Browns Valley High School - Thunderbird Yearbook (Browns Valley, MN)

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GTfje Jflounb JBuilber Edna Deyo begs to bestow her unlucky birthday on the twenty- ninth of February upon whoever wishes it; and to Thelma Helgeson she leaves her combined knowledge of English, French, and Latin. Merle Erdman leaves her sunny disposition and her busy body” char- acter to Lena Dew. Vivian Fletcher bequeaths her ever ready comeback in arguments to Ray Sanders, who, with his present existing Irish wit, will be as rare a specimen as the Valley High has produced in many a day. Elvera Hokanson tearfully parts with that famous underhand shot in basketball. The grantee in this instance is Bernice Meade, who, of course, henceforth will develop into one of our star basketeers. William Kuschel leaves his esteem for the teachers and his unruly be- havior in English IV class, to Chester Morrill. Be careful, Chet. Mary Malloy leaves, with a pang of regret, her good humor and generos- ity to Florence Oletzke. Howard Malm hereby wills his popularity on the stage, together with his drumming and other musical abilities to Kermit Bartlett, with the proviso that Kermit have a special practice period each day during school hours next year. Emma Morrill leaves her pep and her speedy ways to Merle Sullivan. What Hath God Wrought? John Page leaves his playthings and his temper to Ward Duffield, on condition that Duff construct a special play box to keep said playthings under his desk. Better put post-no-bill signs on your back next year. Hulda Philen bestows her extra credits upon Ruth Brown, with the pro- vision that if she does not need them, she may share them with Clement Dougherty. Hulda declares that she has done this in order to advance the theory that all men are created equal. Selmer Sanden bequeaths his exemplary character in the assembly room to Spencer Bailey. Marc Seeber, the high school sheik, leaves his formula How to stay short to Marcus Williamson. It is generally hoped that Marcus will take advantage of this knowledge, for we do not wish to go to the expense of building higher doors in the school house. Henry Skaggs regretfully parts with his keen sense of humor and wills it to Everett Robbins, trusting that he will employ it to the best of his abil- ity, so that he may be the school clown next year. Russell Smith, altho he loathes to part with it, leaves his leisure time to Charles McLane, who may henceforth have the choicest privilege of using it without being constantly harassed by the teachers. Genevieve Toelle happily bequeaths her perfect manners and quietness to Cecile Knaak, and sincerely hopes it may prove to be a desirable improve- ment. Finally, the Class of 1926 wills to the entire high school a host of sincere wishes for the best of luck and the most successful careers. Done at Browns Valley, Minnesota, in the year of our Lord one thousand nine hundred and twenty-six. In witness whereof we have affixed our hand and seal. !£«• Tzccnty-Onc Class of 1926.

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3Tfje Jfflounb Builber May 2. Our class colors, orchid and green, were combined attractively with the white and gold of the Seniors, decorating the banquet room very prettily. The guests of honor were Mr. and Mrs. William Paul. After a delightful dinner and a pleasing program of toasts, the guests were entertained with games and dancing. Last, but truly worthy of mention, was our school picnic at Hartford, where we thoroughly enjoyed an afternoon of roller skating, swimming and other games. We began our careers as Seniors—nineteen of us—with a strong deter- mination to make our last year a profitable one. During this year Merle Erdman joined us and was chosen president of the class. Mr. Brown acted as class adviser. The first task which we undertook was the assembling and publishing of this book, The Mound Builder. The staff had been selected in the spring of 1925, and after a summer of preliminary work by the editors, the entire staff took up the work when school began. All year long the preparation of the book has occupied a major part of our time and effort. In basketball the class was represented by John Page, Sinclair Cowles, Mary Benson, Emma Morrill, and Elvera Hokanson, while in volleyball Selmer Sanden, Howard Malm, Raymond Almquist, and Sinclair Cowles were on the team. Raymond has also acted as assistant coach during the basketball season. In the fall of 1925, six members from our class took part in the operetta, The Toreadors : Lillian Brown, Genevieve Toelle, Sinclair Cowles. Mary Benson. Emmil Morrill, and Vivian Fletcher. Our Senior play, Captain Applejack, was presented on May 20 and 21. The cast included the following people: Sinclair Cowles, Howard Malm, Henry Skaggs, John Page, Raymond Almquist, William Kuschel, Lillian Brown, Genevieve Toelle, Emma Morrill, and Mary Malloy. The Senior Class feels that if they attain only a part of what is expected of them, they will have attained a great measure of success. Class Will We, the Senior Class of nineteen hundred and twenty-six of the Browns Valley High School, County of Traverse, State of Minnesota, being of sound minds and memories, do hereby make, publish, and declare this to be our last will and testament, in manner following, that is to say: Raymond Almquist wishes to leave his forceful gestures and explana- tions to Charles Fairclough. They may prove extremely valuable in salesman- ship of pearl necklaces. Mary Benson unwillingly bequeaths her masterful hand in art and her preciseness, to Alice Willey. We hope the latter will realize the value of these traits and utilize them to the great extent that the grantor employed them. Lillian Brown leaves her ready understanding and foresight to Nellie Malloy, that it may not be necessary for the last named to ask so many ques- tions regarding important topics. Sinclair Cowles hereby bequeaths his modesty and his dignified air to Beth Baldwin. Page Twenty

