Golden Valley High School - Viking Yearbook (Golden Valley, MN)

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Versatility Joins Individuality The Hate was September 11, 1057, the scene, an unfinished high school in the growing village of Golden Valley. Within its walls 240 students stumbled over sawhorses and studied to the raucous rhythm of the workman’s hammer. Munching homemade lunches in classrooms and holding assemblies in the hall were unorthodox adventures of those first months. However, with the painting of the last blue door and the installation of the final bleacher seat, students found themselves in a split-level, block and tile building—a building without tradition or title. A desire to be known as more than the occupants of Golden Valley High School, District 275, inspired students and faculty to hold an election and to choose a name. The outcome Ix-gan the legend of the Golden Valley Viking. Fierce, plundering Norsemen, who invaded and settled in lands throughout the northern hemisphere arc usually associated with the name. Scandinavians were tall, blond warriors and seafarers with swords and shields in their painted boats. It’s true some Golden Valley Vikings were tall, blond, and handsome. But plundering was seen only in the powerful block on the football field and invasion took the form of Conference choir and speech contests and the exchange of school newspapers and yearbooks. A Viking was many individuals. In a small school he had the opportunity to be a scholar, athlete, artist, and always, in some way, a leader. Conscious of life around him. the Golden Valley Viking was affected and drawn into events and happenings throughout the world, as well as right at home. Turning cosmopolitan. he welcomed Ecuadorian exchange student Gus Fran-co. Heat of the political campaigns elbowed its way to the foreground when Vikings personally took part in great debates and held a mock election. They then turned with greater knowledge to watch the nation elect John Kennedy, President. Among the new federal appointments were Minnesota’s former Governor Freeman as Secretary of Agriculture; Walter Heller, formerly of the University, as Eco-nomic Adviser; and a Golden Valley resident. Carl T. Row- an, as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs. Revolutions in the Congo, Cuba, and Laos attracted Vikings’ attention to the new administration’s Peace Corps and the Vienna meeting of Kennedy and Khrushchev. As citizens of the United States, Vikings worried about American prestige, Russia, and the moon. Adlai Stevenson was appointed to represent the U.S. in the United Nations. Visits by the l eardcd rebel from Cuba and rotund Premier of Russia kept America hopping. Shocking the world with the 89-minute globe-circling flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first man into space, Russia brought Americans to their feet. However, within four weeks the United States was back in the running when Alan Shepard was returned to earth from a 15-minute flight 115 miles up. Near realization of World War II horrors were experienced by Vikings in the spring as they followed the trial of Adolf Eichmnnn, Nazi henchman, in Israel. At the same time that Vikings experienced the worry and strife of the world, they were also aware of its keen competition and enjoyment. They cheered the United States Olympic team to 564V£ points, a total second only to the Soviet Union’s 807. “lake me out to the ball game became a reality as the Washington Senators moved to the Twin Cities and became the Minnesota Twins. Going professional all the way, the state adopted its own pro-football team and titled them the Minnesota Vikings. Cultural interest broadened with the plans of the new Tyrone Guthrie theatre in Minneapolis and the appointment of Stanislaw Skrowaczcwski as new conductor of the world-traveled Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. Events happen and pass unless interrupted and recorded. This book is such a record—should Seniors forget the bridges they decorated with GV ’61 and the joy of an exam well passed, in case the Juniors’ memory of prom night grows dim, in case the Sophomores get over the thrill of sponsoring their first dance, in case Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Graders losc'that feeling of being underclassmen, and finally, to recall the events and times that made 1960-61 a banner Viking year. 2

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1961 VIKING Volume 3 Golden Valley High School Minneapolis, Minnesota

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to Make Golden Valley Vikings 3