Francesville High School - Francillian Yearbook (Francesville, IN)

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f -.l,,F, . t . THE FIEANCILLIAN all our belongings. So rather than bother them, we decided to get our lu.nch at the small restaurant near by. We were met at the door by a nice looking lady, 'who greeted us, and showed us to a table. Surprise! It was our schoolmate, Patricia Kear- ney. She 'told uns -she was the owner of this lovely restaurant. She seemed to be sitting on top of the world, as she 'had many customers and enjoyed her work very much. As we were anxious to get started, we hurried through our lunch. We crossed over into Canada throuigh the Windsor Tunnel. We visited many places of interest during the next few days. On Satur- day we arrived in Montreal, Canada. Seekinlg more exciting adventure. we decided -to board a steamer and sail down to Niagara Falls instead of trudging along with our trailer. We drove on the boat and parked our car and trailer. For the next few days our minds would be at rest. The voyage was certainly peaceful and entirely different from our days in the trailer. One morning we were walking on deck, when we heard the Captain say to a sailor, Gain speed as we have just received an S. O. S. from a small yacht in distress. After a short time, we sighted the stated vessel. When the rescued occupants were on board, we received the great- est surprise oif all-for who should it be but Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Weltzin. The Mrs. Weltzin we had known in school days as Glendoris Tillett. She was carried to our stateroom to rest after su-ch a narrow escape. Mean- while, Gerald told -the experience to the officers of our ship out on deck. When Glendoris was again breathing norlmally, she told us that she and Gerald had just been married and were taking this yacht trip as part of their honeymoon. That evening, they joined us at dinner, and it was through Glendoris that we learned about Joe Manion. Glendoris and Gerald had come through Washing- ton, D. C., on their trip. Consequent- ly she related the following: Quote: One evening we were sitting in a hotel lobby, waiting for a friend to arrive. A bell-hop came through pag- ing Amibassador Manio-n. Everyone rose to his feet, and many men in uniform stood at attention. As Glendoris further stated: I won- dered greatly if he 'm-ight be my old classmate, Joe. So I -worked my way through the crowd to catch a glimpse of him and sure enough, it was he. Rushinig up to him, I was so excited by this time, that instead of address- ing him in respect to his position, I blurted out-Hi-Ya, Joe! Everyone gasped in amazement, to think that I would so rudely address an ambas- sador. Joe was glad to -see us and taking each of us by the arm, he escorted us into a secluded reading room, where he at once began ques- tioning us about homefolks, and in doing so mentioned that his wife, the former Mary Long, was quite home- sick to see some old familiar faces. We girls were speechless, to think that one of our former schoolmates had risen to such a high and d-ig- nifled position. In return for this startling piece of news we told her of the other .classmates we had en- countered. When we arrived at Niagara Falls, we parked our trailer at Clifton Tourist Camp. We hurried d-own to glimpse the falls and on the way was a huge neon sign on the dome of The Royal Palace Ballroom, stating that the LONG-BYRD dancing team was appearing here for a six-weeks en- gagement. We were curious and lost all interest in the falls when we saw these names. We must say that the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers' team would have to take a back seat now. After the wo-nderful performance, we hurried ihack stage to see if Perry and Rosemary would remember usf They told us that -they had 'been tour- ing the country and had met several old classmates. They had met many of them dolwn in Fl-orida, where they had made pulblic appearances the previous winter. An idea flashed into our minds. We would dispose of our troublesome trailer, and car, and 'take a plane to Florida. Since we had discovered -the where-abouts of so many of the Sen- ior Class of '37, we were inspired bo hunt up the rest of the old gang. We decided to go up to New York, to see if 'we might find any of the old class there. We arrived in New York City about eight o'clock. Hungry and seeking excitement, we sought out the El Ham,bl.i-n Night Club. We wondered if the name could be con- nected with one of our class. As we entered, a beautiful blond girl was singing. The voice sounded familiar, and as we came closer, we found the soloist to be Eleanor Gitzlaff. She came -to our table -for a brief chat. During the conversation, she told us 1937

