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

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12 THE EXPONENT not only many Americans, but men from all nations and from the begin¬ ning of time have had this mistaken idea that the gold and earthly pos¬ sessions a man accumulated on this earth were the one measure of his success. How wrong that idea was and still is! It is undoubtedly a great thing to have enough money so as to live in comfort; but money after all is only a medium by which we can obtain something we desire. What did Carnegie do with the great wealth he accumulated? Did he hoard it in vaults? He did not. The great ambition of his life was to collect wealth, not for himself, but so that he might be able to help the world as a whole, by founding libraries and institutions of learning in order that his fellow men, less fortunate than he, might enjoy a few earthly pleasures. That is why An¬ drew Carnegie’s name stands high on the list of great men who have been successful. Therefore, in closing, may I say to you, classmates, when you go through the portals of this build¬ ing for the last time, or through the por tals of a higher school, with diplo¬ mas in your hands, don’t be de¬ ceived by the idea that success lurks just behind that pile of gold on the horizon, because it doesn’t. Success doesn’t hide itself nor is it to be grasped all at once. We all must find some gold because it is a neces¬ sity of life, but real, true success is the ability to fit your lives into the lives of others, as you tramp along the road that leads over the horizon, so that both the giver and the re¬ ceiver may profit thereby. Eugene Crawford ’28 HISTORY OF CLASS OF 1928 The scene is laid in the State House of the Confederated States of Greenfield High School on the Continnent of Education. The characters are an assistant to the Secretary of the State, and a government historian. H. “I am interested in the ar¬ chives of the State of 1928, as I have been officially appointed by the Governor to write a history of the first four years of these eminent citizens. S. And quite interesting reports they are, I am sure. H. It seems that they were ad¬ mitted into statehood in the fall of 1924 with a population of 227. S. Yes, at their first election held at the national capitol, the infant state prided itself on knowing as much about the intricacies and wind¬ ings of this new building as their more experienced sister states. H. Whom did they elect as their first presiding officers? S. As Governor they elected the Honorable James A. Ballou, who had distinguished himself as the hero in a play given in celebration of its graduation as a dependent territory in the Grammar School of Education. As his Lieutenant Governor they chose Marion Young. The keeper of the archives was Katherine Fleming, while the Secretary of the Treasury was Tracy Burnham who was assist¬ ed by his brother Howard. H. And here it tells how they were first honored in recognition of their independence by their sister states. S. But what is this weakness of mind that the citizens showed? H. Oh! It was the middle of the year when some of the nation’s authorities questioned their ability to uphold a statehood. S. Evidently it was not serious, as there is no disaster recorded. In fact, everything seemed to run smoothly for several months. But alas! Peace only precedes a storm; here is a revolt. H. So I see. Some of the citi¬ zens not liking their status as citi¬ zens of one of the Confederated States of G. H. S., revolted and would not meet the requirements of their state. But the storm soon cleared, and their ranks moved forward, un¬ broken, to a second year. S. That year they elected Tracy Burnham as Governor, Katherine Fleming, Lieutenant Governor, Stu¬ art Witty, Secretary of the Common¬ wealth, Stanley Pekalski, Treasurer and Margaret Ballard, his assistant. H. Soon after their election they gave a reception at the Capitol in honor of the newly admitted state of ’29, at which time some of our worthy citizens wolunteered their

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THE EXPONENT 11’ There is only one novel that I have ever read more than once. That one is Harold Bell Wright’s “When a Man’s a Man.” It happened that I read it at a time when I was blindly groping for a solution of a problem. That novel led me to the right solu¬ tion. It wasn’t because any char¬ acter in the book had the same dif¬ ficulty to overcome, but as I neared the end of the book, I had learned to admire the leading character. Patches by name. I simply said to myself, “What would Patches do?” and there I found the answer which I might otherwise still be seeking. Since Patches did me that favor, I’ve paid him several visits. I frequently open the book anywhere, just as I might stop in the corridor or on the street to speak to Tom, Dick, or Harry. Some day I’ll know Patches quite intimately, and in the meantime I will continue to cultivate other book friendships as well as his. To those of you who have not read “When a Man’s a Man” I do not say “Read it, by all means,—the sooner the better.” That would be foolish. Patches does appeal to me, but he probably wouldn’t appeal to you any more than the same girl appeals to every boy in high school. We are created, fortunately or unfortunate¬ ly, with greatly varied tastes. We will find, however, if we take the trouble to look, innumerable friends of all sorts and descriptions in the realm of books. There are so many of them, such as the friends in “Ivanhoe”, “Ben Hur”, “The Three Musketeers”, “Nicholas Nickleby”, and countless others who are waiting, even begging for a chance to know us. They are always ready to talk with us about anything under the sun which we may care to choose—they will make us laugh or cry; they will accom¬ pany us on pleasure trips or on thril¬ ling adventures, or through intrigu¬ ing mysteries, wherever we ask to be taken. Our high school days are finished. Some of us will never meet again. Many of our human friendships must be broken. Our book friends, on the other hand, will continue to stay with us. We can go on getting better acquainted with the ones we have met in school, besides adding count¬ less new friends from the thousands of volumes which fill the world’s libraries. So as we journey along the paths of life, let us take care to select from our book friends those that are worthwhile. Stuart Witty ’28 IVY ORATION The Meaning of Success Fathers, Mothers, and Friends: I want to speak a few minutes, if I may, on a subject which has probably been talked about so much that it is old and weatherbeaten. Speaking on dry subjects, however, is a privi¬ lege that speakers, or so-called ones, have at this particular time of the year; it’s considered a part of the season. I am going to say a few words on the meaning of success. My locks aren’t old and silvery, nor do I possess Solomon’s wisdom; nevertheless, I want to present my viewpoint because I don’t think it differs much from the viewpoint of the average young man or woman. You remember when you were boys and girls just a little while ago —perhaps a little younger than we who are here today—you used to have dreams (we’ve all had them) of what you would be when you were men and women. With some those dreams faded with the morn; with others they lasted until young manhood or womanhood; while with still others those dreams have re¬ mained throughout your lives and have made you what you are today. You know, nice dreams are wonder¬ ful, enchanting things. You can be a king just as easily as you can be anything else; you can rise to daz¬ zling heights or fall of cliffs and still never get hurt. The point is, how¬ ever, that those dreams meant some¬ thing, at the time at least; they meant that you had arrived at some definite goal, whatever that goal might be. You felt way down in you that that goal was the horizon of your life; that goal was, in your own mind, success. It is a proverb long since. Fathers and Mothers, that we Americans are supposed to be nothing more than a wild gang of prospectors—out hunt¬ ing for the elusive gold mine where¬ in is supposed to be the secret of success. It is more than true that

