Elmira District Secondary School - Oracle Yearbook (Elmira, Ontario Canada)

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Vuledictory Address lt is indeed an honour to be chosen as valedictorian of the class of 1943 and to be able to express to you on our be- half the feeling of profound sorrow that we all feel as we bid good-bye to our beloved school. Mingled with this feel- ing of sorrow is the feeling of hope as we look anxiously toward the future. Now we are all faced with the realiza- tion that we have passed the first and perhaps the most important milestone in our lives. lt is as though we have come to the crossroad where each must choose the particular field of endeavour for which he or she feels most suited. This decision is perhaps the most mo- mentous that we have yet had to make because we realize that when it has once been made, the die is cast and each of us must face a perplexing world which has been turned from its normal course through the mortal conflict now being waged by the Allies against our ruthless enemies. lt would be fitting on an occasion such as this that we recall our first impres- us and our achievement Do you re- we used to sions of the life around mental development and throughout our early life. member how as children stand in awe of the distant blue sky, how we were unable to comprehend the cloudy and disconnected facts of the world, and how we so simply and unquestionably obeyed our parents' will? As we passed through boyhood and girlhood days, a few facts became clear but many more uncertainties and doubts caused deep speculation. Such vague things as infinite space and in- finite time entangled our minds. ' These perplexities, however, were soon lost and drowned in the rapid movement of all things about us. The great power of huge locomotives and their delicate mechanisms aroused the interest of many. The sight of a fire engine racing madly around corners was no less of a thrill to others. The L, - , v s . . ...W --M LV T.. Yi ,V -4' heroic deeds of soldiers, the saving of lives by doctors, the gentle care of nurses, the headline fame of baseball players-these all altered our thoughts and desires and directed our minds to new fields. ln High School we no longer believed what we were told without iirst weigh- ing and considering the matter. World problems, scientific achievements and political developements became the fa- vourite subjects of discussions with friends. Five years of High School passed all too quickly and only then did we realize that we had been tossed out on our own into the midst of a war- torn and war-minded world. Each student thus looks back on by- gone days, not with the feeling of re- gret, but of joy, not with the notion that much time has been aimlessly spent, but with the conviction that great things have been accomplished. -Distance and occupations now separ- ate the graduating students from each other. Some have taken summer courses at University and now have good posi- tions, some at present are taking their first year at University, some have re- lurned to work on their farms at home, and a large percentage have oined the Armed Forces. Now we all must bid farewell to our beloved school, to our fellow students, and to the teachers who so patiently helped us to understand the many whys and wherefores of the various subjects. Many years from now our thoughts will still drift back to the happy days spent at E.H.S. Students racing madly down the corridor to beat the final bell, the would-be chemists of fifth form mix- ing the wrong chemicals and uneasily waiting fon the results, the worried ex- pression on everybody,s face before exams, the gaiety and goodwill of all at parties and hikes, the blank stare of the Algebra class as the Binomial Theorem was being explained and the 21

