Coker College - Milestone Yearbook (Hartsville, SC)

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26 Senior Hidtory .. . It was the same story—we were the new freshman class and as green as they come. : They were all very nice to us that first week—until initiation. And Ann Boatwright didn’t want her pajamas wet, What did you do, Biddy? They changed our class schedules around several times deliberately to confuse us. But we weren’t foxed. We knew where Dr. Civilization’s room was and that she taught a course known as Davidson. Then there were rules to learn. We worked hard on them but only because you can’t break a rule if you don’t know what it is. It wasn’t long before we’d met most of the long-stand- ing friends of the college. There was Dean Kuehner’s friend, Tillie Miller; two close friends of Dr. Matthews and Mr. Reynolds—Jezabel, who was a nervous creature, and Cleopatra, who went to pieces rather easily herself; and two friends of everybody, “the Admiral’ and “Weaver.” Soon we were lost in classes. We began to write English themes, some of them so bad we had to rewrite them to throw them in the trash basket. We named Dr. Ben’s kings backwards and dared to look defyingly into the cold eyes of a dead frog. Jane Collins became so en- amoured with biology that she stabbed Mr. Reynolds in the leg with a scalpel. And we took modern dance which wasn’t as bad as they told us it was—it was worse! We entered the Song Contest—and lost! We had learned names by this time and could repeat such things as what “Foot” Kelley did to poor Julia Copple while hanging curtains. Oh well, Julia was all wet anyway. We soon elected our Freshman Chairmen, who were Marian Duke, Suzanne DuRant and Daisy Porcher. Our sponsor was, of course, Mrs. Sisson, Meanwhile. our class was learning what it meant to have a ball. First floor Memorial was a particularly tal- ented group. They mastered ‘synchronized door slam- ming” with ease and flew. on to “roll-the-coke-bottle.” Anne DuBose got more phone calls than anyone else that year. We wished it was us until the night she ended up with two dates. Then there was the time she was to use the shades to signal a certain local boy as to whether she could or couldn’t go out that night. It seems she got her shades crossed and though she couldn’t go, he showed up at 7:30 ready, willing and able. She wasn’t the only one to get mixed up. One morning Sylvia got up, dressed, and journeyed down to the dining room to set up her tables, only to make an amazing dis- covery. It was only 4:00 a. m. Marilyn Haar bought so many groceries that she had to buy a $10 basket to bring them back to the college. And what about the night Pat Gable dated but had to come in early. What for? To go out again with someone else. And the thing that worries us all to this very day is if Lou Ewald ever found out the difference between an Episcopalian and a-ah, but that’s another story. Second semester came and along with marrying off Nancy Land and Jo Ann Brabham, we had elected our officers. They were Marian Duke, president, and Idalyn Stoll, secretary-treasurer. Mitzi “Y’all I’m shame” Moody had been crowned Cutie Queen at the Christmas Dance and Vivian Ruthven was in the Cutie Court. Mary Oates and Carleen Myers were Beauties. Carleene and Vivi Kirk had pins and Liz Bryant had a diamond, And Myrna Rivers had a turtle. We bet that was -the first turtle ever to attend Founder’s Day. Jennie Lee Barringer had joined us and Doris Sells still fainted every time she and Burdette had a fight. Shirley Morris must have worn out at least one recording of ‘“Tenderly” per week that year. We had learned to expect certain things from certain people. Dixie Whittington would sleep through classes, Jane Collins would lose her glasses, Sylvia Graham would be late to Civ lecture, and Lynn Williams would laugh anytime, anywhere, at anything. Then something happened we didn’t expect. Lynn Haff and Ann Rickenbaker decided to take an extended vacation tour of sunny Florida. The only thing they had to say about running away was, “Dear Connie, I’m sorry I didn’t get your bobbie pins.” : One night several of us found Richardson looking like a giant, open-air shower bath. It seems Myrna had turned the fire hose on Dunbar and the water poured straight through. Oh, yes, and Suzanne DuRant dreamed Miss Floyd invited her to a hanging—Suzanne’s. It was this year also that Sanford Psillos came to take Connie to Lee State Park and was greeted by Jennie Lee, DuBose, and Viv decked out in Lee-State-Park clothes. Did you really need that many chaperones, Connie? At the Student Council Banquet we were elated to find that with our sister class we had won the President’s Cup-—the first real feather in our cap! When the end of the year drew near, we were happy that Marian Duke and Idalyn Stoll were elected to May Court and that we would be well represented in both the Crew Races and May Day dances. At Class Day, when we took our places as “wise old sophomores,” the realization came to us, perhaps for the first time, that we had just been through a year of a dream called college. When we arrived back at school our Sophomore year, we were missing some classmates, Among them were Cam Snipes (who left to become a Clemson co-ed, no less!), Lou Ewald, Betty Bush, and Carolyn Lane. We learned that Miss Hagen and Mr. Propst wouldn’t be back either. But we’d gained others: Miss Morse, Miss McClimon, Mr. Colbert (“Ladies!’’) and Sterling ‘““Mike Hammer” Smith. We elected our officers who were Idalyn Stoll, presi- dent; Sally Banks, secretary-treasurer, and chose as our sponsor Miss Foster, who in turn chose not to remain Miss Foster very long. The Song Contest came—we lost again! This was the year that red head from W. C. joined us, Ann Gay Blakeney, Suzanne, and Mary moved to the dorm and Mary and Marcia Cann went to the movies every time it changed. Every available night Daisy Porcher dated guess who’s fiance, “Cookie?” Speaking of ‘every nights,’ Julia dated the present owner of a yellow station wagon, and Ann Gay was pinned. Before we were far into the year our developing minds began to show themselves and we ingeniously set about heating soup in electric teapots and making fudge in popcorn poppers. Being of marriageable age now, many of us became moonstruck—Myrna was lightning struck. Our Sophomore Skit was a down-south minstrel and was so well organized that the scenery was drawn out, painted and put up about an hour before dress rehearsal. At the Christmas Dance we were lucky enough to have Carleene in the Beauty Court and Mitzi was a Cutie. Then came exams! “Foot” took no-dose pills to stay awake. And she did too—for about three days. Though we had the wonderful Dorsey Dance this year, we had learned a great deal about “homemade” recre- ation. Sylvia invented a game called “roll-the-canned- goods” that really had a flashing climax—a transom fell on her head. An alarm clock was tucked carefully into Mitzi’s pocketbook so it would go off on the bus, but, being discovered, was transferred to Mrs. Reynold’s desk (Continued on Page 140)

