Griffith High School - Reflector Yearbook (Griffith, IN)

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As ominous as a tornado and twice as dangerous, the gas leak kept the anxious town on edge until it was finally brought under control. Photos by Roy Hall, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

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Don ' t strike a match By Donald Lewis Get out of your houses! Go to the Town Hall immediately! Get out of your houses, we must evacuate the area! Evacuate. Flee. Escape. Destruction. Death. Doom. Those were the first thoughts that entered my mind after I was awakened by a combination of flashing lights and a commanding voice over the loudspeaker of the Civil Defense Rescue Unit. We obeyed the instructions of the Civil Defense workers who were stopping at every block ordering residents to leave their homes, even though we were oblivious to the danger which threatened us. Our immediate action, after making sure our family was safe, was to check with the neighbors. When everyone was alerted and able to leave, we went to the town Hall. Still dazed and half-asleep from being roused out of bed at 11:30 p.m. the night of September 13, 1 somehow managed to get out of the car and walk along Broad Street. When I saw the hundreds of other people crowded on the sidewalks, my senses instantaneously sharpened as I bacame aware of the impending crisis. I then began thinking of the countless number of film clips I had seen on television news shows covering victims of tornadoes, earthquakes, floods: and fire, Scenes not only of refugees abandoning their possessions and property but also of the desolation and havoc which are associated with disasters were brought to mind. With all of these thoughts running through my head, I wondered how a burned-out section of Griffith would look on a news show. Liquid propane which spewed up from an underground cavern in the southwest corner of town and forced the evacuation, had settled Like a plot out of an old , Dragnet rerun, Indiana State Police officers examine a map of Griffith as they plan which sectors to evacuate. in a gaseous state over a larger area while the possibility of an explosion became greater. I was brought back to reality as my parents left the Town Hall and headed towards the car. We were to go to Elsie Wadsworth School which would be our home for the night, until the danger had passed. With WJOB Radio played over the intercom and other radios tuned to various stations, we began to gather more information describing the seriousness of our situation. Besides listening intently to news flashes on the radio, evacuees spent time talking to old friends, making new acquaintances, and sleeping while some children invented games or cried. The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army resque squads arrived early the next morning prepared to give food and shelter to the homeless and helpless. The sight of those two organizations only restored to my thoughts the news stories and film of other, more destitute victims of disasters, and the possibility that our situation was more perilous than the worst we had imagined it could be. With nothing else to do but wait, nervous residents gather at the town hall, afraid to think that their neighborhood could easily be reduced to rubble. 12

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I believe in: (A) Santa Claus (B) God (C) the zodiac Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I die before I wake, I hope there ' s a God for heaven ' s sake. What to believe and what not to believe was the question faced by many students. They had to decide whether to accept horoscopes and superstitions, follow a strict religion, or just live on a day-to-day basis. To a preschooler, the only things that really needed believing were Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Later in life, though, religions usually replace Santa Claus. The belief that there is some supreme being (God) or beings governing our lives is present in all of the religions. During the time when paganism was predominant, the Hebrews formed the Jewish religion, which started with the belief there that was only one God, Yahweh . Christianity (Catholicism) branched off the Jewish religion, after Jesus was crucified, with the belief that He was the savior of mankind. About 1,000 years later various forms of Protestantism arose, within the realms of Christianity, due to th e non-acceptance of some doctrines. I believe in God because I don ' t believe that we just happened, junior Mary Ann Kasper said, we were put here for a purpose by God. One student commented, I think religions are hypocritical because the people within them are hypocritical and the people makeup the religions. Most people belong to a religion in their area. The United States has over 120 million Christians with 16,000 of them living here in Griffith. Preceding the established religions was the zodiac. Originated by the Babylonians back in 2000 B.C., the zodiac was adopted by the Greeks, Aztecs, Egyptians and Chinese. Each of Although most profess to be disbelievers, horoscopes provide students with a brief respite from the world of tests and homework. them used a different variation of the zodiac. The zodiac was, to some, a way of life. The Aztecs, Egyptians, and Babylonians used it as a calendar for planting crops. Other ' s determined a person ' s destiny by it. If a person didn ' t live the way the horoscope determined, he was expelled from society. Today ' s customs aren ' t quite as extreme. One student checks the newspaper every morning to read the horoscopes. If the horoscope says he should stay away from high places, he does; if it tells him to stay home for the day, he obeys. Others read them just as a source of amusement. 1 read them, one student said, but I really don ' t think they make any sense. Another belief that is still popular is superstition, which arose from the inability of man to explain some strange and unusual happenings. Superstitions are vague and often irrational beliefs in the Just as the early Christian martyrs turned to their god during years of persecut ion. Missy Clover finds solace today in religious expression. supernatural and are survivals of some old beliefs and customs based on folklore. Some of the more common superstitions are that to walk under a ladder is unlucky and a four-leaf clover is lucky. In the time of the caveman, superstition was more of a religion than just a superstition. Whether the individual believes in God, follows the zodiac, or declares himself an atheist, at one time or another he has said I believe ... Religion may not be part of school, but it is an important part of many students ' lives. One person ' s involvement with Christ is reflected by this bumper sticker. 14