High School of Commerce - Caduceus Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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CADUCEUS 19 4 0 (jjtmiwJuf (fhaM, mo OiVl (O iltL o( Cljsi JtsAd£U “Bright days that are swiftly passing—. That thought comes to the members of the January '40 class, as they reminisce about what seems but yes' terday—the day in February, 1937, when they en' tered the High School of Commerce. In their first semester things started happening thick and fast. The first event affecting the class as a group was the freshman reception. In May, the G. O. Pop, presented in the form of a Nickelo- dion Theater, included a comic skit featuring Com merce teachers. This same year, a column of the school paper, Commerce, was awarded first place in the Western Massachusetts League of Schcx l Pub' lications. It was also during this semester that Miss Dorothy L. Morrow became Mrs. George F. Magraw. The rest of the semester was quite uneventful. The last half of the freshman year showed more activity than the first. The class suffered the first loss when Mr. Stillman E. McKerley, the founder of the Commerce student patrols, was transferred to the City Hall. In this semester were two events for the benefit of the Ray Sweeney Fund: a motion picture showing of Jane Eyre and a dance. The play. Why the Chimes Rang, brought the freshman activities to a close. The first major event of the third semester was the G. O. Dance on February 21, in the form of a George Washington Birthday dance. In this se- mester, the pupils, teachers, and some members of the alumni made a voluntary contribution to pur- chase the amplifying system for the assembly hall. The XIB'XIA social was next on the program of happenings for the class. Over three hundred at' tended this school affair. Then came election time! Who would be their class officers? The three elected were Robert Denis, president; Alice Reed, vicc'presi' dent; and Mary Contrino, secretary. During this XIB semester the music department showed its colors when it presented a music festival to a capacity crowd. The annual G. O. Pop was also well attended. In June Miss Etta Sinsabaugh, the founder of the Commerce library, left Commerce [12]

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CADUCEUS 19 4 0 after twenty-five years of service. This was indeed a great loss. I- Half way through school! Two new courses were introduced: Italian, taught by Mr. Amerigo Russo: and dress designing, by Miss Helen Norrgard. In the beginning of the fourth semester, on September 21, Springfield had a taste of hurricane and fl x d. Eleven hundred eighty-three refugees lived in Conv mcrcc; the teachers and Boys' Patrol worked at the school throughout the disaster. In October, 1938, the Commerce football team beat Tech 12—0, for the first time since 1928! Later that month the Junior Honor list was an- nounced: one boy, Edward Davidson; and eight girls, Yvonne Turner, Katherine Zografos, Alberta Riggins, Eleanor Cignone, Lucy Carra, Anna Dis- censa, Ida Porter, and Jennie Carellas. An outstand- ing event was the XIA class social, featuring a broom dance. In November the elections were held. Robert Denis, Alice Reed, and Mary Contrino were re-elected officers for the senior year. A marriage entered the picture during the Thanksgiving vaca- tion, when Mr. Hayes, after being here for about a year, married Miss Catherine Harris. In November, 1938, Caduceus won first place in the Columbia National Yearbook contest. A con- tribution of the XIA class was the Christmas play: the entire cast was made up of XIA pupils. The comfort of students at games was taken into con- sideration during this year, as new bleachers, seating six hundred twenty-five, were built. At the end of that semester, Mrs. Magraw left Commerce. On the day that the class became seniors, they were greeted by the news that Principal S. O. Smith had become a grandfather. Then, after an absence of a year and a half, Mr. Stillman E. McKerlcy re- turned to Commerce as assistant principal, taking the place of Mr. A. Abbott Kaplan, who went to City Hall. Also in that semester, Commerce, the school publication, tied for second place for the best paper at the convention of the Western Massachu- setts League of School Publications. In their sixth and final semester, Mr. Warren Potter retired to a farm in Vermont after twenty- seven years of teaching; he was replaced by Mr. Jo- seph Buckley. On October 4, Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Hayes became the proud parents of a baby girl, who was named Joan Elizabeth. In September, 1939, the school orchestra was awarded a blue ribbon and $60 at the Eastern States Exposition music festival. A precedent was formed, when in November, 1939, there was a joint meeting of the two senior classes to vote on the type of cover wanted for Caduceus. There was an unani- mous vote- -which is quite unusual—for a stiff cover. The seniors hated to think of leaving the school they had attended for three years; yet they looked forward to the opening of a new chapter of their lives. Time marches on! Anna Duccnza CLASS OFFICERS Alice Reed wmmmmmmmmm [13]