Clearwater High School - Aqua Clara Yearbook (Clearwater, FL)

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o Freshman, nevertheless, vacation was welcomed by all, and the possibilities of being Juniors seemed too good to be true. However it was true, and with joyous faces and happy hearts our class of ten reassembled in the study hall in September of 1914 to begin our course in Senior High School. Now the studies, which had once seemed utterly impossible, seem- ed no great task to us. We all enjoyed geometry, Mary Evans especially, for I might add, our teacher, Mr. Buckham, was young and good- looking. Time passed more rapidly that year than it had ever before and almost before we could realize it school was drawing to a close. The last wonder- ful thing we did this year was the reception we gave the Seniors. It was decided that we have it at the Chase home, which is beautifully situated on the bay. On the appointed day, Mr. Heeter, our principal, excused us from school in order that we might prepare elaborately for the gala occasion. My, what a jolly time we did have, one never to be forgotten. After vacation was over our entire class, with the exception of Bert Grant, returned to C. H. S. as Seniors. We were sorry to lose Bert, and his wit and humor have been missed very much. The privilege of being Seniors was very gratify- ing to us. But we had hardly started our course when Jessie Lou Field, our own dear Jessie Lou, moved back to Georgia. It is useless for me to try to express how deeply we felt this loss. Jess was brilliancy personified. Many and thrilling have been the events of our Senior year, but none has been so exciting as the class play, given on May the fifth. How glorious it all was, and to think that we are the first class of C. H. S. that have ever staged a play! And so after four years of honest toil we happy nine stand ready to face whatever may confront us. During these years many have left our ranks ; some have launched their ships on the sea of matrimony, others have removed to far-away lands, and still others have begun their business careers. We alone are left. “Come, wander with me Into regions yet untrod; And read what is still unread, Of this important history.” In the year nineteen hundred and thirteen there seemed a sadness thruout Michigan — a mournful wailing. But who could have expected otherwise, for was not that the year when Lora Rice, one of her fairest flowers, came to Florida?

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Senior (Tla5S H’fistor? ND it came to pass, that in the early autumn of 1912, when the gentle summer breezes were just beginning to give place to the cooler winds of fall, we, the mighty Freshman class, with all the vigor and freshness which green usually signifies, entered Clearwater High School. We were not timid as one might sup- pose, but with confidence and boldness we proudly approached our wise looking teachers. The older students made known their disgust with us, by their disdaining glances, but the kind- hearted faculty with pity endured us. They were older and the fact that the others had once been Freshmen had not escaped their memories. Thus we, the Class of Nineteen-Sixteen, began our climb from the depths of ignorance with the cry, “Excelsior!” Days and weeks passed rapidly; Nature grad- ually donned her wintry coat of red and gold, as we rapidly increased our wisdom and knowledge. But no one can hope to pass thru life on flowery beds of ease, neither can a Freshman class expect to pass thru their first year thus. We, being young and inexperienced, often felt our utter in- significance in the eyes of those elders, who were so old and wise in the ways of the world. Nevertheless, with all our drawbacks, our knowledge increased so rapidly that it was evi- dent that we would soon be compelled to have more room. For this reason the school board de- cided to hasten to completion the new building, and so, shortly after Christmas, we moved from the old stone building into our present home. In these pleasant new quarters time passed quickly and spring with all her beauty came, bringing joy to the world and honor and promotion to the Freshman class. Verily, the ways of the world are strange. Who is the all wise prophet who could have pre- dicted the transformation to take place in the Class of 16? We were no longer underlings of the school, but capable of being numbered among the ‘‘wiser ones.” We had been ushered from the stages of infancy into that of youth. Yet, with promotion came greater responsibilities. We were now brought more into the activities of the High School. Life during the Sophomore year was indeed more pleasant than in the

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Ah, indeed it was — a year never to be forgotten. We might travel far and wide, searching in vain for one more brilliant, truer to her class, or more loyal to her school. Lora’s favorite quotation is, . “Serve yourself, if you would be well served.” She was never known to waste a moment of her time; she believes in getting all that can be gotten out of school. With all her brilliancy and learn- ing she is one of the jolliest “little pieces” in our class, and with her wonderful brain and matchless beauty we can hardly perdict how great she may some day become. There was once a little brown-eyed girl with curly hair — in fact, there were several of them — but none like Laura Nelson. She has been with us all thru our course, and it is hard to imagine how we could have possibly done without her. She has been very studious and won much honor by her “stick-to-it-tive-ness.” Domestic Science has been especially inviting to Laura ; we wonder why? It is no wonder that she has made good in this department, for she is one of the daintiest little creatures imaginable, and her deft fingers can produce the most wonderful pieces of work- manship. Laura’s rarity and charms are greatly admired by us all and she will linger with us, as we go thru life, a beautiful memory. But this history would not be complete without recording the life and works of Mary Evans — she that entrancer and charmer of Man. For seven years she has attended Clearwater public schools and has invariably been a faithful student and steady worker. Now as the sad time approaches when we must part, we can not but wonder where we will find our dark-eyed b eauty in years to come. Whether it will be upon the suffragette platform, winning many people to her convic- tions, or charming some one person — the Colonel — with those wonderful ways, I cannot say. However, to whatever duty the fates may call her, she has the love and best wishes of her class. It is hard to say what we would have done without Edna Sheridan, for surely without her our school life would have been dull. She is so cheerful and good-natured that the darkest day does not drive the cheerfulness from her nature. Twelve years ago she entered school here, then a delicate looking vision, with her fair face and luxuriant brown curls. In all these years she has been the same sunny-natured girl. Nor does she fail to study — she believes if a lesson is worth studying at all it is worth getting well. But I mustn’t fail to tell you that she loves to “cut”