Belmont Hill School - Belmont Hill School Yearbook (Belmont, MA)

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was in this year also that we realized that we were becoming men. It wouldn't be long be- fore we would be voting, for Mel Higgins passed his driver's license examination with flying colors. Under the circumstances Mel became one of the best liked boys in the form and one of the most feared by the Watertown pedestrians. That year our still upotentiali' hockey play- ers, Quinn, Harvey, and Willmann, took the trip to Dartmouth with the great team of '47. From all reports Spike Downes took the place of Frank Sinatra with his guitar and melodious voice. The Fifth Form year saw our class gaining more popularity with the additions of Ayuso, Dunphy, Kelleigh, and Taylor from the class of '48, Other members who joined the form were Kasper and Morgan. Boss Ed once more threw his political weight and put Quinn into the office of president and Harvey and Casner as Student Council representatives. The faculty required additional members with the growth of the School and with the re- gretted departures of Messrs. Harris and Mallett. To fill the vacancies Fearless Phil Carlisle, Dick Loomis, and jack Fisher were added. Fearless Phili' became quite famous as the only scientist who never had an experi- ment work. Several brute Fifth Formers caused Andy Sigoumey to go mad after locking him in the boiler room of Eliot House. Andy broke every window in sight, but he escaped his dark prison. This also was a famous year for the Fifth-Sixth Form riots. Dave Biddle learned the hard way by ending up in a sewage hole. The annual Fifth Form privileges were granted to the class in the spring, and a crackers and milk committee was formed. One member of the committee, Andy Casner, gained more weight in three weeks than ever before. The new Student and Athletic Councils went into office, and the form was excused from the seventh and eighth period study halls. The highlight of Boss Ed's political career at Belmont Hill came with the election of Leigh Quinn as class president and chairman of the Student Council for the Sixth Form year. Yankee Ben Wheaton, the one man who could sell anything and often tries, as treasurer, Dave Harvey, as secretary, and john Dunphy were also elected to the Student Council. The Sixth Form members of the Athletic Council were Bill Allison, as presi- dent, and Andy Casner, general handy man. After years of Mrs. Miller's food, the class musclemen, bigger and stronger, forced the replacement of several chairs by a new couch in the Sixth Form room. This couch had unique qualities. It served not only as a place for Tony Ayusois daily siesta but also as a nice thing to sit on while doing math homework together and was also the meeting place of Werner Willmann's bridge club. And it was found that there was no better way to get rid of the Form president than to fold him up inside this couch. Several new members cut their way through the thick smoke of the Sixth Form room this year. These daring souls were Bill MacDonald, jim Park, Allan Murphy, Indiana Taggart, and Zeke,' Eaton. The first half year drew to a close with a party at our distinguished presidentis home and a trip to Hamilton College for the hockey team. On the last day of December fifteen members of the team and Coach Kos started off to spend New Yearis Eve at Hamilton. After eighteen hours of almost continuous driving through rain, sleet, snow, Hoods, fog, ditches, and cars, the team reached Hamilton, tired and minus Casneris jeep. The highlights of our stay, aside from winning the cup, were long discussions with the coach, several night- mares on the part of Captain Harvey, and a good time had by all. After several short Chapel services given by various members of the form, Oliver Taylor finally set a School record, being clocked at exactly 4:55. Probably the most memorable Chapel assemblies conducted by the Sixth Form were our Friday mornings. A political rally, which showed the predominance of cap- italistic minds in the School, ended in a walk- out by the Sixth Form while Eliot Porter was voicing the views of Mr. Henry Wallace. On another occasion Don Burger, alias Ham-

