Fitchburg High School - Boulder Yearbook (Fitchburg, MA)

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LITTLE JOURNEYS thntcar; wc sang and 3 clled and danced and shouted ourselves hoarse to tlie manifest enjoyment of our fellow-occupants. But all good things must end, and so did that day, yet its remembrance will linger long in many minds. To Lunenburg. One da along in December Miss Stockwell issued a general invitation to the class to go down to “Lunenham” and attend an amateur play and gen- eral good time to be given b} the senior class of the Lunenburg high school. That evening about fifteen or twenty of us, chaperoned by Miss Spaulding, boarded the car for Lunenburg and started off in high spirits. On the way down, we were given a little entertainment not on the program. Poor Guy, blindfolded and utterly squelched, was compelled, as part of his initiation, to sing songs and do various other stunts for the amusement of the occupants of the car. And what made it all the worse, was that Ellstrom was losing no time in making the very best of the situation. (For the benefit of the unenlightened, we will add that Ruth was on board.) Finally, however, the conductor shouted “Lunen- burg” and we all tumbled off as best we could. At first we were utterly dazed and bewildered b the multitudinous sounds and brilliantly glaring lights of the great metropolis, but at last, under the guiding hand of our chaperon, we were all safely landed at our haven in the to wn hall, where for a very bad quarter of an hour we were squeezed and jammed and pushed about and stepped upon in a cloak room “ builtfor two.” After a while we managed to find our wa3 upstairs and took seats together in the front of 26

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Little Journeys To Gardner O N that well remembered day, November 12, a jolly part 3 of seniors and small fry eonsisting of juniors, etc., accompanied our noble football team to that small village in the backwoods bearing the euphonious appellation of Gardner. On the “way back ” to the aforementioned hamlet, we employed ourselves principally in concocting new songs and yells together with the rehearsing of the same, to the evident immense enjoyment of the other passen- gers on the car. The feature of the game — which was unfortu- tunately of the genus “Waterloous” — was the mag- nificent yelling and singing of our new songs and yells ; but enough of this painful event. After the game, noos ateion shut tray fam, (we were certainly very hungr 3 ,) and after a long, hard search we at last unearthed a grocery and a drug store, to which we all adjourned immediately; that is, all but three; “Dicky,” “Georgie,” and “Scotty” had been captured by the enemy. The rest of us feasted on crackers and gingersnaps, soda and kisses. At last we got a car going home, to the tune of “Home, sweet home, be it ever so slow it is better than Gardner;” at last we were all together again. Did I say all ? Alas, no ; two are left roosting on a Gardner fence, and — well, the less said the better — but Arnold discovered a new brand of witch Hazel. If anybody ever raised Cain, we certainly did, on 25

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LITTLE JOURNEYS the immense hall in whieh we found ourselves. Then, while waiting for the theatricals to begin, we amused ourselves by writing our autographs on each other’s programs. (It is well to add just here, that of all the methods for losing one’s pencils, I consider the autograph game about the limit.) After the play — which, by the way, was very well rendered — there was a long and tedious wait before the dancing was to begin, enlivened only with a little tumbling exhibition by Misses Jennison and Munn. We had, in fact, al most given up hope of having any dancing at all, when we were delighted by the arrival of an orchestra composed of three whole pieces, and it was announced that the first dance was to be a grand march. After this came a waltz, and we began choosing our partners and looking forward in anticipation of more to come, when we were paralyzed by the announcement that there could be no more dancing. No more dancing! Confusion! Why, what did we go down there for? But the prin- cipal was inexorable ; we might go through a prom- enade or two if we so desired, but never a dance could we have. While we were deciding whether or not to boycott the grand march, however, the or- chestra packed up and left us in the lurch, thus forci- bly reminding us of the lateness of the hour. After another scramble in the dressing-room and a general leave-taking all around we all piled into the car and started on the home trip to Fitchburg and civilization. To Gardner Again. Our Reception. Did we have a good time ? Well, say, from the time we left Fitchburg, till we again reached our 27