East High School - Orient Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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FOUR YEARS AT THE RANCH HOUSE It was about noon on the first day of the midwinter roundup, way back in ' 17. The old ranch house was fairly trembling on its foundation, and through every openmg came strange sights and sounds. Everywhere were evidences of renewed activity — even the sleepy-eyed mess-hall was emitting disconsolate jets ol steam and occasional mysterious odors, more or less unappetizing. Dangling our brief-cases over the third floor railing m wondering, breathless groups, ridiculously incon- spicuous in our first long trousers, stood the nucleus of what was to bear, in some remote, shadowy period, the appellation of the ranking senior class . We staggered through the roundup time like most freshmen — with our mouths open in awe and our eyes wide in fear. We even upheld tradition in that matter of mixing up entrances, first through ignorance and later to avoid the sophomores. When June rolled around, we had become accustomed to swallowing our daily doses of Latin and biology, and had learned to make little trips up the river with that veteran old cow-puncher, John Merrell. And then we moved away from the home ranch to a weather-beaten old shack on the outskirts. A humorously inclined pioneer had once called the place University Annex and the name stuck. But it came to be our home, and we learned to know by name each little squeak in its musty staircase. It was here that we held our first party, a Hallowe ' en affair. There were half a dozen who could dance, and half a dozen more who thought they could, but most of our broncho-busters draped their heels along the sidelines and butchered slabs of cake and ice cream. January found us very elated and discordant- for we were later to become one of the most notorious gangs of politicians that ever struck the ranch. Someone made a feeble attempt at organizing the class, and a few brave hearted individuals endeavored to draw up a constitution. We spent six months adopting it and three years amending it. After a much needed vacation, we took up life in the fall at the home ranch. The first of our advisors, Mrs. Hall and Mr. Bacon, strode among us and introduced us to the art of ballyhoo, and presently we excelled our masters. Then we had another party — another ill-fated rodeo where the boys lined up on one side of the hall and glared at a similar line of girls on the opposite side. Unnoticed, two or three saxophones blatted on amid the boom of a tom-tom and the tinkle of a piano. In our junior year we began to assert ourselves in the affairs of the school. Mrs. Hall having left us on a leave of absence, it fell to the lot of Miss Elsie Neun to quiet our cow-girls. Meanwhile, Washington had sent us its annual caravan, and we chose some officers — Arnie Morrison became chief lasso-chaser, with Bob Weller runner-up, while Lou Sanger guarded our pocketbooks and Jake Shulman scribbled notes. Ada Shapu- now drew down the terrific undertaking of planning a successful party. But Jake left us in the middle of the year, so Arnie chose Moreland King to take his place. Out Junior jingle was quite a success, but we still had two lines glaring at each other — these were the leaders of our two political parties, now in full reverberation. A month or two, and then we were seniors! Three long years at the ranch completed! With our noses scraping the dust off the rafters, we tripped over the lowly freshmen in our haste to occupy the coveted seats in assembly. The class convened in what was nearly a civil war, and endeavored to nominate officers. For two weeks the battle raged, ever becoming hotter. When the smoke finally cleared away, it was found that Wil- lard Leusch was elected President, and Lou Sanger, Social Chairman ; Moreland King was re-elected Secretary, Anna Romansky was chosen Vice-President, and Joan DiMiceli, Treasurer. We entertained the rest of the ranch with Nothing But the Truth, a rollicking comedy that even the actors admitted was good. We sand- wiched in another party somewhere along the trail, and then, in our final term, permanently damaged the ribs of even the most staid of the frontiersmen with Pigs. Our last, and most successful dance followed, in which we joined the underclassmen. Everyone forgot to glare, and everyone had a great time. We had changed our advisors again as Miss Neun had been lost to us with opening of the new school. The newcomer was Mrs. Edith Stone, under whose guidance we completed our stay at the old homestead, and received that hard-earned, much-appreciated diploma. We have come to the parting of the ways. Ahead of us lies — who knows? But when we go, we take with us a great, golden store of memories and friendships accumulated at the ole ranch that can never become quite exhausted. — MoREL. ND T. King. 16 .jM:i...- -

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ODIDERJU o o DQiD JANUARY ' 31 ADVISORS Edith W. Stone F. Niles Bacon To change horses in midstream may he a poor policy, hut those frontiersmen who pushed back the last stolid stretches of our virgin country seemed very apt in disrupting theories and exploded heresies, so that we find that they repeatedly substituted new guides in their caravans with few qualms. It is said, in fact, that on some of the treach- erous sections of the Mississippi a new pilot was taken on board a packet every quarter mile. There was, therefore, no hysteria or desperation over the loss of a guide, but just thankfulness over the good fortune enjoyed so far, and strong hope, determination and a feeling of co-operation toward the new leader. In this way the pioneers demonstrated their great ability of turning what would be stumbling blocks to most people into stepping stones to success for themselves. Much like these pioneers, the Class of January ' 31 did not bemoan the loss of their very capable guide in the person of Mrs. Hall when she left; but instead, re|oiced over the opportunity of having had such an untiring and truly ingenious advisor to guide them thus far through the novice stage of their journey through school. The task of choosing another advisor was quite simple as Miss Elsie Neun had from the very beginning generously volunteered her services in helping the class mount the many obstacles in ' their path. ' As was inevitable with her assistance and skillful guid- ance, the class enterprises were all huge successes, so that when she was taken away at the most critical period, the senior year, and transferred to John Marshall, there were no hopes of getting another person to equal her in achievements. Providence favored the class again, however, when Mrs. Edith Stone so adequately filled the breach left by Miss Neun. Experienced, practical, and content to advise and suggest without forcing her ideas on the class, Mrs. Stone was truly the paragon of advisors. Constant and stalwart during all the vicissitudes due to the women advisors, the class unremittedly relied on Mr. F. Niles Bacon to take them over the rough spots, encourage them, applaud their victories, and to help them in all they undertook. Instrumental in the success of every class enterprise, always willing to co-operate and to lead the way, Mr. Bacon was both a sincere friend and the staunchest of mainstays. To these unfailing beacons who lighted the trail through the four years of confused school life, the class owes any measure of success obtained in its projects, of which this book is the greatest. 15 ..90. -::- ' -

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JAN. ' 3 1 OFFICERS Y OV . I WiLLARD Leusch Presidetit Anna Romansky Vice-President MoRELAND King Secretary Joan DiMiceli Treasurer Louise Sanger Social Chairman Ada Shapunow Guardian of the Flag Raymond Cramer Stayidard Bearer 17 ■JKj-— ..-