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, — President MISS NEWELL — Sponsor, ANN BOATWRIGHT ANNE McGUIRT — Secretary-Treasurer The Seniors 29

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Top, clockwise: Suzanne DuRant, Marian Duke, Ann Boatwright, Vivian Ruthven, Charlotte Reaves, Frances Bishop. Four short years ago all the “Big” seniors wcre only humble little freshmen, standing on the threshold of coilege. They had their own idea of what it would be like, what it would mean to them, and where they as individuals would take their place in the hurried confusion of the rank and file. They realized that there was a need for leaders, but that there was a need for fol- lowers also—and everyone certainly could not be a leader. Who then were to be the leaders? Leadership, they knew, depended on their abilities, their manner of thinking, speaking, acting; their ideals and values; their desires and volitions; their initiative, determination and fortitude. Now the awed freshmen are seniors. As they moved along the path to this glory, some leaders were chosen out of the humming masses. They are the people who in working out their college years have aimed high and succeeded; who have developed a set of values, and a standard of thought, speech and action that is most representative of the true spirit of Coker; who have desired the best, not fer (hemselves but for others; who have believed in the importance of those that have followed them, and who have shown above everything else that they realize: “He who would lead must first himself be led; Who would be loved be capable of love Beyond the utmost he receives, who claims The rod of power must first have bowed And being honored, honor what’s above: This know the men who leave the world their names.”