Greenfield High School - Evergreen / Exponent Yearbook (Greenfield, MA)

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6 THE EXPONENT George Washington, Abraham Lin¬ coln, and Theodore Roosevelt to see if they have these characteristics. We find that George Washington had the desire to be a great leader of men. He was born of wealthy par¬ ents, but this did not interfere with his attainments. We find him in his youth climbing the highest trees and bridges and cutting his initials to show that he had won over all compe¬ tition. Later we find him leading armies and finally the whole United States as its first president. The at¬ tainments in climbing and the ter¬ rible winter at Valley Forge speak for themselves in respect to his per¬ sistency. The fact that he would not take a cent for his services is proof that he was unselfish, while we know that he had a perfect trust in God to help him in all his tasks of leadership. Abraham Lincoln determined when only a boy to be some day President of the United States. He carried this before him as his goal until he reached it, but he had many strug¬ gles to win to attain it. His trials and defeats are not unknown to any of us, and neither is his persistency to be honest and helpful to others at whatever cost. By means of his hard work and perfect trust in God while President we were safely car¬ ried through the Civil War. For four long years he labored incessant¬ ly and now, though he was not al¬ lowed to reap the rewards of his work on earth, his fame and the inspiration of his character will never die. My last example, Theodore Roose¬ velt, is another man who had a defi¬ nite aim in life. As a boy he was sickly and weak, but on being told by his father that he could make himself a strong man by hard prac¬ tice in a gymnasium, he determined to take the hint. He was so per¬ sistent in his gymnasium work that by the time he was twenty years of age he had built up an iron constitu¬ tion. He may have seemed selfish to some of us, but a selfish man would hardly make it possible for others to have wealth and happiness through his untiring efforts in behalf of con¬ servation. Although we do not hear so much about his trust in Providence we know that he did have that faith and that it was dear to him. I could go on with numerous exam¬ ples, but they would all tend to show that life freely defined has a far deeper meaning than living and that it is obtained by having a definite aim in life, being persistent to the end, holding unselfish thoughts, and keeping a perfect trust in the Almighty. RUSSELL NIMS, ’26. CLASS HISTORY Father Time is writing and study¬ ing notes in his Book of Records. He is also talking to himself. St. Anne comes on. the stage carrying a book similar to that of Father Time’s, sees Father Time and says ‘Good Morning, Father Time. You seem busy this morning.” Father: Good Morning, St. Anne. Yes, I am rather busy. I’ve been looking over the records of the class of 1926 at Greenfield High school and I find that these records are not com¬ plete. By the way, where’s your brother, St. Peter? I asked him to come over and compare his records with mine. St. Anne: Oh, business is rushing for St. Peter this morning, so he sent me over with his entries of the class of Greenfield High School. Father: All right. Honestly if that class had conducted itself in a quiet and respectable manner every¬ thing would have been right but those rascals were always up to something. Before I had recorded one thing they had started something else. Now, pay close attention while I read my records of this class and you are to see whether they conform with St. Peter’s. (turns over pages) Ah! Here we are—the month of Septem¬ ber, 1922. One hundred and seventy darling little cherubs entered the freshman class of Greenfield High School. St. Anne: That’s right. Don’t for¬ get that it was the present Junior High School which was then their high school. And, oh how little and sweet these children were. Can’t

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THE EXPONENT 5 words have very different meanings. When I say living I mean merely existing, making enough to live on and perhaps a little more, but having no desire to do much better or to economize to obtain something bet¬ ter. It is easy to mistake those lack¬ ing in natural ability for those living in this way. The latter have nat¬ ural ability but do not use it. In other words, they are satisfied with just getting by in this world and in just having a good time, as they say. As a result, when they are near the end of their lives, they look back and see • that they have accomplished nothing for themselves or for any one else. On the other hand, those without natural ability may not have accomplished much more materially, but they have acquired the reputation that they have at least worked hard to accomplish something worth while. Life, to me, means making a living and at the same time working for something better. I will illustrate my idea by an account of two young men starting for themselves on two farms. Both farms offer equal op¬ portunities in fruit growing. Both young men care for their farms well, but whereas one does not try to in¬ crease the value of his farm, the other plants young orchards and makes his farm more valuable in every way, at the same time adding to his interest in it. In other words, it is the story of the talents in the Bible, in which the three servants received five, two and one talent re¬ spectively. The man receiving the five talents increased them to ten. The one who was given two talents also increased them doubly in the given time. These two were congrat¬ ulated and encouraged, but because the servant who had received the one talent hid it and presented it at the given time, his master called him lazy and gave his talent to the one having the ten. I have decided that there are four ' characteristics of men who are suc¬ cessful in life. When I say success¬ ful, I mean that they have contribut¬ ed something to mankind. A man may have helped only in bettering an¬ other’s character, but that to my mind is also success. The amount that a person does to aid mankind in any way determines the degree of his success. The four characteristics which result in success are: A defi¬ nite aim, persistency, unselfishness, and a perfect trust in God. If you look through the pages of history, you will find that every outstanding character had an aim in life and stuck to it. He may not have done exactly what he set out to do, but he will have achieved something along that line. For instance, a man may have set out to be President of the United States and although he may not have attained that high of¬ fice, you may be reasonably sure of finding him holding some responsible public office. William Jennings Bryan worked hard for the Presiden¬ cy from the start. He never realized this ambition, but he was Secretary of State and one of the greatest po¬ litical leaders of his time. Everyone knows that without per¬ sistency in our work we cannot ex¬ pect to rise very high or be very skillful along any particular line. The men who make college athletic teams are not the men who practice only occasionally or who break train¬ ing rules. The reliable men are the men who persist and do not give in against odds. It is easy enough to stick to a job when things go well, but when everything goes wrong, to stand up and fight it out, shows what is in you. Behind every aim and throughout the persistency of working for it, must be unselfishness. Without this there is no real success. When the word success is defined as meaning the amount of wealth or of praise a person acquires during his life, un¬ selfishness is perhaps not necessary, but the definition that I have given requires unselfishness. Benedict Ar¬ nold was selfish. As a result he died broken-hearted and utterly cast out. The last characteristic is a perfect trust in God. Almost everyone in this country believes in a Supreme Being. People have different ideas on that subject, but rare is the man who does not believe in a Creator who is watching over all and bestow¬ ing- blessings on us daily. We have also found that a true faith in our Creator carries us through many try¬ ing places. Let us review briefly the lives of

