Hermon DeKalb Central School - Demon Yearbook (De Kalb Junction, NY)

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OUR WASHINGTON TRIP We left at 7'20 Thursday night and arrived in New York at 8:20 Friday morning. We slept very little because of the excitement and the movement of the train. All of us were hungry so we grabbed a quick breakfast, resulting in thirteen of us missing the train to Washington. Because of this delay we were an hour late, arriving in Washington at 1:25 . That afternoon our guide, Prince E. Bower, took us to the F.B.I. Building and to the United States Capitol. Many of us were very much impressed by the expert marksmanship of the special agents. The history of fingerprinting also was very interesting. We were very impressed with the Capitol building. We saw the House of Representatives and Senate chambers. A very well-versed Capitol guide told us the history of that old structure. The beautiful domes and chandeliers in this building were admired by all of us. Saturday morming we arose at 6:30 to begin our busy day. We left on a tour at 8:00 with our first stop at the Washington Monument. This structure is 555 feet high with 998 steps. We all walked up the monument and found that it was a long way up. Our guide then took us to Arlington National Cemetery to witness the changing of the guards in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. This was a very spectacular ceremony. We visited the Custis-Lee Mansion after leaving the cemetery. This was the beautiful old home owned by Robert E. Lee before the Civil War. Everything here remains the same as it was when the Lees lived here. We intended to go through the White House, but were unable to do so because of the large crowd waiting in line. We ate our lunch at S W Cafeteria and met at 1:00 to resume our tour. In the afternoon we visited Mount Vernon, and we toured Alexandria, Virginia. This is a very old town where we could see remains of the Revolutionary War. On our way back to ’Washington, we stopped at the Washington Masonic Memorial, dedicated by the Masons to the Masonic Order.

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GLASS HISTORY We started our high school year of 1952 as a centralized district and in November we held our first joint class meeting. Officers elected were: President, Ceylon Brabaw; Vice-President, Gary Frisco; Secretary, Helen Watson; and Treasurer, Ricky Lavine. Class advisors were Mr. Hamilton and Mr. Cline. Our activities for this year were very few. Profits from three food sales and several vie dances made a start in our treasury. As Sophomores our school year seemed to look brighter. Again we held joint class meetings and Howard Claflin was elected President; Patsy Harrington, Vice-President; Helen Watson, Secretary; and Donnie Fenlong, Treasurer. Mrs. Kentfield was our advisor and our Student Council representatives were Sam McCombs and Richard Griffith. Our Junior year we were thankful to be all in one building as a group. This year Sam McCombs was elected President; Donnie Fenlong, Vice-President; Loean Barr, Secretary; and Mary Seymour, Treasurer. Our Student Council representatives were Richard Griffith and Helen Watson. The big event this year was the thrill of ordering our Senior rings. As in other years, we held food sales and vie dances. In May we held our Junior Prom which was the highlight of our social season. We worked hard because we knew our Senior trip was awaiting us In 1956. In October of 1955» we held our first meeting as proud Seniors. Sam McCombs was elected President; Deuard VanOrnum, Vice-President; Loean Barr, Secretary; and Mary Seymour, Treasurer. Pat Conant was President of the Student Council and our representatives were Phyllis Foley and Melbern Aldous. Mr. Cline was our advisor. In December we presented a three-act comedy, CAMPUS QUARANTINE. We will never forget the fun and excitement of staging it and of appearing before an audience. Melbern Aldous was appointed as Editor of the yearbook and many of us worked on the DEMON and the school newspaper. Of course, the big event was our Senior trip to New York City and Washington on March 29th. We brought back many wonderful memories. Now that our trip is finished, we are getting ready for our graduation which we hope becomes a reality for all of us. As we are getting ready to leave our high school, we only hope that next year and in future years that the Seniors have as nice a year as we did in 1956.

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Saturday evening we went to the Glen Echo Amusement Park. All of us had a lot of fun there. The roller coaster was too much for some of us. We went to the party dance at; the Hotel Willard when we returned from the park. Sunday morning was free for church. The Catholics went to the services at the Franciscan Monastery and the Protestants attended the sunrise service at the Arlington National Cemetery. We were blessed with a beautiful Easter day. At 1:30 our guide arrived to take us on tour again. We visited the Washington Cathedral. In this building we saw the second largest rose window in the world with. 9,000 separate pieces of glass. WTe spent the remainder of the afternoon at the zoo. All of us enjoyed this tour immensely. Every kind of animal imaginable was representated. Sunday evening we went to the beautiful tidal basin where the Japanese cherry trees are. We also saw the Lincoln Memorial. This is a mammoth monument in memory of our Civil War President. Our guide took us to the Airport where a plane leaves or takes off approximately every three minutes. Monday morning we visited the Bureau of Printing and Engraving and Smithsonian Institute. At the Bureau of Printing and Engraving we saw stacks of money as high as a school desk. We saw piles of thousand dollar bills on one table. That day the greatest number of people passed through that building in its history. There are five buildings’at the Smithsonian Institute and we couldn't see anywhere near all of the things on display. Among the things we saw were the original Constitution and the plane the Wright Brothers built. At 2:00 p.m. we left Washington with the memories of an enjoyable visit and the desire to return.