Draper High School - Crest Yearbook (Draper, NC)

Page 29 text:

CLASS PROPHECY In the year 1971, after retiring from the Air Force with twenty years’ service, Captain Bill Minter and I decided to go home and look up our old classmates of the class of 1951. The first place we went when we arrived in Draper was the Post Office where we found that Paul Cassel had taken over as Postmaster when his father retired. We asked him about some of our classmates, but he couldn’t tell us anything about them. He told us to go and see Rev. Ronnie Reinert, who was the pastor of the Draper Baptist Church. When we arrived at the home of Rev. Reinert we found that he had kept track of the members, and he told us what the class of ’51 were doing for a living. He said that Juanita Howlett was a missionary to Africa and that recently she ran into Jack Rorer over there. Jack was known as the only big game hunter to possess a built-in moose call. Rev. Reinert told us that Marcell Spain had made good as the owner of a local Funeral Home, Gene Chandler was the owner of the Knotty Pine Grill, and Bill Curry had just bought out J. C. Gilley’s Bus Line. We learned too, that Rebecca Barrow was the head nurse at Leaksville Hospital. Bill Spencer was doing a good job as principal of old D. H. S. and Dot Stevens was his secretary. A. C. Gillespie was the Glee Club Director of the high school, succeeding his favorite music teacher, Mr. Forest Ray. (By the way A. C. and Ann Saunders were married and had nine children). We were in¬ formed that Bernice Dalton was the owner of a Furniture Factory on Draper road, and that Dr. Garvin DeHart had opened DeHarts Drug Store in Greensboro. Frances Gardner was choir director at the Meadow View Methodist Church. Rev. Reinert told us that the majority of the class of ’51 were seeking their fortune in other cities throughout the U. S., and we decided to take the first month of our retirement and look them up. As we were leaving Draper we ran into Maxine Bowers, and she said that she was a popular stock car racer and that H. D. Howell had a controlling interest in the race track at Daytona Beach, Florida, and that Anna Lee Francis was his secretary. We decided to start our trip from Raleigh, and we found that the Pan-Atlantic airline in Raleigh was owned by Richard Lemons and we decided to drop in and talk over old times with him while we were waiting for our plane. When we reached his office we found that his secretary was Barbara Radford.

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I, Bill Spencer, wish to leave to June Hodges my position as President of the Student Council. This will be a surprise. I, Rudolph Dalton, wish to leave my position in back-field to Jackie Powell. Live up to it Jackie. I, Gene Carter, leave to Wayne Walker my ability to be talkative. Wayne, you have my deepest sympathy. I, Billy Minter, leave to Leonard Smith my desire for a date with a certain teacher; Leonard don’t waste your life like this. I, Ann Saunders, leave to Thelma Smith my slender build. I, Frances Mills, leave to Kathleen Hyler my wonderful married life, I, Revell Morrison, pass my football experience on to Gary McBride. I, Garvin DeHart, wish to leave my mischief to Douglas Hopkins. I, Betty Carol Johnston, leave to Marcine Booth my musical talent. I’ll keep Bill for myself. I, Jack Rorer, leave my eye for the girls” to J. E. Kirks, but keep my girls for myself. I, Barbara Radford, leave to Dorothy Bolick my business course. I, Shirleen Hall, wish to pass on to Rheta Conner my ability to argue. Watch out for trouble Rheta. I, Dorothy Stevens, leave my noisy manner to James Morris. I, Paul Cassell, leave to Barbara Williams my friendly smile. I, Joan Holt, pass on to Calvin Gillie my light, straight hair. I, Barbara Motley, would like to pass my married life on to Lois Hankins. I, Barbara Gillie, wish to leave my singing voice to Doe Grant. Oh Frankie!” Good luck to you. I, Marcell Spain, leave my big mouth to Frances Saunders. L Eugene Chandler, pass on to James Barber the ability to ask smart questions. I, Robert Hutson, leave to Lonnie Lawson my chunky build. I, Mary Edith Lawson, pass on to Billy Joe Minter my love affairs. I, Anna Lee Francis, wish to leave to some boy Anna Lee I, Rebecca Barrow, wish to pass on to Marion Tullock my giggles. THE CLASS OF 1951 RICHARD LEMONS, Testator Witnesses : RONALD REINERT, President MISS REBECCA DALTON, Sponsor R. M. AINSLEY, Principal

Page 30 text:

Although we hated to leave we boarded a plane to New York to visit a few of our friends who were residing in that city. The first person we saw after we boarded the plane was the hostess, whom we recognized to be Barbara Motley. As soon as we arrived in New York City, we went to the Power’s modeling agency to see Marie Ball and Shirleen Hall whom we knew to be models. They told us that Edith Lawson was head fashion illustrator for Cosmopolitan Magazine” and that Joan Holt was a fashion designer for Saks of Fifth Avenue. She informed us that Barbara Gillie was a recording artist for Decca Records and Frances Mills was a top radio comedian. While we were in New York we decided to go to Madison Round Garden and see the Farnum and Gailey Circus. When we went into the Big Top we immediately recognized Tommy Howell as the ringmaster. We also attended a baseball game while we were in New York, between the Boston No Sox and the New York Rebels. As we read our scorecards we discovered that Pete Overby was the catcher for the No Sox. We left New York after a week s stay and went to Ontario, Canada, where we met Robert Hudson, who was a famous tobacco auctioneer. After a two day stay in Canada, we boarded a plane for Hollywood, California. On the plane we ran into Rudolph Dalton, who said that he was going to the West Coast to start on his new job as book¬ keeper for Hassenfeffer and Snodgrass, dealers in saddle horses. He told us that Revelle Morrison was the head football coach at the University of Southern California and had built them into a national powerhouse on the gridiron. When we arrived in Hollywood, we went directly to the Paramount Movie Studios where we met Tyrus Blackwell and Wesley Edens, who had taken Bud Abbott and Lou Costello’s place as the top comedy team in the U. S. They told us that Betty Carol Johnston had made good as a pianist with Phil Spitalny’s All Girl Orchestra. After a two weeks’ stay in Hollywood we returned to Raleigh, North Carolina, where we visited Earnest Walker and found that he was a professor of Mechanical Engineering at State College. He told us that Theodore Stevens was head of the History department at Duke University. We were left speechless when we heard that R. M. Ainsley, our former principal at Draper High School was a member of the House of Representatives in Washington and that T. W. Teer, our senior homeroom and English teacher was the President of the Consolidated University of North Carolina. After this long search for our former classmates we came back to Draper and accepted positions that had been offered to us by Fieldcrest Mills. By BILL MINTER and GENE CARTER