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THE EXPONENT 7 you remember that Mr. Smith told them they were to go to school only in the afternoon. But I fail to re¬ member why. Father: Huh! The children prob¬ ably had to have their morning beau¬ ty sleep. St. Anne: Have you the freshman class officers there? Father: No, 1 don’t believte I have. I must have been writing about the freshman reception at that time. St. Anne: Well, here are their class officers: President, John Des¬ mond; Vice-President, Rachel At¬ wood; Secretary, Pauline Mills; Treasurer, Edwin Cowan; Assistant Treasurer, Blanche Morris. Right after these notes it says that Ray Demeo and Jack Desmond were prize-winners at the annual track meet held during the Franklin Coun¬ ty Fair. Father: The girls s hone too as I remember it. Marjorie Church and Bernice Sargent won prizes on their essays on “A Playground in Green¬ field.” St. Anne: Father, St. Peter’s notes, here, say that the freshman basketball team was the champion class team. How did that happen? Father: Well, you see the fresh¬ man were little but very enthusiastic young hopefuls. St. Anne: It is queer the notes concerning this class are lacking for the next few months. Father: Ha! Ha! The freshmen had reached a sort of transition pe¬ riod. They were busy putting on a veneer of superiority and casting aside that look of humility which all freshmen sooner or later acquire. Yes, they were about to become sophomores. St. Anne: Ha! ,Ha! Now St. Peter’s records say that John McCann and—What’s this? I can’t make it out. Something like a Wheel—H. Wheel, it is. Father: You mean Hosea Wheeler —Don’t you remember that bloom¬ ing-cheeked youngster from Bellows Falls, Vt.? Yes, those two boys made their class a little bit larger. St. Anne: Yes, it seems as if I have heard of them. Next it is writ¬ ten here that many of the sopho¬ mores had come into the public eye and even the names of some were added to that famous book—Who’s Who. Anna Crowley’s name is men¬ tioned here. Father: Yes, she was the famous Pat Crowley of the Deerfield Street Gang. My records are blurred again here. Will you go on? St. Anne: The class officers of the Sophomore year: President, Ed¬ ward Pulaski; Vice-President, Anna Crowley; Secretary, Pauline Mills; Treasurer, Andrew Murphy. At the foot of the page it states that Isabel Morgan and Bernice Sargent had re¬ ceived Maximum Nine for the year. Peter’s records now end. Father: Oh! There’s more than that. They followed past customs and gave a reception to the fresh¬ men. St. Anne: Why, I remember St. Peter speaking of that. He said that those lordly sophomores danced con¬ tinually with the freshmen girls. The poor freshmen boys were left all alone. Father: Well do I remember Ber¬ nard Miller, Edwin Cowan, John Desmond, and Ray Demeo as their leading athletes. Here again my rec¬ ords are rather incomplete. I can’t find the records for the next fall. St. Anne: You say you haven’t got the whole of the third year’s record? Well. I’ll read these and you can compare yours with them. I remember that at the beginning of September, 1924, the new High School was finished and they were very busy moving in. That is prob¬ ably where you got mixed u’ . Father: Yes, I remember. They didn’t start school until a week la ter than usual and then Pauline Mills was late the first day. St. Anne: It seems that their first public act was to elect class officers: Theles Condraski . President Anne Crowley.Vice President Pauline Mills . Secretary Earle Welcome . Treasurer Rachel Atwood, Assistant Treasurer Father: Didn’t they go to the Fair this year? St. Anne: Oh yes, and for the first time in the history of the school Greenfield won the cheering cup from Arms. Two of the cheer¬ leaders were from this class—Hosea Wheeler and Anne Crowley. Father: Yes; then Desmond,