Elmira Free Academy - Torch / Sagoyawatha Yearbook (Elmira, NY)

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em Dm, 'gfefmkcmwz NVQ have known you only four short years, but in those years we have learned much from you and from the examples you have set. If we follow these fine examples. we shall surely have better chances for attaining success in life after we leave high school. The first thing we noticed was your scholarly interest in all affairs. ranging from local school matters to international problems. Your talks in assembly have revealed your wide range of knowl- edge. We have also been impressed with the meticulous way in which you assemble information and arrive at conclusions. Although these qualities have provided an inspiration for our scholastic achievement, you have also done much more for us. You have given us your guidance and help. not only in our school work, but also in our social functions. Thus we attribute a major part of our success. scholastic and social, to you. You have gone out of your way to gather information concerning scholarships and have done much to guide us, especially through our senior year. Surely we could not have functioned so smoothly without that guidance. lt is only proper that we should express our appreciation now. lVe sincerely thank you for the interest you have taken in us as a class, and especially for the aid you have given to us as individuals. 'Me H444 af 7949

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vom ,,emezm,gz949 The theme of your year book is The Forty-niners. I knew a Forty-ninerf' He was my grandfather. As a boy I listened to him spin yarns about his trek to the western land of promised gold and his penniless return across the Isthmus of Panama to his home in the Middle West. He did not belong to the lucky few who make a strike Like thousands of others he gained nothing but experience from the grand adventure. He found no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Although he loved to tell this story of his early youth, he achieved his modest success on a fertile Illinois farm through hard work and honest endeavor. The frontier has largely vanished, but modern youth still dreams of high adventure in far-away places. There are also those who seek, in these days of prosperity, an easy way to riches and success, if only they might hit upon it. Others are content to sit by the radio and telephone on the off chance that fortune in the form of a give-away program will smile upon them and dump riches in their laps. Yet it is still true for most of us, as of old, that worthwhile living and the attainment of high objective come only as a result of ambition, hard work and intelligent planning. It is good that youth is filled with idealism and enthusiasm. But these :.re not enough. We need stout hearts to see things through to the finish. St. Peter once spontaneously declared himself ready to go to prison or even to death with his Master. But when the crisis came he denied Him thrice. Peter petered out. Repentant and in bitter tears, he later regained his moral courage and became one of the great stalwart leaders of the Christian Church. But he illustrates in this instance a common human failing. We begin tasks, both in school and in life, with vigor and good intention and then all too often fall short of the mark. May you keep your ideals and your enthusiasms. And, as you face the task of daily living-for yourself, your loved ones, and your country,-may you hold steadfast, measure up to the best within you, and never-peter out. As you leave these halls, the best wishes for success and happiness go with you from your teachers and Your principal, 643.