Benson High School - Tatler Yearbook (Benson, NC)

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GLaU Four years ago at Benson High School a frightened group of boys and girls entered school. Yes, we freshmen were frightened that morning, but we were proud that we had at last reached the goal of our childhood ambi- tions. It was indeed a hard journey, but we completed the year, taking part in sports, clubs, and having parties. We began our sophomore year with Shirley Whittington as our president. We were proud when six of our sophomores were tapped as Beta Club members. It was during this year that the Citizenship Council was organized, which improved our school greatly. We never will forget algebra, because it was our hardest subject. At last! We were Juniors. We elected Stacy Miller for our President; Robert Smith, Vice- President; Patricia Gregory, Secretary; Charles Jackson, Treasurer; and Ray Allen as Presi- dent of the Citizenship Council. The school paper was published monthly by us Juniors, with the help and guidance of Mrs. Annalean Johnson. We will always remember our Christmas Party at the Junior Order Hall, given by our grade parents. We sponsored the Sauline Players, and presented a play of our own, Meet Me In St. Louis, directed by our other sponsor, Mrs. Lobban. Pat Greg- ory won the annual medal for dramatics by her work in this play. In this way, we made money for the Junior-Senior banquet. The banquet, which carried out the theme of Treasure Island, was held at the Carolina Hotel, with a dance at the American Legion Building afterwards. How hard we worked to decorate the gym, building the prow of a pirate ship, and climbing the rafters to hang streamers! However, it was worth all the work when we entered Treasure Island on the night of the dance. It was during the Junior year that we chose blue spinel for our class rings. Seven of our class members were chosen marshals for the Graduation Exercises. The summer quickly passed and we had at last attained our goal. Through our past high school years we had lost eleven classmates; some to marriage, some to other schools, and some to different fields of work. The day our rings came there was a turmoil of excitement because of a mistake in the color of the stones. The class agreed to keep the ruby rings, showing that we had gone a long way in the growing up process. The company pre- sented a nice gift to us for their mistake. The most difficult task of the year was producing The Tatler, which holds the memories of past years. An exhausted annual staff wro te the final page on December 19, just in time to attend a lovely Christmas party given by our grade parents. We were proud to have Gwen Johnson chosen for Homecoming Queen. The funniest event of the Senior year was the organization of the First French Quartet for Stunt Night. Kenneth Johnson, Graham Mosely, Ken Pritchard, and Stacy Miller were the singers. The Seniors also chalked up another beauty contest winner when Shirley Whittington was chosen as Miss Benson High the same night. Two of the seniors, Stacy Miller and Ruth Evelyn West, are trying for scholarships at Carolina and Duke respec- tively. We presented Smilin ' Through as our Senior play, directed by Mrs. Lobban, our Senior sponsor. Its successful presentation, in spite of the many hours of drudgery, was a pleasure for all those participating, as well as the audience. Now remained only the biggest event of all: Graduation! In future years, as we look back through the window of the past, our minds will be filled with memories of activities that we enjoyed with our classmates — the best friends of the best years of our lives. Shirley Langley, Grace Moore, Historians. 16

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THURMAN WHITTINGTON F.F.A. 1, Treasurer 2, Secretary 3, President 4: Superlative 4; Class Officer, Vice-President 4. BARBARA WOODLIEF Needle Point Club 1; Dramatics Club 1; 4-H Club 1; F.H.A. 2; Class Officer 1. 2; Music 1, 2; Glee Club 1, 2, 3, 4: Waitress Jr.-Sr. 2- Student Staff 3; Play 3. Qiade Pa ientd- Mrs. S. D. Johnson Mrs. F. M. Woodlief Mrs. Fred Johnson Mrs. V. G. Gregory Mr. V. G. Gregory Mr. Emory Miller 15

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lait Will and ediament COUNTY OF JOHNSTON TOWN OF BENSON We, officially known as the Seniors of 1953 of Benson High School, being of sound mind and body, realize that our days at dear old B. H. S. are now very few. For this reason we do hereby will and bequeath these pos- sessions to the very fortunate persons listed as follows : SECTION I Item 1. To our parents we leave our deep- est thanks and love for helping us reach our goal. Item 2. To our dear old Alma Mater we say Goodbye, to the happy years behind us. SECTION II Item 1. To Mr. Barefoot we leave a thou- sand page book in which to keep tardies, but we hope he won ' t need it after we ' re gone. Item. 2. To Mrs. Lobban we leave our willingness to keep quiet while she is talking. Item 3. To Mr. Ashcraft we just leave and say Goodbye. Item 4. To Mrs. Moore we leave a new kind of shorthand book for stupid seniors. Item 5. To Mr. Stephens and Mr. Nance we leave the old basketball team and hope they improve. Item 6. To the remainder of the faculty we just leave and hope they are happier without us. SECTION III Item 1. To the little Freshmen Class we leave our love, best wishes, and deepest sympathy for the next three years, with the hope that you too may become Seniors some- day. Item 2. To the Sopohomore Class we leave one hundred and eighty good hard school days, hoping you will enjoy them. Item 3. To the Junior Class we leave the honor of becoming Seniors along with all our Senior privileges. SECTION IV Item 1. To the Students: We, Ray Allen and Barbara Woodlief, being perfectly content, refuse to leave our love to anyone. Faye Barber leaves her winning smile to Faye Surles. (A smile goes a long way.) Kenneth Barbour leaves his big mouth to Linda Lee and hopes that she will be able to accomplish as much with it as he has. Annie Mae Barefoot leaves all her short- hand grades to Joyce Smith. Clara Jean Beasley leaves her even temper to Stacy Barbour. Sally Lou Byrd wills her ability to get a man and keep him to Belva Johnson. Donald Creech leaves all his girl friends to A. T. Johnson. Joseph Edward Denning leaves his seat in the Senior Class to Jerry Miller and hopes he gets to sit in it. Jo Anne Eason leaves her ability to dance to Shelby Coats. Patricia Gregory leaves all her boy friends to Glenda Norris. Melba Hall leaves her perfect manners to Martin Parker. Golda Hardee leaves her old Chevy to anyone who can drive it. Charles Jackson leaves his intelligence to Shelton Barefoot. Gwen Johnson leaves her love of basket- ball to Julia Ellis. Harvey Johnson leaves his many girl friends to Rollins Johnson along with the blue buick. It helps. Jane Johnson leaves her job at Abdalla ' s to Sharon Moore. Kenneth Johnson leaves his reckless driv- ing ability to Frank Watson. We learn to do by doing. Leroy Johnson wills his job as class Casa- nova to Kenneth Ivey. 17