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VL )t Jffllounb JBtulber Class Prophecy Browns Valley, Minn. June 20, 1946. Dear Emma: You have probably been wondering about the Alumni banquet which our old class of 26 planned for this year. Last week was the twentieth anniversary of our graduation and so I will try to tell you about some of the members of our class who were present at the banquet on the fifteenth. As we thought it would be impossible for you to come from far away China, we did not even send you an invitation. In fact we did not know where you were until a few days ago, when 1 happened to be glancing thru Who s Who in America” and stumbled upon the name Morrill. I scanned hastily down the column, and there amidst the names of the most famous Americans 1 found the name Emma Mor- rill. However, it did not greatly astonish me for 1 had always thought that you would rise to fame. Well, anyhow, 1 am glad to know that you have had such a successful career as a missionary in China, and hope you will continue the good work. Possibly it will not surprise you to learn that 1 am a really, truly, old fashioned, dyed-in-the-wool old maid. As to my looks, the less said the better, for I have not changed in the least. 1 wish we could meet and have a good old chat, but since we can t 1 11 do my best in writing. To return to the banquet. Each member of our class was asked to give a short speech regarding his occupation. Merle Erdman was the toastmistress, so gave the first speech. She told us about her immense ostrich ranch in southern California, where she employs hundreds of men to care for her vast ranch. As the present fashions call for ostrich feathers, Merle is doing a splendid business. She also told us about Mary Ben- son, saying “One morning I was very surprised, upon opening my morning s mail to dis- cover a circular ‘How to Keep Thin.’ I don’t know just why that interested me, but I read it thru, and what do you think? It was an advertisement of a school whose specialty is keeping people thin, conducted by Mary Benson.” This concluded Merle s speech, but wasn’t that interesting? The next speaker was Elvera Hokanson, w'ho has just retired from a very success- ful term as President of the Anti-Cigarette League. She told us of her tours thru the States and the Philippines and of her progress in stamping out the use of cigarettes. She had cancelled an important engagement to attend the banquet, and we were certainly glad that she had been able to come. Howard Malm spoke next, giving us an account of his great oil discovery near here a few years ago. He has made a mint of money, and rumor has it that they intend to found a town in the center of the oil field and name it “Malm. The discovery has led a great many people to Browns Valley, for that is the closest railroad point. Howard certainly looks prosperous and we all wished him the best of luck. As John Page was unable to attend, Howard told us about him. John is now an instructor in the Sanders School for the deaf and dumb, and is becoming famous thruout the world for his splendid new method of braised letter instruction. As a side line he has achieved no little popular- ity as a hypnotist and entertainer. William Kuschel was the next to give us his story. He has made a splendid reputation as an auctioneer of pure bred livestock. He was in this vicinity conducting an auction of purebred Holsteins and just by accident learned of the banquet, so came over. (I never thought he would get sidetracked from his brilliant career as a dentist.) The next speaker made a little curtsy to the guests, and who should it be but our old friend Henry Skaggs, now Professor Skaggs, of the Morris Aggie School. He is making a study of the soil in this vicinity and now believes it will be suitable for the culture of “Skaggs' New Type Clofalfa”---a new leguminous feed for dairy cattle. The main subject of his talk, however, was his experience in bee culture. After his talk was finished, the banquet closed and we all separated, hoping to meet again at the 1956 banquet. Only a day or so after the banquet I picked up a copy of the Chicago Gazette Re- porter” which contained a short write-up of the banquet. After 1 had finished reading the item I turned to the back page to look at the column of “funnies. By some chance Page Twenty-Two