Fernald High School - Echo Yearbook (Fernald, IA)

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ii Class l-lisfory, continued There were ten of us who started the final stretch of our education in the Senior year. Our new teachers were Mr. Begg and Mr. and Mrs. Miller and Mrs. Chitty returned. Of course the most important event of' the year was when we received our diplomas. All ten' of us who graduated had start' ed school together. They were: Allen Anderson, Charles Chitty, Mary jean Kaufman, Mary Anne Larson, ,lo Ann Nelson, 'l'helm.a Smith, Katherine Tur- ner, Bob VVise, Mary and Martha VVatt. Although we have had some tough spots we have also had may happy moments and it will be with mixed emo- tions that we lxave good old F.H.S. ClClSS lDl'OPl leCy After lt! long years of being President of Fernald University, Mr. and Begg decided it was time for a well deserved vacation. Loading their twelve kids into their five passenger 1949 Ford they set off on the first leg of their journey which was to take them throughout the universe. As they traveled toward New York the trip was quite uneventful until Mrs. Begg suddenly demanded that Mr. Begg turn the car around immediately. She believed she had seen' a face she recognized. Sure enough, smiling down from a big billboard, with her now famous Pepsodent smile of beauty, was JoAnn Nelson, a Fernald alumnus. As they continued on their journey they saw joAnn's face reappear several times. After arriving in the big city Mrs. Begg decided she would like a few new dresses before visiting the planets. They were directed to Madam Mabelle's for the latest in universal designs. Upon entering the store they were astonished to be confronted by the manager who was none other than Mabelle Chitty, the former home economics teacher back at F.H.S. After a lengthy visit Mabelle told them that Mr. an'd Mrs. Miller were also in New York conducting the Miller Conservatory of Music. After leaving Mabelle's little fashion shop they went to see the Millers at the music school. Upon' entering the office they were greeted by a distinguished gentleman whom they recognized as Mr. Miller. the former coach at Fernald. He was very glad to see Mr. and Mrs. Begg and their twelve children, and he quickly called Mrs. Miller who was teaching a voice student. After telling the Mil- lers about the plans to take a trip throughout the universe Mr. and Mrs. Begg decided that it was time to leave for the airport. Upon arrival at the Idlewild Airport, headquarters for the Trans-Planet Rocketways, the purchased fourteen tickets and were ready to leave. As they ascended the stair' to the Rocketship they heard a familiar little giggle and looking up discovered Mary glean Kaufman who was the stewardess. She told them that she had been with the Rocl-:etways since they were founded in 1965. She helped them slip on their space suits and they were ready to take off for the first planet, Mercury. There was a sudden jolt an'd they were off, gliding through space. As they passed the moon Mr. an'd Mrs. Begg remininisced about their old courting days when they had spent many hours studying tha' hall the features of the moon. Now they could see a real close-up of the earth's satellite. As they landed on Mercury they were happy to get to stretch their legs and look around. A big limousine from the travel agency took them for a trip across the planet. They stopped at a big agricultural university an'd they were greeted by the head of the Agricultural Department, who was none other than Charles Chitty. Chuck told them about accepting the posi- tion' at the University of Mercury after he graduated from Iowa State C01- 14