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sparkling success. We did, however, show great power and potentiality as our thriving 30's squad crushed a seventh grade team from Rox- bury Latin, 63-0. Fritz Willmann was the undisputed star of the day with five touch- downs to his credit. With the previous year's hockey success inflating our ego, several members of the form, blinded with optimism, threatened to bench several varsity lettermen. The coach, however, not realizing our poten- tialities and past seasons' records, sent us down to the intramural league for further seasoning. That year we did receive athletic recognition with the awarding of letters to Coons and Allison for crew and baseball, respectively. The only political activity of the year was the election of Andy Casner as our distinguished president. Scholastically our form showed great prom- ise. Realizing our higher intelligence, Mr. Keller increased the number of problems in math. However, six members of the form thwarted Mr. Keller, in his attempts to out- smart the class, by daily collaboration in math homework. After several weeks of clever har- mony, Mr. Keller broke up the daily sessions when he made an unexpected visit to our meeting place. The next year found our form swelling with the addition of Dave Chick, Don Burger, john Burchard, and Dave Crozier. The last of the new members brought us the Breakfast Table Paper of New England. This year brought also a great new fascination through the salesman- ship and interest in biology of Iohn Burchard. During the course of the year there were amaz- ing sales of white mice at the low minimum of only five cents. Athletically, this year showed a slight im- provement over the previous year. Rumors have it, though, that due to the fact that our potential hockey players were cut the previous year, a new coach was appointed. Mr. Kos, a graduate of the Big Green, recognized our hockey abilities in Quinn, Harvey, and Will- mann. Although they made up the kid line, their efforts were not enough to win letters. On the baseball field we added one more mem- ber, Leigh Quinn, to the ranks of baseball lettermen. Politically, the form changed the presidency and elected Leigh Quinn. Appar- ently Andy Casner asked for too much money for the community drive the previous year, and the form thus needed a change from such heavy taxation. Scholastically, the form achieved a favorable record with several new members added to the honor list. Mr. jenney and Mr. Sawyer re- turned after their long service with the armed forces. Several new masters entered the School in this year and were received wholeheartedly by the form. Mr. von Mering was perhaps the most entertaining. His daily French classes began with the study of French, but before the period was over anything but French was dis- cussed. Some of our members were of amaz- ing physical proportions and strengthened their muscles by carrying Mr. von Mering's desk quite a distance from the classroom. This, of course, always delayed the period while our muscle-men carried the desk back. The pyro- maniacs of the form, likewise, had a chance to show their skill. Mr. Richards, a since de- parted member of the faculty, was always the Earget for their pranks, especially wastebasket res. It was in the year 1947 that the political machine entered the form: Boss Ed Winship, along with Bill Ellis and Bibo Porter. Ben Buzzell, realizing the possibilities of our class, decided to drop back from the class of '48. Boss Ed Winship immediately began his ma- chine moving and with his political influence swayed the class elections to Nick Norwood as president and Frank Dickinson as our repre- sentative on the Student Council. Mr. Downes and Mr. Willey came back after war service, and upon our passing that fearful ordeal, algebra, we graduated to Mr. Max's geometry class, which enabled us to show our artistic abilities with a compass and a straight edgef' After six months of completely de- moralizing us, by constantly insulting our mathematical abilities, Mr. Maxwell was forced to vacation in Florida for several weeks. During our professor's absence, that red- headed genius, Mr. Colbert, fascinated the class. After telling Mr. Colbert what a com- pass is, the class endeavored to describe joe Pythagorasi' with very humorous results. It

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burger, provided a hilarious assembly with his silent quartet, Al Iolson, and an imported organist, Dave Harvey. As a climax to our first half year in the Sixth Form, spikes Downes produced a short quiz for his history classes. After three hours of continuous writing, several members of the class were treated for shock. Realizing he was endangering his popularity, Spike reduced the exam from ten to two pages, but increased the odds of flunking. That, of course, is typical of the man: always willing to help in any way he can! It was this year that the pyramid craze. streaking across the country, suddenly swept through Belmont Hill. Oliver Taylor, having checked the odds, decided he couldn't lose and invested sums in several clubs. May it suflice to say that Ollie is still waiting for that two thousand dollars. The Fred Astaire of the Sixth Form, Tony Ayuso, often inspired many of us with his ability to dance the South American dances. Not only did we have a Fred Astaire but also a sheriff Phil Finn in the person of Dave Biddle. Drizzle, has probably broken more shovels than the rest of the form put together. These are just a few of the many fond mem- ories we have. Lack of space prevents our saying more. And so, as the old adage, All good things must come to an end, so adeptly puts it, we of the class of 1949 suddenly found our stay at Belmont Hill culminating and graduation upon us. Our graduation activities, however, were a fitting climax to our years at School. After the baccalaureate service, the Prize Day exercises, and the Clee Club concert of Thursday, the '49ers and their guests adjourned to Ben Buz- zell's Wigwam for an evening together. Some- how, Messrs. Funk, Fisher, and Whittier found their way into the midst of this select group, but were apprehended as they were filling their pockets at the free lunch table. - Friday morning, our last day as under- graduates of Belmont Hill, was tinged with sadness, for with the presentation of the diplo- mas it finally came home to us that our days on the Hill were at an end and that all that remained now were memories.