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

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THE EXPONENT 9 Father: The Springtime Fete in which so many Seniors took part was a decided hit. St. Anne: They surely enjoyed the Junior Prom. Didn’t they? Father: The History of ’26 after four years of hard toil under the careful guidance of Mr. Smith and their teachers, now comes to a close at the last nage of my records. St. Anne: For all their light¬ heartedness and carefree spirits, they are sad today at the thought of leav¬ ing their beloved G. H. S. May their future history be so renowned that their names will again appear on other records of Father Time. Father: So I, St. Anne, and I, Father Time, to the class of, 1926 bid farewell. May your future be a happy climb. May your fame, the Future ages tell. ANNE CROWLEY, ’26. EDWARD PULASKI, ’26. CLASS ORATION LAUGH! WHY NOT? What really counts in life? Is happiness alone sought? Health alone? No. As Americans we ask for all. Life means to us—as it did to the Knights of the Round Table —to live pure, to speak true, to right wrong, to have faith, to be true to our country and our flag. What keeps true the ideals of life? There is but one answer—laughter —and its shadow—the smile. Among the many things which the modern world owes to the earlier civilization is a Greek definition which says—“Man is that animal that laughs.” Since that time many in¬ vestigations have been made to prove the truth or falsity of this ancient supposition. Mr. Curry, founder of the Morn¬ ing League of the School of Expres¬ sion, gives an account of the time when he tried to prove that the art of , laughter was the distinguishing characteristic between man and beast. He tells how he locked him¬ self into a cage with a monkey; then he tried his best to make that animal laugh. He made faces, laughed at it, and attempted to do all kinds of crazy antics before it, for all of which he received a few sly winks; but never the slightest trace of a laugh, grin, or smile from friend monkey. Thus far it has seemed to be im¬ possible to find an animal with a sense of humor, or at least one which expresses itself through the laugh. Therefore mankind should show his gratitude for this great gift and over¬ throw the theory held by many writ¬ ers that “most neople look as though they were thinking of all the terrors of the past and contemplating worse horrors in the future.” Some people may believe that we are men; let’s learn to laugh and remove all doubt. The laugh is more than a mark of distinction between man and beast, however. It helps us make fpiends; it assists in serving our fellowmen; it helps us to forget our worries; it is a good medicine and it pays big financial dividends. The world longs for the person with the true smile and the true laugh. Mr. Oliver Wendell Holmes was a man of this type. It has. been said of him by men who knew him well that “he was one animated smile from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet.” Would it not be well if we might leave some such impression upon eonle with whom we come in contact? Miss Ann Low says “In this world you will find that laughter will make you more friends than tears.” Two of the most serious thinkers of our time say that it is impossible to teach the world anything except through laughter. And their results prove this to be correct, for Gilbert Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw have done more to teach a moral to the world than any other men of letters, but their morals have always been hidden in gales of humor. Laugh with men and you will gain friends; smile a cheerful greeting and children will cluster about your knees. Live, love, suf¬ fer, when you must—all with laugh¬ ter—and the world will be finer and a happier place because you have lived in it. The laugh beautifies a person. You

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8 THE EXPONENT Pulaski, Prest and Ray Demeo helped to win the banner, too. St. Anne: Here we have the first quarter Honor Roll with Marjorie Church, Bernice Sargent, and Russell Nims as maximum nines. Father : The names of the athletes appear again—Jack Desmond, Ray Demeo and Ed Cowan were the stars of the football team. Right after the close of the season Ray Demeo left school to get married. St. Anne: My, the school was pro¬ gressing. A Student Council was or¬ ganized with Condraski, Anne Crow¬ ley, Marguerite Brown, Rachel At¬ wood, Lamb and Witty representing the class of 1926. Father: Now comes the baseball season with Miller, Welcome, and Desmond playing on the regular team. The interclass tournament was won by 1926. St. Anne: The next page is blot¬ ted. What happened? Father: Oh yes, Midyears. Enough said. But here’s the Honor Roll again. Listen to this—Clarence White, Max, 9— St. Anne: Father Time! There must be a mistake. There were no maximum nines in the Junior Class at Midyears. ’ Father: Pardon me—how did I happen to make such a blunder. I say, wasn’t it splendid of the P. T. A. to help in giving those afternoon dances? St. Anne: Weren’t those new gym classes amusing as well as benefi¬ cial? Father: These were some new en¬ trees to the class this year—Mar¬ garet Leith, Russell Nims and Alma Taylor. St. ' Anne: In the Junior-Senior debate 1926 made a valiant attempt to win but the Seniors proved supe¬ rior. Father: Then came the Junior Prize Speaking Contest. Bernice Sargent and Chester Osgood won first prize while Anne Crowley and Edward Pulaski were given honor¬ able -mention. St. ' Anne: Desmond, Miller and Welcome joined the baseball squad and needless to say made good. Father: In June after much prep¬ aration the ' class of 1926 gave the first Junior Prom to be held in the gym. It was a sweltering success. St. Anne: Graduation came short¬ ly after that and the Juniors were promoted to the rank of Seniors and received their well earned reward of a vacation. Father: Now we come to the last page in the book—the Senior year— when this class takes its place as dignified men and women. St. Anne: Greenfield won the track meet again with Desmond and Pulaski representing the Seniors. Father: The following class of¬ ficers were elected: Lester Hodgen . President Anne Crowley ...... Vice President Rachel Atwood . Secretary Chester Osgood . Treasurer Bernice Sargent, Assistant Treasurer St. Anne: Hodgen, Anne Crowley, Rachel Atwood, Edwin Lamb, Kath¬ ryn Knight, and Witty represented the class on the Student Council. It was voted to award letters to the Senior cheer-leaders—Anne Crowley, Hosea Wheeler and Lester Hodgen. Father: It says that this year saw the best football season that G. H. S. has had. Annette was at every game rooting for Capt. Jack Desmond. Welcome, Miller, and Condraski re¬ ceived their share of the honors, too. St. Anne: I see Desmond, Wel¬ come and Miller played again on the basketball team. The girls also had a team which had three seniors play¬ ing on it—Dot Crosby, Anne Crow¬ ley and Agnes Wait. The Senior Girls also won the Volley Ball tour¬ nament. Father: The Exponent was suc¬ cessful as usual. Rachel Atwood and Harriet Salway acted capably as Editors in Chief. St. Anne: At Midyears there were none on the maximum nine list, but Gertrude Chamberlin was the honor pupil for the 3rd quarter. Father: The Seniors covered themselves with glory when under the direction of Miss Merrill and Miss Atherton they presented “Bach¬ elor Hall”, a very amusing com¬ edy. Ed. Pulaski with his kiltie shirt and moustache made a striking looking detective. St. Anne: The class was also de¬ lighted to see Mr. Smith and the teachers perform in the faculty play.

