Chelmsford High School - Yearbook (Chelmsford, MA)

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CHELMsEORD HIGH SCHOOL ON TAKING CARE OF CHILDREN Buzz! The telephone is ringing. I dash to answer it, thinking of what I will do this afternoon. Hello? Oh! Yes. NO, I'm not doing anything this afternoon. Certainly. I'd love to take care of Janie and Tommy. All right. Bye. Bang goes the receiver and gone are my plans for the afternoon. As I ring the doorbell of the darlings' home, bang, a cap pistol goes Off in my ear. That's Tommy, Mummy's little man. So playful. Finally my hat and coat are off, and here comes Janie to kiss me with cook' ie smeared all over her. That's Daddy's lit' tle sugar plum. Mummy leaves with instructions as to what to feed the darlings for supper. Janie, trying to be so helpful, decides to give her kitty some milk. Result, one quart Of milk on the kitchen floor. At last, the children are in bed for the afternoon. Thank goodness. Peace for an hour or two. The dishes are done and put away in record time and I am comfortably on the couch with a good book. My good' ness! What's that thump on the stairs? To my surprise there appears Tommy sliding down the stairs on the laundry bag. Mummy's little man once again in bed, I start down the stairs. Janie decides she wants a drink. As nothing can induce her to go back to bed, I get her dressed. I hear Tommy cough, so I go in to see him and am met by a room full of feathers. Mummy's little darling got a pair of scisf sors and cut up a pillow. Now the three of us are Outdoors, swing' ing. Soon the clock strikes five and time for supper. Janie doesn't like potatoes so she decides to throw them at Tommy. The food is gone, the dishes done, and there's Mummy. Were the children good? she asks. Oh, yes, I reply. Wow derful. Now I'm home recuperating from my af- ternoon's fun. MAUREEN DANE '47 WHY PARENTS GET GRAY When I recall my childhood days of so long ago, I chuckle to myself to think of some of the amusing incidents that oc' curred. One recollection in particular en' tertains me. I was about five years old. My mother called me for supper. As I sat down, I did not fail to notice a delicious chocolate pudf ding, and my mouth watered. Father prof ceeded to fill my plate with carrots, steak, potato, and spinach. I began to pick at the steak, I ate none of the carrots and just a small amount Of spinach. Mother said, Brown, you haven't touched those carrots, and you know you must eat them before you can have your dessert. I squirmed and mumbled sulkily, I dOn't like carrots. My father interrupted firmly with, Well, you are going to eat them just the same. I retorted saucily, I don't tell you what to eat, do I? At that moment a large hand reached me. I jumped from the table and ran to my room, slamming every door as I went. In seclusion I made my future plans. I'd show them. I'd run away and then they would be sorry, and when they had huntf ed for years and cOuldn't find me, my fa' ther would die of a broken heart. I dragged out my suitcase and began to pack. After Hnishing this, I went down and told my parents the drastic decision that they had driven me to. Then I put on my coat, took my suitcase, and left with great dignity. Five minutes later found mc standing on our front porch. I couldn't de- cide where to go! I stood there for ten min' utes more. I went back into the house, and my mother asked me if I was staying. I said, No, I just want a glass of water. After taking five minutes to drink my water, a magazine with colored pictures caught my eye. I asked if anyone would mind if I looked it Over. My father gave my mother a peculiar look and said it would be perfectly all right. SO I settled down in a big chair and poured over the pretty pictures for nearly an hour, until my eyes began to droop and my head to nod. At nine O'clOck mother announced casually that it was time to retire. Her daughter went out On the porch, got her suitcase, hastily scurried to bed, and I don't think Mother ever heard any more from me about running away--or about refus- ing vegetables either! FLORENCE MORRELL '47