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THE FRANCILLIAN SENIOR CLASS PROPI-IECY THE long-looked-for month of June arrived and with it -the much need- ed vaciation. The Get Well Hospital had been filled to capacity for the last six months during an epidemic of flu. After such an ordeal we, Head Nurse, Melba Lindsey, Surgical Nurse, Mil- dred Wuethrich, and Doctor, Donna Jeanne Topp, le.aving three capable assistants in our places, left Chicago -one bright morning in our house trailer. We had decided to make a tour of Canada, since we were seek.ing cool-er weather. We left Chicago on Road 54, and were rolling along at a rapid gait, when a detour sign loomed up in front of' us. So taking the flvyroad as a detour, we were soon tired out for you know pulling a houseciar over a rough corduroy road isn'-t any fun. We were all getting very hungry and seeking a quiet place to park, we saw nice looking farm buildings ahead. VVe stopped and Mildred went to ask if we might park in their barnlot for a short time. She soon returned with the news that we were welcome -to stop. She told us that a small girl came to the door and said her mother wasn't home just then. 'but she knew it would be alri-ght anyway. We were just sitting down to a lunch when a car drove in. A young lady that also Was they and a gentleman got out. My man looked familiar! The lady walked with a familiar stride. it? No, it couldn't be. Soon came to see our housecar, for y-ou know, ours was quite unusual. Sure enough, our suspicions were correct. It was none other than Mr. and Mrs. Jun-ior Wuethrich. They weren't any more surprised than we were, for Mrs. Wuethrich was our state fair, and had been friend of High School days, Dorothy Apostal! During our stay in their home that afternoon, we learned that Junior had won state honors with his pigs at the Michigan elect-ed to go to Washington as a representative for the State's Agri- culture Association. Dorothy was feeling badly because she did.n't want to stay home, and she hated to go wgth four small children to take care o . After a very interesting afternoon, we again started on our way as dusk was fast approaching and we wished to find a tourist camp before dark. We drove many miles before the welcomed sign Cozy Camp ground met our eyes. We parked under a big shady weeping willow. While Mildred and I opened the 'windows and freshened up a bit, Melba went to seek the manager to have him plug in the electricity. She was gone quite a while, and when she returned a lady was with her. Melba called to us to see .if we should 'recognize the lady. I-t was indeed a 'great sur- prise when we came face to face with Margaret Wolf. Of course questions flowed fluently in Ab-oth directions. We asked if she was the owner of this nice up-to-date tourist camp, and were informed it ibelonged to her .and her husband. We boldly asked who the husb.and might be. Could you believe -it? She and her schoolday sweetheart, Elmer Lash- hroo-ke were now happily married. Margaret was still the same cheerful girl of high school days. They were doing quzite well, as their camzp was the last before crossing the border. Therefore, they had a full camp every night. The next morning, we bade Mar- garet and Elmer goodbye, and started on our journey a-gain. We reached Detroit about noon. If any one ever traveled through Detroit's traffic, you knfow what it is, not alone pulling a house car behind you! We were slowly progressing down Elmwood Street, when CRASH!-a taxicab had collided with our tra-iler. We stopped immediately and three very disgusted young ladies were prepared to give tho young man a piece of advice. But beholdelook who he was. Our friend and schoolmate, Ralph Steffel. Ralph was still practicing reckless driving! Of course, when we saw it was Ralph, our frowns changed to smiles. We went to a garage for repairs and. 'while waiting for them to he completed, we had a nice chat with Ralph. He told us he was still a bachelor, but by the twinkle in his eye, we knew wedding bells would soon be ringing for him. He later told us the news--.it was one of h-is acquaintances 'during his work in Detroi-t. She was a school teacher, and Ralph seemed to think the world of her. The ,gairageman had now com- pleted the work so, bidding Ralph goodbye and wishing him happiness during his married l-ife, we arrived at the Customs Bureau. Because we had a house car, it took the officers qu-ite a while to search 1937

