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

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Royal blue and White QLRSS HISTORY Forward Ever, Backward Never Red rose FRESHMAN: It was a lovely September day in the year 1950, that 30 grass green- know it all freshmen stalked up the high school steps to take dear old B.V. by surprise. The seniors promptly cut us down to size with that grand institution, initiation”. i’hat wasnft enough though; they balled us up with a maze of scheduled classes, and with teachers by the dozen. Confucius say: Bob McLane was president; Jim Wagner, vice president; Darlene Sauer, secretary; LaDonna Bloch, treasurer. Darlene was a cheer- leader. Nina and Janice made music with the band. Our athletic ability was proven by Merlyn, LeRoy, Ronn, Walt, Charlie, and Lloyd Howell playing basketball; Bob playing football; and Merlyn, LeRoy, Bob and Lenole out for track. Eleven of us sang in the Mixed Chorus; Darlene was our candidate for Homecoming Queen; and Bob and Germaine Roerig were our choice for Carnival King and Queen. Ardella Hansen and Clyde Williams quit during 'the year. SOPHOMORE: We were disappointed to start our sophomore year without Harlan Peterson, LaDonna bloch, who transferred to Clitherall, Minn., and Betty Nickolauson, who transferred to Sisseton, So. Dak. The remainder of us started with high hopes with Ronald as president; Jerry as vice-president; Darlene as secretary-treasurer. Mr. Sidney Shelver guided our eager little minds through the year. Our class activities consisted of making sophomore pep and a scavenger hunt sponsored by and for our class. Beverly, Janice and Joyce were in the one act plays. Darlene was again chosen cheerleader. Doris was our Homecoming Queen candidate and Janice and Jim represented us at the carnival. Three of us played in the band. The Mixed Chorus was enriched by nine of our golden voices. The same six boys again played basketball; Bob played football; and Merlyn went out for track. Our student council representatives were Nina and Joyce. Darleen Lureen, Dorothy Reed and Willis Reed Quit during the year. JUNIOR: We triumphantly stepped into our junior year under the supervision of Mrs. Smith, our class advisor with Lenole, president; Beverly, vice- president; Joyce, secretary; and Lloyd, treasurer. We eagerly welcomed Harlyn Bartz and Dale Kaufman from Sisseton and Harry Donath from Wheaton. We started without Joan Nigg, who transferred to Sisseton, lost Lloyd to Wilmot and gave up Jim Wagner to the army. Eleven of us presented the comedy Brother Goose” in April. Our class rings shone on our little hands soon after Christmas vacation. Beverly was our Homecoming Queen candidate, Joyce and Jerry our carnival candidates. Six boys again shone forth on the basketball team, and three proved themselves in football. Two of the cheerleaders, Darlene and Joyce, came from our class. Janice was chosen to represent us at Girls State with Joyce as alternate. The student council representatives were Nina, Jerry, and Jann. Joyce went to the regional speech tournament. Nine of us continued to enrich the Mixed Chorus. We climaxed our junior year by playing hosts at the Junior-Senior prom and banquet. The gym was lavishly decorated in an Evening in Paris theme. SENIOR: Our senior year was entered with mixed emotions. Some of us glad the grind was to be over and others a little sad at the thought of leaving. No losses were suffered but Barbara Haanen transferred from Beardsley to give us a grand total of 13 girls and 13 boys. Seven of us have gone to school here together all twelve years. We chose Joyce as our president; Jerry as vice-president; Joanne as secretary; and Janice as treasurer. Mr. Bambenek lead the way through the year. We started the freshmen on their merry way through high school by conducting a stimulating initiation. Wally, LeRoy, Ronn, Charlie, and Merlyn played basketball for the fourth straight year. Bob, Wally, Harlyn and Duane stuck by the gridiron. Six of us sang in the Mixed Chorus. Janice was chosen Homecoming Queen in October. Darlene, Rodney, and Jerry (Pres.) represented us in student council. Darlene was chosen cheerleader for the fourth consecutive

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year. Wally and Beverly were carnival King and Queen. In April we put on another smash hit play, A Little Honey”, under the direction of Mr. Cates. May 7th, bright and early in the morning we took off on Skip Day. Destination: Duluth. Graduation was May 28th and Baccalaureate was May 23rd. Thus we passed an important milestone in our lives. We have come a long way since we first entered the hallowed halls of B.V. High School. It’ll seem strange not to come back again next year but looking back I think we will all agree that our school days were truly The best years of our lives . PROPHECY As I was glancing through an issue of my Hometown News which, incidently, is edited by the old Thunderbird Editor, Nina Duffield, an article about an old school mate of mine, Janice Hanson, caught my eye. Janice, so the story went, decided to seek fame and fortune by writing a book which was a guide to catching a man. Unfortunately one of the copies got into the hands of her current fiance and so upset him that Gods Gift to Women jilted her and fled to a cave where he’s taken up the hermit1s life. Now most of the other women have banded together and have indicted her for robbing them of good potential husband material. Well, it seems that the class of 1954 is turning out to be quite famous - or infamous. Which is it? My curiosity about Janice and the rest of the class was thoroughly aroused by this time, so I decided to return to the Valley and look them all up. Since I was planning on going back, I thought I’d better do it in style so I rushed down to the nearest automobile agency to look at the new models. The salesman, who turned out to be Dale Kaufman, showed me the newest atomic cruiser. IT , he assured me, is incredible, indivisible, inexplicable, indelible, inedible, and indestructaole. , Well , I gasped, those are pretty big claims. What proof can ybif give me? Gee , he said, my wife, Joanne has been driving one for two months and it’s still in one piece. How much more proof do you need? His sales talk convinced me so I walked over to select my model. I picked out a metallic gray one, which, Dale hastened to inform me, would immediately be installed with the fearless accessory. After noticing my quizical expression, he explained that with each car sold to a woman driver, they installed a fearless mechanism which automatically says, So sorry I every time she hits a pedestrian. That seemed like just the thing for me so I took the car. As I sped towards the Valley I decided I needed a little diversion so after groping around among the maze of buttons, knobs and switches, I turned the radio on. The station it was tuned to was BLAB, located at B.V. The program was one of these Hints For the Harried Housewife which every station (and every prophecy) has. I was about to switch the thing off when the Helpful Housewife herself began to speak. I recognized her immediately as Marlys LeClair (pardon me - Marlys Ziemer). As I peeled my ear to the speaker, she began her program by telling us Not to put that excess bacon fat down the drain - pour it on the floor. Your family will fall for this new and novel use. Also - if you are troubled with having your walls soiled with children’s grimy fingerprints - avoid this - cut off their hands. I quickly switched the radio off as a sickening sensation formed in my throat. What a life poor Harry and the children must live if she takes herself seriously. I was still worrying about that when I sped into the Valley. Though I cut my pile-energizer the moment I spotted the large crowd in front of the theater I was too slow and one of the group was soundly bumped by my bumper. As I skidded to a halt to inspect the damages to the car, the theater-owner rushed up, sputtering excitedly. What do you mean, scaring my crowd away and messing up the pavement? As soon as I calmed him down slightly, I recognized him as Fishty Rees. We agreed to call a lawyer to settle the affair and Fishty led me across the street to a brilliantly lighted bar where we could relax until the lawyer reported back. A gigantic neon sign professed that this was Harlyn’s . Fishty told me that through family connections Harlyn Bartz had taken over Luvern’s shortly after graduation and naturally he had changed the name to Harlyn’s. He now operated a chain of these bars all over the United States and also one in Beardsley. As Fishty and I talked I found out that he was a big businessman too. He had gotten his start in the movie industry by persuading Joyce Vollmers