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1947 YEAR Book all those subjects I usually am, I can read a book or just daydream. Oh! daydream' ing, that's the life for me. I love it, but it doesn't get me aywhere. I guess I have to take courses, and they are all equal in my estimation. Now, that leaves me with no theme to write about! ToNY CHANCEY '47 WHAT LICENSE? Our hero starts to drive a car at a ten' der age. When I say he starts to drive, I mean he goes through the motions in a comfortably parked car. Soon he can, by successfully stripping the gears, start, stop, and turn around quite well in a ten acre lot. How he got the car into the lot, I real' ly don't know. Suddenly he reaches the stage where he learns to drive into one side of the garage and right out through the other. You see, he makes his own doors. He goes through curves instead of around them, being a direct sort of a chap by dis- position. Having discovered that a straight line is the shortest distance between two points, our skillful driver proudly exhibits a slip of pink paper, which is known as a driver's license. This license, issued by the Secref tary of Safety Last Council, I. M. Reck' less, entitles him to drive around, over, or under any car, bus: street car, auto, or freight train, and to frighten old women and children at will. The holder of this permit holds the right of way, is not al' lowed to drive less than 80 miles per hour through traflic, and is expected to disobey all signals, particularly policemen's whistles. He is entitled to all the road at all times, to make wrong turns at will, and to ignore entirely red stop lights, stop signs and tick' ets given by the special policemen. Our skillful driver figures that his license is good until death ---- and usually it is! ALICE MCHUGH '47 MOTHERS LITTLE MAN Perhaps at some time in your life you have been deceived by outward appearance. Perhaps more than once you have been fooled by inexperienee. Well, whatever blows the Fates have dealt you, remember that I too have been victimized. I'Iere's what happened to me back in the dark thirf ties. It was a typical spring day, bright and sun' ny. Birds were singing and apple blossoms were in full bloom. You might wonder how even the Fates could be insidious on such a day, but wait and see! Alas, what misery! what woe befell me! I was suddenly cast from the carefree, joy' ous state of boyhood into the burdensome, woeful status of maturity. The reason for this calamity? Long trousers! I had reached the masterful age of ten, and Mother- very decent of herwthought her little boy would look manly in long pants. So the short pants, familiar, comfortable, worn aff fairs, were laid aside, and on came the trousers with suspenders and all the rig' ging. My first effort to get properly inside of my new raiment was disastrous. You see, I had very inexpertly inserted both feet in a single aperture, and, unable to proceed eff fectively, I picked myself off the floor fre' qucntly. But getting into the contraption was only one misery, wearing it was a se' ries. Like an elephant trying to climb a ladder, very often I had accidents. Mother had not had too much luck at the hit or miss method of guessing sizes and had vastly overestimated my proportions. Durf ing the course of the day I was constantly treading the hem. I walked on my trousers, not in them, and unconsciously beautifully polished Mother's waxed floors. Moreover, I could have dispensed with my shirt, as the pantaloons-doubtless they were tail- ored by a tentfmaker-covered me nicely as far as my armpits. Neither time nor words did I waste in expressing my resentment, and joy of joys, again I was free! No ball and chain, no fetters, no tripping, no flopping. But hapf piness is short lived and woe is merely post' poned. The time comes to each mother's son when he must inure himself to the dictates of the civilized world, disagreeable though they may be. Eventually I yielded to the inf evitable. I slowly accustomed myself to the conventional men's wear, and now, as you can see, I am a slave to the dictum of fash' ion. HECTOR MCDONALD '47

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1947 YEAR BOOK CONCERNING PIANO LESSONS Maybe some of you intellectual and clever people from Chelmsford High would like to take up music for a hobby or some other reason. Well, l'll tell you a few of the things I know about it that might enf courage you a bit. In the first place it helps to have a pi- ano, or need I mention that. It's usually better for you if half the notes don't play, so you can blame something for the poor lessons you will present each and every week during your period of instruction. In the second place the teacher is very important, vital in fact. Be sure you get a good one, the fatter the better, for the fat ones fall asleep more often and don't hear as many mistakes. If hy good luck you are successful in engaging such a one, make sure the piano bench is extra sturdy please, as I once had a teacher who had a tough time with ours. He sat down a wee bit too hard, but I needn't go on about that-it's beside the point anyway. Just draw your own conclusions. In the event that you're allergic to fat people, go to the other extreme and get a young, handsome, and slender young man, unmarried naturally. Then one day while you are resting after a strenuous workfout with the Warsaw Concerto, he might ask you what you're doing Saturday night. Usually this won't happen, for you'll prob- ably never get beyond the scales in D, but you can dream anyway. After you procure a teacher, he sure to arrange a good day for your lesson, prefer' ably one a year hence, for scales are ter' ribly complicated to learn. I can still ref member all the times I had to untie my fingers. They knot so easily! But the best part of the piano lessons is practicing. I can still recall my happy child' hood when I used to spend my happiest hours at the piano. There's nothing quite so nice as practicing when the day is simpf ly beautiful and all your friends want you to come out. It's astonishing that you real' ly want to practice! What else can you do when your mother is standing over you with a firm expression about the mouth and a fierce glint in her eyes? Probably by now you are ready to push right home and announce that you would simply adore taking piano lessons. If things shouldn't turn out as well as I have said, by all means don't blame me. The only thing to do is quit and take up something else, the violin, perhaps. I'm sorry I can't tell you about that, but you won't mind, l'm sure. My only advice is tuck it under your chin. VIRGINIA BILLINGTON '47 HOW TO COME IN LATE AT NIGHT Of course your boy friend's car can be heard for miles down the street. Let it rum' ble to a stop with aloud screech on the sidewalk in front of your house. Shout uproarious goodbyes to the crowd just to let everyone know what a good time you have had, and make sure you bang the car door. By this time every light in every house on the street is lighted. Be sure to drag your feet up the sidewalk, making plenty of clatter. Open the front door noisily, and if it is stuck, just kick it a few times and slam it shut when you get in' side. - It is next in order for you to storm into the kitchen. It's only 2:30 A.M. by the clock, and since the evening is young, you open the refrigerator door, and rattle the dishes and milk bottles freely. You eat your little snack and clump up the stairs to bed. The end of a perfect evening is also the end of all your perfect evenings. Mother awoke-how could she?--Ato find you were two hours late! MAR,IoRIE WIIITE '47 PURPOSE The purpose of life is growth. A seed is so strong it can split boulders and push up concrete walks, but like all living things it thrives best under certain conditions. The first requirement for flourishing seed is good soil, in which there must be includf ed all the essentials of growth. In this nourishing soil the seed is placed. If it is planted too deeply, it rotsg if it is planted too close to the surface, it will be burned by the sun. It must be placed at just the right depth. Once the seed is sown, it starts to grow. Now it must have care. It must have water, sunshine, and air to combine with the elements in the soil to make food acceptable to its growth. When the plant