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THE FRANCILLIAN she was now Mrs. James Hamblin. Jiimfmy, our tease of high school days, was now the owner of the nicest night club in New York. Just then the announcer came forward 'to an- nounce the next numlber. Could you believe it? It was a song and tap- dance by the Hamblin twins, Jerry and Sherry, age 5. The children were cfirtainly talented, and gave a Won- derful performance, After their number, we girls re- turned to the Ritz Hotel for the next morning we were leaving for Florida, and needed a good n.ight's rest. In the middle of the night we were awakened by a noise from the room above. I-t sounded as though some- one were tapdancing. Standing it as long as we could, we rang for the manager. When he appeared at our door, we were surprised beyond be- lief, for who should he be but Herald Bailey. During our talk with Herald. we learned that his rich uncle had died willing this branch of hotels throughout the c-ountry to him. The noise was still progressing, so Her- ald and we three tired girls advanced to the above room. Herald knocked, and was met at the door .by a maid. He asked to see her mistress, who came forward just then. This time we were shocked, for the girl who had been tap-dancing above us was none other than Odetta Kes.ler. She asked us in, and while her maid was preparing a lunch, he told us about her success as a dancing star in the Ziegfeld Follies. After a delicious lunch with Odetta we again returned to our room, 'to sleep undisturbed the res-t of the night. The next morning we rushed to the airport to start our trip. We were just ready to board the plane, when the pilot came forward for a word w-ith the stewardess. The voices sounded familiar, and turning around we recognized the stewardess and pilot as being Lenora Kelley and Ralph Koebcke. This was Ralph's first trip as pilot since he had just been promoted from co-pilot. Lenora had also been transferred here from the United Air Lines. Wasn't it strange that fate should put these two together? After a smooth take- off we were in the air headed for Florida. Lenora came to serve us lunch and Ralph being relieved by the co-pilot, came to join us. As Lenora was preparing the small table, we noticed she was wearing a. dia- mond. Not knowing that it concerned anyone present, we asked her who the lucky person 'mighlt be. When we asked the question, we noticed Ralph blushed a deep pink! Much to our surprise, Lenora with the help of Ralph told us the great news. They were going to be married the next Wednesday. However, they were both going to continue to fly. Having such a capable person at the controls as Ralph, we felt quite safe for the remainder of the trip. We stopped at Atlanta, Georgia, for refueling. Across the way from the airport was a nice looking dairy farm. On the barn appeared the name. Eluston Free Germ Dairy. Remembering a boy by the name of Elston whom one of the girls of the Senior Class of '37 had been greatly interested in, we asked Lenora if this was the same person. She told us that Mardella Eide and Jim Elston were- now married and the owners of thin up-to-date dairy. As we had a stop here for 15 minu-tes, we ran across to see Mardella. She seemed very glad to see us and immediately asked us to come in. She told us all about her life on the dairy and showed us their collection of ribbons that their dairy cows had won at the state fairs. We were glad to know that ,Mardella was enjoying her mar- ried life and was doing so well. After a hasty goodbye, we returned to the airport. As we entered the plane, Lenora handed us a newspaper and called our attention to the huge headlines, LUDEMAN'S CROSS-COUNTRY BI- CYCLE RECORD BROKEN BY ACE JACKSON , which proved to be none other than Keith Jackson of hi-gh school days. Reading the complete article, we learned that Keith had completed his life-long ambition. He had traveled th-e entire distance from coast to coast on a Kiddy Kar. When he arrived on the Pacific Coast, he was presented with a new rubber- tired Kiddy Kar by the Walters- Kruger Toy Corporation. Lenora informed us that her old classmate, Florence Kruger, and her husband, Kenneth Walters owned this corpora- tion, manufacturing all types of toys for small children. As we continued to read the paper, the article, Big Mlill Strike in La- Crosse came to our attention. Mil- dred, reading the article further, learned that -the mrill belonged to a certain Virgil Hienhold. Mildred ex- 1937,