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THE EXPONENT 13 services for the entertainment, “Pad¬ dle Your Own Canoe.” S. Yes. Didn’t some of these ex¬ hibit their prowess on the National Football Team that year? H. Yes, and for their brilliancy in playing in International Games, several were given rewards from the National Legislature. S. Evidently the reputation re¬ sulting from this carried them through the long winter months, for they are not heard of again until the latter part of May when they showed hopes of a promising future by the clever acting of several citizens in the first Springtime Fete in the history of the Confederated States of G. H. S. H. It seems that they pursued their worthy endeavors of the past during the following year under the guidance of Governor Elvis Petti- rossi. Secretary of State, Marion Young, Treasurer, James A. Ballou and his assistant, Stanley Pekalski. S. They repeated their success on the National Gridiron, although two of the outstanding heroes of the pre¬ ceding year, Ashley Shattuck and Al¬ fred Akey had renounced their citi¬ zenship and left the state. H. After the football season the nation was still represented by 1928 in athletics, as several of the stars on the basketball team were among the foremost of its citizens. S. And the girls also distinguish¬ ed themselves on the National Wom¬ en’s Team, did they not? H. Yes, quite well, too, and they also upheld the honor of the Tennis Team. S. And what is this about the “Soul of a Violin”. H. Oh, that was the title of the piece with which Virginia Harper won the 1928 public-speaking cham¬ pionship. Stuart Witty by his ex¬ pert rendition of a selection from the “Devil’s Disciple”, won second place. S. At about this time the Honor¬ able Clement Schuler and his con¬ temporary, the distinguished Clyde Holbrook, represented the State in the National Orchestra at Dallas, Texas. H. And also some of the musi¬ cians made themselves famous in the second of the Springtime Fetes. S. In this same year, 1928 again proved her ability as a hostess to her sister states, the recipient of this reception being 1927. It was well managed and was proclaimed even more successful than those of the former years. H. The beginning months of the next year were prominent in the field of athletics. Among the citizens of our state who received letters for their proficiency were Connie Mur¬ phy, Joe Bonitski, Stanley Pekalski, Cy Donovan, Francis Fitzgerald, Tra¬ cy and Howard Burnham. S. Oh, and we mustn’t forget the hockey team. H. That’s right too. Wasn’t it Cy Donovan, Zigmunt Gutkowski and Francis Lawler who starred? S. Yes, and the team won most of its games, although it was only in its second year as a major sport. H. The great event of the year was the play “So This Is London,” in which the Honorable James A. Ballou played opposite the talented stateswoman, Elizabeth Newcomb. It was an overwhelming success and will always stand out in the annals of the Confederated States. S. About the middle of January their ranks were somewhat thinned by the biennial examinations in citi¬ zenship, but this disgrace was wiped out by the skill of the basketball team upon which several of the statesmen of 1928 were outstand¬ ing. H. Once again the dramatic abil¬ ity of the state was exhibited in the performance of the National Drama¬ tic Society. S. The National Music Conven¬ tion was again attended by delegates from ’28. H. Later in the year the kind¬ ness of our sister states was shown by the delightful reception tendered to them by the state of ’29. S. That has been a wonderful history, and it will be a delightful task to write it up. I propose to give them three cheers. H. By all means and as prosper¬ ous a future! Margaret Ballard ’28 Tracy Burnham ’28