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10 THE EXPONENT may not be blessed with perfect features—but that does not matter— if you make yourself possess a worthwhile smile. Abraham Lincoln, as you all know, was not a beauti¬ fully featured man, but it has been said that when he smiled or laughed he was actually beautiful. Not beau¬ tiful in the sense that his face or body was without a blemish, but beautiful in the expression of his true laugh. Laughter is a wonder medicine. Some doctors prescribe nothing ex¬ cept laughter for their patients. A half hour of laughter will cure a cold and there is no reaction as there is in many drugs. A good laugh relieves our minds from fear and wor . When we laugh we forget our worries of the daily humdrum life. There is a story told of a passenger ship which was torpedoed while crossing the English Channel. When the people on board learned that their ship was sinking, men, women, and children made a wild dash for the life-boats. This re¬ sulted in a panic. Above the noise a laugh rang out. The passengers turned and saw upon the bridge of the ship a boy convulsed with laugh¬ ter. He laughed and pointed at them, who now being shamed by the courage of the lad,, stopped crowd¬ ing and pushing, thus giving the crew time to restore order once more on the ship. The most successful men and women are those who know how to get along with their fellow beings. In fact, the biggest problem in busi¬ ness and society is in making people like you and making people feel kindly towards each other. Nothing oils the wheels of human relationships so nicely as humor. Abraham Lincoln understood! this when he saved many a critical situa¬ tion by the introduction of one of his famous anecdotes. Humor has its place in serious business life, and in social life it is a universal pass¬ port to popularity. No one can succeed over his first failure in life unless he can see the humorous situations in it. When the novice takes his first lesson in skating and succeeds in sprawling over the ice in m.ost ungentlemanlv ways, he never could succeed at all if he were not able to laugh off the preliminary “bumps’ ' . In business it is the same. In fact in every path of life the novice must learn to take the tumbles and “laugh them off” if he ever wishes to be a success. The actor and speaker know the true value of the laugh if we do not. Some men would give their fortunes to be able to control the laughter of their audiences. Good comedians have been frequently paid more than the president of the United States. Millions have been given for one good laugh in a play or scenario. What is laughter? This question has puzzled philosophers and sages for centuries. A great many types of answers have been given. Curry says “True laughter results from imagination, sympathy, courage, originality, incongruity, and a re¬ alization that error is absolutely ridiculous.” Irving Cobb says “We do not laugh to grow fat but laugh at other peo¬ ple growing fat.” We usually see a great deal of humor in the ill luck of another. A great many people do things be¬ cause they fear that they will appear queer if they do otherwise. When some one remarks “He’s a better man than I am” and another re¬ taliates with Gunga Din everyone begins to laugh, although most of them could not tell you whether Gunga Din was a new brand of shoe- polish or an Arctic explorer. The straw hat wearer is another one who so fears ridicule that he will not cover his head with a straw hat until May the fifteenth, no matter how hot the weather may be. Among the organizations which have been formed this century for the betterment of the world, is the Morning League of the School of Ex¬ pression. This is a band of students and friends of the School of Expres¬ sion who try to keep their faces toward the morning. The condition under which one may join is “to get up out of the right side of the bed, that is, stretch, expand, breathe deeply and laugh. Note the effect and consider yourself initiated.” The realities of life are deep. Only great length of time can shadow memories. Life would not be worth while if only the sad and unhappy