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he Runaway It was harvest time. We were gath- ering the ripe golden grain. It was my job to look after the grain while it was being blown into the granary, my bro- therls to take the empty wagons back to the men in the field. This was usu- ally the way, but- 'LEleanor, my brother pleaded the second day. 4'Eleanor, will you take the horses back? I'm tired of taking them back all the time. Iill watch the grain, if you will.'7 So I agreed. All went well for I had our own familiar team. I felt quite happy and carefree as the horses trotted briskly back the lane. I sang Waltz me around again, Willief' literally duetting with the wind which at that moment happened to be wailing and whistling, and several echoes answered me. I arrived at my destination safely and just as safely brought the load of grain to the barn. The second wagon, however, had hitched to it a strange team, our neigh- bors'. But I started out bravely to take them, back singing HWaltz me around again, Willie! QI had that particular song on the brain that dayj. Then sud- denly I became aware that something was wrong, very wrong, the little black horse was rather jumpyg then. . smack! something whacked him across his belly! He leaped up. . . and was away, dragging his mate with him. First those horses paced. . . they they gal- loped. . . then they flew. fa runaway horse runs blind and wild!! That song Waltz me around again, Willie! fmonotonous is it?J kept running around in my. . . er. . . ah. . . troubled mind. I wonder if they'll give me a nice funeral. . . If only I can get them pulled into the fence, that'll stop themli' I thought, frantically pulling on the lines. Apparently when horses run away they're oblivious to anything but running, for they paid not the slightest heed to the tug on the lines. But I kept on hoping and At least I'm getting a swift free ride. . . Waltz me 20 around again, Willie. . . I'm pulling as hard as I can. . . ah! they're respond- ing. . . I'll get them stopped yet. . . yi-i-i the culvert! . . Waltz me around again, Willi-e - around, around. . . crash! bump! bang! . . . . . . around . . . around . . . around! I sat up, bumping my head on the wagon, which was overhanging me and on a drastic angle at that, and thinking that after all, a ditch, especi-ally if it is just off a culvert, isn't such a bad place . . . not if you consider all its good points. I saw the wagon. . . a wreck. . . the tongue gone. . . the rack broken. . . I rose gingerly only to find that my silly knees were trembling so that I could hardly stand. Then I caught a glimpse of Dad racing toward me, shouting, Eleanor, Eleanor, are you hurt? When he found that I was not, he went back to find the horses. Where were they? . . why . . . away back in the creek and heading for Montreal no doubt. .lust to prove that I wasn't too scared I took the runaway team up to the barn and told them what I thought of them. I That was all . . . but I didn't sleep much that nighrt. . . just lay there and hummed Waltz me around again, Willie- - -ii ELEANOR SLIMMON, XI The Unfortunate Rescue Two men were walking on a high bluff overlooking the valley of a river. Both of them were members of the British Embassy, and, judging from their heavy boots and costume they were enjoying a walking tour of the countryside. They were nearing the town of Braunau in the summer of nine- teen hundred. Below them were the tracks of the State Railway. Suddenly one of them pointed toa spot along the tracks. p ' Look! There's a dog lying on one of the rails! I The other tourist lifted a pair of binoculars to his eyes and scanned the lContinued on page 221

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rousing cheers of a group of students in the balcony during a basketball game,-never will these be forgotten. Now, it is my personal wish that each one of the graduating class may come to fulfill the hopes and aspira- tions which are ever present in his or her mind. I speak for all when I say we shall do all in our power to reflect credit on the Elmira High School and on the teach- ers who laboured so faithfully to give us the material from which we may shape our future lives. In closing, I think my fellow gradu- ates would like me to leave with you some final thought which will convey to you the aims and ideals that we shall try to foster in the coming years. Longfellowis poem A Psalm of Life would perhaps best express that thought. X U. In the worldls broad field of battle In the bivouac of Life, Be not like dumb, driven cattle, Be a hero in the strife. Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant! Let the dead Past bury its dead! Act--act in the living-Present! Heart within and God o'erhead. Lives of great men all remind us We can make, our lives sublime, And, departing, leave behind us Footsteps in the sands of time. Footsteps that perhaps, another, Sailing o'er life's solemn main, A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, Seeing, shall take heart again. Let us then be up and doing, With a heart for any fate, Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait. -ARTHUR WEICHEL, '43 QC-Jntinued from page 201 still iigure. MA dog, no! lt's. a young boy! V T ,lust then the shriek of a locomotive whistle was heard. Both men, without another word scrambled down the steep embankment and ran up the tracks to the young lad who was lying with his chest on the iron rail. The men. fran- tically pulled the lad's body off the tracks, as the train thundered past the spotg then came the screech of brakes as the train shuddered to a halt. The train men came running back to where the two men were bending over the boy, who was now regaining consciousness. Wfhen the young lad was able to talk, he said that he had been running down the very steep embankment, had stum- bled and had hit his head on the rail and had apparently collapsed on it. The engineer now came forward and excitedly told the two men that they had saved the boyls life as he would not have been able to bring the train to a stop in time. Quite a crowd of passengers had joined the gathering by this time, and one of them who was bending over the boy exclaimed, HI know who this young boy isl It is young Adolf. His father is the customs officer at Braunau, and the boy wants to be an artist. You two men saved the life of a boy who some day may be a great painter. Herr Schickelgruber will be eternally grate- ful to you. -ELEANOR KERRIGAN, XI L. R. DETENBECKA The Menfs Wear Store PHONE 4-4232 WATERLOO HMODERN TOOLS OF SCIENCEH CANADIAN LABDRATURY SUPPLIES LIMITED 'R TORONTO MONTREAL 22