Broad Top Township High School - Top Yearbook (Defiance, PA)

Page 16 text:

12 THE ANNUALETTE PILGRIMS TO THE PROMISED LAND OF 1931 Long ages ago it seems, but by calendar count it is somewhat less than four years since a band of eager, earnest pilgrims gathered to start on their long and hazard- ous way together to the promised land of 1931. Forty-seven of them there were on that momentous September morning back in 1927, and they called themselves the class of 1931—taking their name from their far off goal. Strangers those 1927 Freshmen seem to us now, but it was indeed we who started out that day on the pilgrimage that will end for us so soon. Somewhat excitedly we began that Freshman year. Adjust- ments to a new environment, a new point of view, new teachers and new studies had to be made. By the end of the first month we were pretty well settled down to the year’s work. At the end of the second month the upper classmen did us the honor of having a party and inviting us into the high school social circle. We had a mar- velous time even though we turned from green to white when we were initiated in the early part of the evening. We then continued our pilgrimage to see it through to the bitter end; but oh, what a blessed oasis in the desert we found the Christmas holidays to be! Time for pleasure and enjoyment, time for a breathing space, as it were, and an opportunity to gather re- newed ambition and resolution to go back to our work with even greater vigor than before. After the holidays things began to go along much more smoothly. We had by now developed confidence in our own powers, we were responding to the stimulating encouragement of our teach- ers, and high school had begun to look like a mighty desirable place to stay. Early in the year we elected the following class offi- cers: President, Robert Alstadt. Secretary, Mable Raker. Treasurer, Coletta McCavitt. A few days’ vacation at Easter—a bivouac on the journey as it were—gave us another—though brief—interval of re- creation and rest, and we were off again. Spring was upon us now, and we needed only a final spurt to see us through our Freshman year. Valiantly we made this spurt in two ways, first by sending two of our class members to the county track meet. We are proud of them because they helped to capture the county record which we still hold in the girls’ relay. They re- turned home with the first cup ever to be brought to our school. We are proud to say that our class president, Coletta Mc- Cavitt, won the 50 yard dash for Broad Top. This was the first time our school had won this event. The second thing was the taking of our final examinations with the greater majority passing. We now found ourselves delightfully camped on our pilgrim trail for the long summer va- cation. September, 1928, found us ready and anxious to resume our pilgrimage. We were experienced travelers, now on the educational journey. Well acquainted with the perils and hazards of our mode of travel and our itinerary, we were on our guard against them. Delay in com- pleting tasks assigned, indolence, and the habit of “taking a chance,” all these, we knew, led straight to disaster for pilgrims like ourselves seeking to reach the mecca of graduation. A runner along the trail brought word that, far behind us, another party of pil- grims were starting out on the same trail, following up on our successes. From what we could learn of them, they were a clumsy, inexperienced lot. Good luck to them, we said, but certainly they cannot hold up under this grilling journey as we have done so far. A little more difficult going, we found it now. The ground was a bit rougher, pro- gress required greater effort than in the year before. We were proceeding along the well known Sophomore Trail, noted for its narrow passes and heavy underbrush. Steady, grinding work was needed here; no diverting of attention from the task at hand could be allowed. Too much was at stake, and it was all too easy to fall by the wayside. This year our class officers were: President, Coletta McCavitt. Secretary, Mable Raker. Treasurer, Virginia McCavitt. We were even more grateful for the

Page 15 text:

Senior Class Officers President—Coletta McCavitt. Secretary—Mable Raker. Vice-President—Amer Duvall. Treasurer—Helen Snyder. Class Colors Maize and Brown Class Flower Class Motto Yellow Rose “Wisdom Is Better Than Riches”

Page 17 text:

THE ANNUALETTE 13 Christmas Holidays than we had been the year before. They were indeed an inter- val to be used and enjoyed to the utmost. Our work was resumed on full schedule— as we well knew it would be—the first day after the holidays. No time to lose— much ground to be covered. To relax now. we realized would jeopardize the whole object of our pilgrimage. The few days at Easter seemed scarcely a pause in an unrelenting schedule that drove us ever onward right up to the beginning of the summer vacation again. Never was there a more welcome sight than the announce- ment of that vacation. September. 1929, found us resuming our journey on much higher ground as Jun- iors. Every stop of the way meant much real effort now. Every foot of our ad- vance had to be earned by constructive work. Our pilgrimage had to become a serious business. The grade was consist- ently upward—a rather steep rise, too! et, we had a schedule that must be met. The allotted ground had to be covered within the time allowed; that requirement was unalterable. How we were to do it was our problem, to be solved under the grade, as the saying goes. Christmas, Easter and the various other holidays vir- tually flew by us—each one seeming all too brief an interval to rest from our pil- grims’ march. When spring arrived, how- ever, and the summer vacation was upon us once more, we found, to our delight, and perhaps to our surprise, that we had made the scheduled distance along this most exacting route. Our class officers for this year were: President, Amer Duvall. Treasurer, Alberta Hopkins. Secretary, Mable Raker. Vice-President, John Kubis. It was with more than a little misgiving that in September, 1930, wc aroused our- selves from the pleasant, comfortable leth- argy ef summer vacation and resumed our pilgrimage once more. This last, grueling lap of our journey would be the supreme test of our courage. One slip here, and all would be lost. Before us rose the mighty Mt. Senior, majestic and forbid- ding. This we must climb in scheduled time, without mishap. Unwavering and unfaltering we must make our way right to the very tip of its highest pinnacle— known as Graduation Summit. If we reach there within the time allowed, we shall have succeeded in our pilgrimage. Otherwise, the promised land of 1931 will not be ours. All this we realized only too well, as we started the long and tortuous climb up the side of this most formidable mountain, fearful at any moment of some disaster, some unconquerable difficulty which might set all our previous efforts at naught and bring to an unhappy end the pilgrimage on which we had so hopefullv set out and which so far we had carried through so faithfully and successfully. But our travelers’ skill stood us in good stead now. The three long years of effort had borne good fruit. Our powers and our technique had been developed to meet the difficulties of this climb. True, this last lap of our pilgrimage required all our effort and our utmost resourcefulness, but we were equal to it, thanks to the training of the earlier years. There was no flinch- ing, no turning back! Having come this far. we’d see it through! The steep, upward trail turned sharply around a large rock. Here we picked our way cautiously. Presently we found our- selves standing on the rock itself. Before us stretched a glorious vista of life, of the future, of the great wide world. At our feet, engraved in the rock, we say the legend. “Graduation Summit.” We had won at last! Our journey was at its happy end! Thus, dear friends, the saga of the pil- grims to the Promised Land of 1931! The class officers for this year are: President. Coletta McCavitt. Vice-President. Amer Duvall. Secretary, Mable Raker. Treasurer, Helen Snyder.