierie may be below par for another two weeks because of the injury jinx. Last year Assumption shocked Loras Academy, then the number one rank- ing team in the state, with a 7-7 tie at the Gubs’ homecoming. October 17 the Knights will journey for the second time into the Chicago area to take on Joliet Catholic. In last fall’s Assumption kickoff game, Jol- iet was nailed with a 20-0 loss and lat- er they were routed by Alleman 32-7. Since then Joliet has lost all-state fullback Joe Podobnik by graduation. Alleman’s Pioneers will be host for the battle for the Quad-City Catholic title October 23 and Clinton’s sput- tering River Kings will come to Dav- enport October 30. Alleman scored im- pressive victories in their first two outings and will try to duplicate the 20-0 setback they handed Assumption last year with the running of Jim and Wood and Larry Barnett and the pass catching of Jim Watts. Quarterback John Raske, son of the Clinton basketball coach, will direct the River Kings in their quest to avenge the 14-13 loss handed to them in their homecoming last year by the Knights. Clinton lost one and tied one in their first two games. Assumption’s greatest hour! Well, almost although it was tarnished by a late Blue Devil splurge that pro- duced a 13-13 tie in the annual city championship skirmish Friday. As- sumption’s prestige as a football power grew by leaps and bounds as the stun- ned Imp fans watched their four touch- down favorites strive to contain the aggressive Knight team. A crowd of more than eight thousand watched junior quarterback John Fennelly engineer two long touchdown marches that were capped by two plunges up the middle to paydirt by Tim Goffar. The hard-hitting Knight linemen, Bill Bell, Joe Smith, Dan Hawley, Jim Anderson, and Dick Leonard, jarred the Blue Devils into making six fumbles that were par- layed into scoring opportunities be- hind the accurate throwing of Fen- nelly, who was making his first var- sity start, and the pass-catching of Nick Miller and Ron Fiese. Faced with the loss of nine regu- lars from the ’58 team including the entire backfield, Assumption opened the season at Fort Madison where the inspired Bloodhounds, ranked third in pre-season polls of the Little Six Con- ference, pulled a big surprise when they spilled the highly favored As- sumption eleven, 21-0. The Blood- hounds fell off cloud 9 when DeWitt nailed them with an 18-6 loss the fol- lowing week. Costly fumbles, a leaky pass defense, and an inconsistent ground attack led to the Knights’ downfall with only Ed Burke able to gain much yardage. Despite little enthusiasm by the students, the Knights bounced back on the victory trail with a 25-0 romp over Regis at Cedar Rapids September 17. Sparkling defensive play by Bob Schebler, the three touchdown splurge of Ed Burke, and the passing of John Fennelly highlighted the triumph over the inexperienced Cedar Rapids team. Fennelly connected on a 35 yard touch- down pass to Mike Lohf with time ex- pired in the first half. The varsity reserves, paced by Dave Price who blasted his way to three touchdowns, beat Bettendorf 21-7 in the initial reserve game September 21. The reserves will journey to Moline for their next game Monday. 9