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Class llisfory On a bright sunny morning in September 1939, twen'ty little cherubs happy but frightened entered the big brick schoolhouse for our first year of formal education. They were: Allen Anderson, Charles Chitty, Bobby Crosser, john Philip Dan'ielson, Robert Peterson, Robert VVise, Beverly French. Norma johnson, Mary Jean Kaufman, Dorothy Mae Meekin's, Mari- lyn McNatton', jo Ann Nelson, Thelma Smith, Mary Anne Larson, Katherine Turner, Florence 'Watt, Mfary VVatt, Martha VVatt, Erma VVood, and Peggy Cross. Miss Ersland was our first teacher and she gave us a good start. It was the 18th primary class she had taught here and unfortunately we were the last. The next year when we returned a new teacher, Miss De Vries awaited us at the door. There were only lo of us now as Dorothy Mae Meekins, Peggy Cross an'd Erma XVood moved and Florence lVatt flunked. During the year Dixie Lee Lunsdale moved in and then out again' the same year and Mary and Martha Viiatt also moved. The first semester of our 2nd grade teacher was Miss Peterson and then Mrs. Sorenson taught us the second semester when Miss Peterson left to get married. This year we inherited Alice Gluck from the grade ahead of us and Raymond See moved in. john Philip Danielson and Beverly French left us for greener pastures. Due to the death of Mrs. Sorenson's husband, Mrs. Santee, the former Miss Peterson, who taught the first semester of second grade, returned to teach us in' third grade. During the year XVilliam I-laastedt moved in and Viola Borton decided she wanted to try this grade over again. Wyola Hagen joined us for a time during fourth grade and Miss Marken was our teacher. Our new fifth grade teacher was Mrs. Caskey. Bobby Crosser left us for Cambridge and Florine Borton and Marvel Huff joined our little group which now numbered fourteen. Mrs. Caskey returned for our sixth grade year and the only changes in our gr.ade this year were the addition of Frances Breezley and the sub- traction of Marilyn McNatton who dropped out because of illness. The following year we moved across the hall where Mrs. Talbott was awaiting our arrival. That year Florine Borton left our presence in favor of Milford and there were eleven of us to continue on to the eighth grade. Mrs. Talbott was able to stand us one more year, so she continued on as our teacher. Marvel Huff moved away that year, leaving ten of us to grad- uate from the eighth grade. They were: Allen Anderson Frances Breezley, Charles Chitty, Norma johnson, Mary jean Kaufman, Mary Anne Larson, .Io Ann Nelson, Thelma Smith. Katherie Turner, and Bob VVise. During the summer, Frances Breezley moved. leaving only nine of us to enter High School as Green Freshmen. Bobby Hall and Duane Meyer both joined us an'd dropped out during this year. Bill VVright also joined us along with his father who was our new superintendent. Our other teach- ers were Mrs. Stith and Mr. and Mrs. McGinnis. Ten of us advanced on to the Sophomore class where we enjoyed initia- ting the green freshmen. In the spring joe XYright, our superintendent left us and took his son Bill from our class, leaving only nine of us. Mr. Tyler and Mr'.Hahn finished out the year as superintendent. Mr. and Mrs. McGin- nis were still here an'd Mrs. Hansen replaced Mrs. Stith. There were nine of us left to carry on the ,lunior activities. VVe were joined in mid-year liy Mary and Martha VVatt who returned to our class after ten' years absence increasing our number to eleven. XVe had all new teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Forbes, Mrs. Chitty, and Mr. Martin. The highlight of the year was plannig and giving the Junior-Senior Banquet. Norma Johnson moved to Nevada at the end of the year but finished out the ear in F i ' y 13

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l , Class Prophecy, continued lege. He was teaching the most up--to-date methods of farming with horses and hand-plows as they were not as modern as on Earth. It was time to leave so they bade farewell to Chuck and took off again in the Rocket plane. Their next stop was on the planet Venus. A guide was showin'g them around a modern Venus city ad they stopped at a fashion'able modeling agency where they saw JoAnn Nelson. She had become the highest paid model in the agency because of her famous smile and f-lashing figure. They had a nice talk with JoAnn, of course, was entermingled very often with JoAnn's friend- ly little giggle. Decidig it was time to leave they said good-by to j'oAn'n and continued on their journey. 'Their next stop was Mars, where they saw a royal pageant in progress. The parade was beautiful and the new queen's attendants were royally attir- ed. A murmur spread through the crowd as the newly crowned queen came into view and proved to be n'one other than Thelma Smith. After Thelma talked to them for awhile she had to give a speech to her new subjects so the Begg family decided they would be on their way. Thelma provided them with a royal escort back to their waiting rocket ship, where they took off for the planet jupiter. After arriving on Jupiter, Mr. and Mrs. Begg, being lovers of music, decded to attend an opera. After purchasing their tickets to the opera house, they took their seats and sat back to enjoy the music. lVhen the male star of the show appeared they seemed to recognize the rich, mellowy voice, how- ever, because of the make-up they could not tell who the singer was Look- ing on their program they were surprised to learn that it was Allen Ander- son. Allen had received his preliminary music training back at old F.H.S. and since has been' with the juperpolitan Opera Company. After the opera was over they went back-stage and had a nice chat with Allen'. Then after look- ing over the planet jupiter in Allen's private plane they decided they must be on' their way. The next stop was the planet Saturn. As the big space ship approached the planet there was a sudden crash and t-he big ship lurched uneertainly in space. It had struck one of the rings surrounding Saturn'. The pilot very skillfully landed the ship where a mechanics crew rushed out to patch up the battered ship. Heading the crew, with a wrench in' one hand and an oil can in the other was Mary Anne Larson. Mary An'ne took time out from her duties to talk with the Beggs. She told them that while taking a Home Economics Journalism course she had become interested in mechan- ics and decided to make that her profession. She had been employed by the air lines for some time. After the space ship was repaired they took off for the planet Neptune. This time the pilot was more careful when' he came to the rings surrounding the planet and they wer'e off without mishap. As they arrived on the planet Neptune they noticed that it was less civilized than the other plan'ets. It was the Arkansas of the Universe. Very intrigued by the backward nature of the surroun'dings they decided to explore the planet a little more. While traveling in a very backward section they discovered a little shack perched on the hillside. Upon further investigation they saw a family of sixteen living in the shack. They decided they would like to learn more about the farm life on' Neptune so they went up to the little house. Much to their surprise they were greeted by Martha Watt. She was glad to see her former superintendent. She told Mr. and Mrs. Begg that she had married an Iowa farmer and they had obtained a homestead on Neptune. In the process they had raised fourteen' kids. Martha invited theBeggs in for supper but they declined because the space ship was due to leave in a few minutes. They hurried back to the space port and were on their way. 15