Girard College - Corinthian Yearbook (Philadelphia, PA)

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January 1934 9 for the few minutes he was on the stage transporting the audience to a Russian hut. And then, to another extreme, from that part he took the lead in “She Stoops to Conquer” and gave the audience a real treat as Mr. Hardcastle, the fat. bouncing. English aristocrat who was mistaken for an innkeeper. Here Neibert gave a very mature performance and deserves all credit given him. Another change in makeup and Mr. Hardcastle became Marley’s Ghost in the “Christmas Carol.” The stage was completely darkened, and the Ghost aroused emotion among the spectators by his voice only. The scene was quite effective, and once again members of our class brought honor to dramatics in Girard. But a play may be made or broken by a supporting cast. Every one can¬ not take the leading parts because in most cases there are not enough of them. All of our plays have been successful mainly because of the minor characters. Among them we find Earl Price, a servant of Hardcastle’s; Robert Ross as Kate Hardcastle’s maid—a very good comedy interpretation. So ends a resume of our most important dramatic performances here at Girard within the last four years. It will be safe to say that somewhere some¬ place along our line of march nearly every member of the class has participated in some sort of play. Our public speaking activities have been just as successful as those in dra¬ matics. We have had all types of Friday morning assembly talks, and numerous Sunday evening reports. The latter were delivered by Hoffman, Fuller, Bavuso, Davit, DeSanto, Fenimore, Gill, Nichols, Dittert, Bower, Spiegel, and Neibert. The most important speaking contest at Girard, the Declamation Contest, found four of our members on the platform out of the six contestants. They were John Fuller, who delivered a very interesting talk on “Preparation for Leisure”; Robert Ross, who gave an “Appreciation of George Arliss”; Francis Neibert, who talked on his “Preface to the Future”; and Wesley Hoffman who gave a biographical sketch “Out of the Darkness” on Helen Keller. It is a pity that there were not six prizes for every talk deserved recognition, but the judges were instructed to pick three winners. Our sole prize winner was Francis Neibert. Neibert left a message for us that ought to be very useful to all those who heard it. He talked intelligently about his philosophy of life and how that philosophy may be practical. For this talk he received second prize in the contest. He has since been appointed the Class Speaker at the Commence¬ ment Exercises. We have been telling you how enjoyable and how beautifully done all our plays and speeches were. We have been the interpreters in different produc¬ tions, and in many cases received the praise. But behind it all there was a directing power. And at this time we want to extend our sincere thanks and deepest appreciation to Mr. Henry V. Andrews, our coach and teacher, for all his efforts to present through us Girard plays and speeches of quality.

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8 In Retrospect Footlights and Flashes G IRARD has always held the reputation of being well advanced in dra¬ matics and public speaking. Our class, we feel, but not in a boastful spirit, has contributed as much as any other class and perhaps more to the excellence of this work. In dramatics, probably the outstanding “actor-actress” was Wesley Hoff¬ man. Actress, because he starred in three major plays as the feminine lead and held a very important woman’s part in the fourth. The fourth, Dickens’ “Christmas Carol,” had no feminine lead; therefore “Wes” couldn’t take it. He took, however, the part of Mrs. Cratchit, and did an admirable piece of work. He made his debut as Mrs. Credulous in “The Scheming Lieutenant,” a comedy by Sheridan. His second success was the lead in Tolstoy’s “What Men Live By.” Here he portrayed excellently a Russian peasant woman, the wife of a poor cobbler. His most important role was as Mrs. Hardcastle in that comic classic of Goldsmith’s “She Stoops to Conquer.” Here again he was a huge success impersonating that difficult character as well as Mrs. Hard¬ castle herself could have done it. How a boy can take those women parts and make them so realistic is a wonder to many of us. We congratulate him for his splendid presentations. Another well-known feminine “actor” in our class is Howard Gill. How¬ ard has also been very active in dramatics at Girard but usually has taken the younger heroine parts. In “The Scheming Lieutenant” he was the tempting “pretty young thing” that caused all the fuss. This was his debut, and was it successful ? Howard next appeared behind the footlights as a member of the cast “She Stoops to Conquer.” Again he captured the hearts of the audience and that of Mr. Hestings as Miss Constance Neville, Hardcastle’s neice. From his first appearance to the last curtain, Gill drew applause from the house—and we truthfully say he deserved it. In the “Christmas Carol,” he took a minor part but played it admirably giving the audience genuine pleasure. Leonard Wendling has proved himself worthy of a great deal of praise for his work in three plays. He first appeared as a monk in “The Little Father of the Wilderness.” Although the part didn’t call for a great deal of acting on the stage, the time present was sufficient for all to see just what he could do. In “She Stoops to Conquer” he added a few years to himself and gave a very excellent presentation of young Marlow’s father, Sir Marlow. Deaf in one ear and unable to hear in the other, in need of a cane, and without teeth, Leonard put before an eager audience a character that was alive and portrayed it in a pro¬ fessional manner. In “Christmas Carol, he subtracted all those extra years and played the part of Young Scrooge. What he gave in realism to an old man, he also portrayed in the young thus proving his versatility. We have another actor in our class who has taken part in three produc¬ tions. He made his debut as an old, miserly, Russian Jew (Trofinoff) who came to get credit from a still poorer Russian cobbler in Tolstoy ' s “What Men Live By.” Behind a heavy, black beard, Francis Neibert actually became Jewish

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10 In Retrospect In the Realm of Sport I N THE realm of sport, the Class of January 1934 had its share of athletes, a total, as in the preceding class, of twenty-two letter men. Many of these athletes obtained their “G’s” in several sports; others excelled in one field. Our leading athlete was Leon Brandolph who earned six letters in three sports: basketball, baseball, and soccer. His “G’s” were evenly divided in these endeavors, and he climaxed his career in Girard by captaining the bas¬ ketball team in 1933-34. Raymond Strittmatter won five letters and captained Girard’s 1933 soccer team which proved to be the best team ever to represent the College in this sport since it went through the season without a defeat to mar its record. We congratulate “Swat” for this splendid achievement. Philip Bavuso is a four-letter man, having earned his letters in soccer, baseball, and basketball. Jim Gioelli and Harry Nace proved to be stellar athletes by capturing three letters apiece. Harry proved his worth in soccer and Jim shone the brightest in baseball. We were very fortunate in having three two-letter men ; Earl Price, Harold Nichols, and William Carlile. Bill Carlile excelled on the diving board while Price and Nichols starred in basketball. In soccer, Paul Fay, Joseph Mingioni, James Dittert, Randall Swavely, Frank DeSanto, Forrest Shaub, Albert and Charles Davis and B. Davis Fenimore showed efficiency in winning each a letter. Samuel Waters managed the soccer team and was awarded a “G” for his efforts. John Fuller and Leonard Wendling were presented letters for their outstanding performances in the back stroke and diving board respectively. John captained the swimming team in 1933-34. Charles Green proved to be the outstanding trackman and our only man to win his letter in this branch of sports. We shall not forget his brilliant high jumping. Our class is very proud of its athletic representation. Here they are. May they carry this glory into their future years. Lettermen of The Class Baseball Leon Brandolph Vincent Gioelli Philip Bavuso Harrison Nace Raymond Strittmatter Harold Nichols Paul Fay Soccer Leon Brandolph Harrison Nace Philip Bavuso Raymond Strittmatter Earl Price Vincent Gioelli Forrest Shaub William Carlile Charles Davis Albert Davis James Dittert Frank DeSartto B. Davis Fenimore Joseph Mingioni Randall Swavely Samuel Waters