Berne French Township High School - Our Yesterdays Yearbook (Berne, IN)

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SENIOR CLASS PROPHECY The opening game of the World Series of 1954 was to be in St. Louis, Missouri. The series this year held a special interest for me since two of my high school classmates had made themselves famous as star players among the St. Louis Cardinals. Today was my first opportunity to see them play since the year of 1940. As I was nearing St. Louis, I drove up to “Slug’s Super Service Station.” When I paid the attendant, he inquired if I was going to the game at St. Louis. I answered that I was going because two of my former high school classmates were playing for the Cards. “They couldn’t be Burry and Neuenschwander by any chance?” he asked. “Why, how did you guess it?” I exclaimed. “Because they were my classmates, too—and I recognized you. Don’t you remember ‘Slug’ Schindler?” Was I surprised! The ambitious attendant who owned this prosperous station was Clarence Schindler, whom I hadn’t seen for years. By the time I got to St. Louis I just had time to get a bite of lunch at a restaurant before hurrying off to the game. Suddenly, as I was eating, beautiful strains of music filled the room. I turned, and there on a small platform stood Walter Zuercher, playing the requests of the guests on his faithful old accordion. Having finished my lunch, I started on my way toward “Sportsman’s Field.” I stopped to admire some jewelry in a window when two fine looking ladies came out of the store. Immediately I recognized them as two of my former classmates, Maxine Moser and Henrietta Bixler. They informed me they were both interior decorators, and although it was high time to get to the game, I went with them to their offices, which were in a magnificent building across the street. Arriving at the ball park, I handed the usher my ticket. As I did so another usher shouted. “Hurry up, Schug, game’s starting.” At the sound of that familiar name I looked up. and to my surprise I saw that my usher was Frederick Schug. When the band began to play the “Star Spangled Banner.” I knew I had arrived just in time. Watching the band. I turned my attention to the director, whose face looked familiar. Bv the time they had finished the national anthem, I recognized him to be Kenyon Nussbaum. who, I knew, had made a success in the field of music. The game was beginning! On the pitcher’s mound was Junior Burry winding up for the first pitch against the opposing batter of the Chicago White Sox. Immediately I was heart and soul in the game. The game was now in full swing. As the third pitch crossed the plate, there was a sudden crash and a hot grounder to short, neatly fielded with one hand, flipped wildly to first, with a sensational catch made by Neuenschwander for the first out of the game. The game progressed with little action until the latter part of the sixth inning, the Cards for the first time in the game being able to find the pitching of the White Sox. Page Nineteen

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Our Yesterdays SENIOR CLASS HISTORY 'Way back in 1936. thirty-three Freshmen bashfully found their way to seats in the high school. As previous classes did, we chose four people from our class to protect us from our fellow citizens, the Sophomores, Juniors and Seniors. We elected Howard Lugin-bill to serve as our president. The officers with him were Maxine Moser, our vice president; Phyllis Zehr, our secretary, and Ted Schindler, our treasurer; and with Miss Arnold as our sponsor, we started forth quite confidently. The biggest event in our first high school year was our class party. The party was in celebration of St. Valentine’s Day. We Freshmen felt ignored by the upper-classmen, but we unconsciously urged it on by wearing green. In the fall of 1937 the name “Freshmen” was discarded and to be regarded with pity. Our group was decreased by one person this year. Early in the spring all of us worked hard to have an entertaining party in April. It was a success, mostly because of the initiative of our four class officers, namely Ted Schindler, our president, assisted by Orval Habegger, Dorothy Liechtv, and Harold Lehman. Our Junior year was filled with new and interesting events. Early in the fall we chose Howard Luginbill to guide us through a successful year. His assistants were Harold Lehman, Phyllis Zehr. and Junior Burry. Our class party this year was a St. Patrick’s Day party. On Nov. 15 a cast of Juniors presented “Young Smitty,” a humorous play which pleased the audience very much. A more exciting evening of our Junior year was the night we entertained the Seniors with aieception. We were proud when it was acclaimed successful by the Seniors; its success was due to the cooperation of all our class members. Seniors are to be sophisticated, and we tried our best to live up to our name until the high school Hallowe’en party on October 31, which brought us back to normal. We also helped plan the second high school party, a Valentine party held on February 12. Our class officers this year have been Howard Luginbill, president; Elizabeth Sprung-er, vice president; Carolyn Muselman, secretary, and Junior Burry, treasurer. For a class motto, we chose “The elevator to success is not running; take the stairs.” We have learned that success comes only through the exerting of energy. Most of us were partial to roses, so we picked the American Beauty rose for our class flower. With flying colors, choosing blue and silver for class colors, we seniors published this annual, which is the first one since 1926. For further entertainment, we presented our class play, “Anne of Green Gables,” on April 9. With memories of the experiences we have had together and with the many opportunities before us, we twenty-nine seniors enter into Life’s School of Experience, anticipating a climb which we hope will lead to success for each one of us. Page Eighteen

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The White Sox were leading with a score of 2-0. With Neuenschwander at the plate, the Cards were up to bat. The bases were loaded, but already two men had struck out. The game depended on Neuenschwander—would he strike out or—? On the third pitch he hit a fast ball which kept going, going, and right over the top of the left field wall!!! This brought in the men on base, making the score 4-2 in favor of the Cards. I was jumping around excitedly, and with my hands waving violently, I shouted all sorts of encouragement to the team. Suddenly I heard someone exclaim something to me. When I looked at the lady in front of me, she was recovering her hat from the lap of the man beside her, where apparently my hand had sent it in mv excitement. Apologizing to her. I discovered she was none other than Emma Jane Liechty. The gentleman who was the hat rack victim was Harold Lehman! After a short conversation, I learned that Emma Jane was a child specialist, working in the same clinic as Dr. Lehman, surgeon, in a city about twenty miles from St. Louis. Between the exciting moments of the game we began talking about our classmates. They told me Ruth Soldner was Superintendent of Nurses in a Chicago hospital. Our class seemed interested in the medical field, for they said that Clara Lehman, too, was a nurse, working in her home town in Missouri. They called my attention to a distinguished looking gentleman with a high silk hat who was sitting in the first row of box seats with his wife, a former Berne girl. This gentleman could be none other than Senator Howard M. Luginbill. After several exciting plays, the ball game ended with the Cards winning with a score of 6-3. Burry, as pitcher, had won a great victory for the Cards! Passing by the lunch stand on the way to my car, I saw a lady buying candy for her dog. The affection she displayed for her dog reminded me of Mary Alyce Winteregg, who I discovered that it really was. Continuing my way through the crowd, I suddenly heard a masculine voice ask me if I cared for a ride uptown. I paid no attention, although I knew it was the well-dressed man to my left. As he headed for his Cadillac, he laughingly asked me if I remembered him or not. “I'm your old classmate, Waldo Stuckey,” he said. He told me that he was a business executive in California and had come east on his vacation. Just then a black curly head appeared at the car window. The little fellow stuck his tongue out at me, then shouted, “Hurry up, Pop.” It was late when I got home that night. The day had certainly been full of interesting events! Meeting so many of my former classmates had made me lonesome for my home town so I decided to take a trip to Berne. The next evening I caught the train bound for Berne. The conductor of the train happened to be Loris LeFever. What a coincidence that Carolyn “Muselman and her husband should be riding in the same car! They were returning from a series of evangelistic meetings to Detroit, where her husband was the minister in a prominent church. Page Twenty