Blake School - Reflections / Call O Pan Yearbook (Hopkins, MN)

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History of the Class of 1919 THE Class of 1919 must soon bid goodbye to Make School and to the trials and triumphs with which our lives have been filled; but before we leave the school forever, let us review the annals of our class in the years we have been a part of Make. Ours has been a history of stern struggle against great obstacles; in the beginning, class unity seemed almost an idle dream. We are the largest class that has ever graduated from Make—at one time our class records showed thirty-one members. There was great disparity in ages and the interests and activities of the fellows were numerous and varied. But perhaps for this reason we have entered into and distinguished ourselves in almost every athletic and scholastic activity in the school and now we can look back with pride upon a history which we have done our best to till with honor and success. We arc the first class to have spent an entire seven years here at Make, and our record in the Lower School is full and glorious. Even there we won for ourselves a name in athletics. In intra-mural contests we were usually the winners and the class of 1919 was consistently victorious over S. P. A. in our frequent clashes. We first instituted public speaking in the Lower School and were triumphant in an inter-class debate. It was in the Third Form that the class first organized and as the heads of the Lower School we did much to extend the activities and perfect the spirit there. Then in the fall of 1915 we took the humble place of Freshmen in the L’pper School and every man was full of hope and enthusiasm for the deeds he would do in the four (or more) years before him. In three years as Freshmen, Sophs and Juniors we made, we hope, a splendid and honorable record. Athletics have always been popular with the men of 19. Even in our Freshmen year Massie won his football letter and our class team put up a plucky fight against the heavy Sophomore aggregation. In basketball, that winter, T9 won third place under Confers able guidance. As Sophomores, Confer, Massie and Stabeek made the school football team and Hudson won his baseball “B”. We had six men on the 2nd team and formed an extremely successful 3rd team, where our men were trained for their future battles for Make. In the spring of T7 Massie. Mills and Mintener won their “B” in baseball, while many made the 2nd team. In our Junior year more than half Blake’s football team came from the Junior class and Ed Brooks was elected to lead the next team. Our Junior line made it a banner team and enabled Blake to hold Pillsbury to a 0-0 score— glorious climax. I’nder Brooks, we Juniors won the school championship in 19

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R. W. JOHNSON 18

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basketball. In baseball once more we distinguished ourselves, having seven of our classmates on the team and Mintener being elected to captain the ’19 team. Surely here is a series of athletic triumphs, as under class men of which we may well be proud. While we excelled in athletics there was a lively interest among the fellows in more scholastic attainments. Special attention was paid to public speaking. We asked to be allowed to speak in the weekly contests and volunteers from the class won praise for their work there. In our Freshmen year we started our debating record—Rees, Confer and Peck winning from the Sophomores bv a unanimous decision. ()nly once in the inter-class debates has our team met defeat. In 1917 we won over the Freshmen and in 1918 we took our onlv defeat from the Seniors. For his excellence in this debate Mulliken was picked for the school team. In other fields of speaking we were also well represented: The I Make Union instituted a declamation contest in our Sophomore year and eight men took part with Wells, the victor: Rees spoke in the Thorpe Contest winning third place. Again, as Juniors, we were represented among the Thorpe speakers. These three years gave the class extraordinary training for future public speaking, besides winning honors for 1919. Interest was also exhibited in literary expression. As Juniors, Newton and Best were elected to the Torch Board in recognition of their ability, while Brooks made the CALLOPAX Board, and Beltz, Best. Brooks, Carpenter, F. Howard, T. Howard, Mulliken, Xewton. Roberts and Wells were elected to the Union. The interests of our members were various and so our scholarship average was never the highest; a group of fellows, however, maintained a consistently high record. In ’16 Xewton. Best and Rees were among the best scholars at Blake. In 1917 Xewton took third place and Rees sixth in scholarship. As Juniors, Xewton, Rees. Best and Burns were among the ten highest stand men in the school. 1919 excelled in extra-classroom activities also: Xewton. Mintener and Mulliken scored in the Information Test: Mulliken won honorable mention in the Strieker Debating Contest. Stevens won first place in the short story contest and Cooney and Rees took first and second honors in the Blake Union Editorial Competition. Altogether the class may certainly take pride in the part it has taken in the scholastic activities of the school. Certainly one of the things of which we should be proudest in those three years is the Boy Scout Troop. Even in our Freshmen year great interest centered in the national movement and in 1917 we organized Blake d roop 85. It is one of the largest in the city and has won many honors in the city contests. Here onr fellows met the “great outdoors, some of them for the first time and here we gained some of the noble qualities for which the Scout Badge stands. The Scout Troop is surelv an activity in which succeeding classes must continue to excel. 20