Holyoke High School - Annual Yearbook (Holyoke, MA)

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We ended this year with a boost from Frank McKay, when lie was chosen to represent Holyoke High in the Holyoke finals of the National Oratorical Contest. In September 1932 we yere again seen around the haunts of H. II. S„ this time assuming our role as Seniors. What a thrill of satisfaction we derived from awing the lower classmen with our air of sophistication! Our class elections this year were probably influenced by the political situation outside, for there was a little variation in the choice. Those decided upon were President, James Dunn; Vice President. Helen Downing; Secretary, Phyllis Symasko; and Treas- urer, Edward Kurth. Halloween brought along with it our first dance of the season in the form of a masquerade. Again departing from tradition, we were given permission to take our dances outside of the school. As a result, we collected surprising amounts of money and so upon our class may rest the honor of setting a precedent for others to follow. With Carol Horrigan as editor-in-chief and John Bresnahan heading the business department, “The Herald made a fine showing. The clubs took up their duties and were faithfully supported. Robert Anderson and Madelyn Alderman were selected as President and Vice President of the Student Council. Then, too, a new organ- ization was formed. This was the Student Activity Fund, a system whereby a student, by paying a dime a week for twenty-five weeks, would be entitled to the benefits of various extra-curricular activities. It has worked out well this year and promises even better things for the future. The Senior boys exhibited their prowess in all fields of sport by downing many a difficult opponent and capturing high places. The most spectacular game was the Westfield-Holvoke basketball game played at the Valley Arena. Despite the fact that Holyoke was defeated, our players showed themselves to be good losers. Whether it was the depression or a sense of dignity that was the cause, our class, to our knowledge, lacked only one thing and that was the originality of having paint-splashed “Leaping Lenas parked out in front of the school. Otherwise, we consider ourselves as the best all-round class ever. One of the features of the history of any class is the changes in the personnel of the faculty during the school-life of that class. We of 1933 record with some personal interest several such changes. seventeen

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when it was found that the majority of Senior boys had escorted Sophomore girls to the occasion! As second year students, we were expected to be meek and lowly; but our class broke the tradition. The following year saw us back as Juniors, refreshed from our much needed vacation. We were alert anil eager to capture new laurels and to surpass our former achievements. The credit for “starting us off with a bang” is due to Carol Horrigan, who won the position as literary editor of “The Herald,” an office which is usually held by a Senior. Our next move was to hold our class elections. When the results were known, we were sure of attaining great heights with such effi- cient officers as Thomas Maher, President; Helen Downing, Vice President; Phyllis Symasko, Secretary; and John Bresnahan, Treasurer. The Junior “Q” Club and the Phi Alpha were sources of a great deal of benefit and enjoyment to us. W hen asked to furnish a program for the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington, we Juniors decided to bring that great father of this country to the very auditorium of the school. So the play, 1 he Seven Ages of Washington.” was staged before an appreciative audience which heartily applauded the talent displayed. 1 he Junior Prom, an informal affair marking the opening of the school social activities, was our gala event. Having been conspicuous in almost every school activity, we Mere not to be left out when the time for the quarterly honor rolls came. Sure enough, the names of many Juniors M'ere seen gracing the high honor lists throughout the year. To come to athletics, we must say that the various teams would not have accomplished what they did if it weren’t for some of our ‘‘stars. The athletically inclined boys of our class contributed much toward establishing Holyoke High as one of the leading schools in sports. Meanwhile, not to be outdone, the stronger members of the weaker sex succeeded in instituting sports for girls and need we ask whether they could put up a classic demonstration on how basketball should be played? Our Junior girls Mere so adept at this game that they couldn’t help but win the championship of the year. Of this basketball team Madelvn Alderman Mas elected captain, while the boys of the Holyoke High Basketball Team found their competent captain in Chet Wilusz of our class. ith the arrival of Gift I)av we Juniors presented the school M’ith our class window. sixteen

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Some two months after we stormed the portals on Pine. Hamp- shire and Sargeant Streets—1 will not mention the subway entrance on Beech Street- a teacher in a distant clime heard the reverbera- tions of our attack and, filled with the spirit of adventure, came posthaste to join our doughty warriors. Our ranks were strengthen- ed by the advent of a new Head of the English Department. We have enrolled him as one of our class, for he enlisted with us. Miss Gorman, Supervisor of Household Arts, left at the close of our Junior year to put into practice in her new sphere of life as Mrs. James Gearon the theories which she had taught us in our courses in domestic science. She was succeeded by Miss O’Hern, who needs no introduction to the members of the class. Another change in faculty personnel which falls within our generation is the retirement from active duty of the Dean of Girls, our beloved Miss Fay. We shall think of her as graduating with us of going on with us as we take our places among the alumni and alumnae of the school. We are unwilling to go without her. She is here in the auditorium this morning, and so I take this occasion to invite Miss Fay to enroll under our flag and to march with us as we enter upon our new career. Thus is our history gradually unraveled before your eyes and even though we graduates-to-be shall never again assemble under these same conditions, time will never dim our fond memory of this occasion. In leaving Holyoke High behind us we shall not be pro- claimed famous as the Class of ’33, but as La Derniere Classe under Miss Fay. eighteen