Homer Central High School - Odyssey Yearbook (Homer, NY)

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THE 1926 EPIC 25 The two Helens of our class were there. Helen Miller is matron of the Home for Aged Women in this town. Helen Adams is the wife of the proprietor of the old Tully Farms. Helen Miller has changed a great deal. She is not the quick, jolly girl of our school days, but instead is a woman of thought, quietness, and dignity. Helen Adams has changed only in that she has fleshed up someg just enough to be nice-looking. Marion Gallup, who is head of the most exclusive boarding school in New England, came for the day, and brought with her Marion Miles, who is one of the teachers in the school. I did not know Marion Gallup when I saw her. She had bobbed her hair, and was dressed not at all like the mistress of a boarding school, but more like a schoolgirl. Marion Miles had changed little. Norris Tallmadge has just come from abroad where he has been preaching from the pulpit of the largest church in London. Perhaps he is a direct descendent of the well-known Thomas DeWitt Tallmadge, who was also a great minister. I think Norris must have got his growth right after he finished high school, for he is at least six feet tall, and, judging by looks, weighs about 230 pounds. Harold Spencer came to the reunion in an airplane. He is an aviator, doing dare-devil stunts for the motion pictures in -Hollywood. He is not alone in Hollywood, however, for he has taken his Cook along with him. He was dressed in the latest fashion and was envied by all the boys at the reunion. Marion Morenus has distinguished herself by being the hair dresser in Homer. She has her beauty parlor in what used to be Carroll Potter's dry goods store. Charles Darby gave us a piano solo. He is playing the large pipe organ at Bailey Hall, Cornell. Thelma Gordon was at the reunion, and she said she is spending her time sitting in the office of the Cortland High School answering telephone calls and doing the correspondence for the school. Bud Pickering entertained us with some of his clever stunts. He is comedian at the Wieting in Syracuse. He is soon to go abroad, where he will perform before the King and Queen of England. The Homer Academy Home Economics teacher, who is Cleo Burgett, and the milliner of Homer, Grace Simpson, were both present. Neither gave a talk, since they were still quiet and restrained as usual. Bruce Daniels is a lawyer. He said he had just hung out his shingle in Cortland. He hasn't had any clients yet, but aside from that he is doing very nicely. He also has changed. He has grown stouter and has stopped smoking. Ruth Killam is the modern Dorothy Dix, and writes for a number of popular magazines, and also for the Post-Standard. She is not as nervous as she used to be in school, and is a distinguished character around her home, which is in Rome, New York.

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24 THE 1926 EPIC Qlllass iBrupIJecp By Eva Button Homer, N. Y., April 4, 1936. Dear Eva, During the past week there has been a great deal of excitement, for, as you know, it was Easter vacation, and all but two of our class of '26 were in Homer. We had a class reunion, and since your letter shows that you have not heard what the members of the class are doing, I will attempt to tell you about those who were there. Most of them gave a short talk on their work. Halsey Stevens, the president of our class during our Senior year, and now a financial expert for the United States government, told us a little about his work, and from reports I have heard, he is doing very well along this line. The vice-president of our class, who was Mary F. Nelson before her marriage to the governor of the Philippines, attended the reunion, and she also gave a short talk about her social duties as the wife of the governor. Mary has not changed so very much, but one thing I noticed was that she did not use her favorite slang word, Dumb . She spoke with a beau- tiful accent characteristic of her new home. The well-known nurses, Ruth Redfield and Vivian Barber, who are the proprietors of the Homer Hospital, found time from their work to at- tend the reunion, but were, as all nurses are, bashful about speaking. Beulah N adler told us about her first year as instructor of the Latin course at Vassar College. It will interest you to know that Beulah looks very much like a college teacher in her business-like costume-something like an older school teacher with her precise manner, eyeglasses, and the way in which she speaks. She is nearing the time when she will be pres- ident of the college. Both Geraldine Harmon, who is singing with the Redpath Chautauqua, and Norma Brown, who has just made her debut in New York, gave us some fine singing. Geraldine sang a Spanish song, and it was quite ef- fective. By the way, Geraldine has lost her Texan accent. Norma has just signed a contract to sing in the opera In the Springtime, which con- tains the immensely popular aria, When the Ice Thaws in the Ice House, Mary Dear composed by Wilfred Pickering. We had a little talk about agriculture by Stanley Hopkins, who is the Ag. teacher in Homer Academy. Also Robert Mantey gave a short talk on methods of farming. He owns the large dairy farm on the East Little York road, formerly owned by Charles Randall. Ada Ripley gave a very interesting talk on her work as librarian at the Cortland Normal.

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26 THE 1926 EPIC Philip Lindberg gave us a short talk on Sportsmanship. He is the physical training teacher for the boys in Homer Academy. He trained a very successful basketball team this year, and they received the New York State Basketball trophy. Last, but not least, is Laura Knapp. She is giving aesthetic dancing lessons in New York City. She is quite popular in New York social circles. Of course, I will not have to tell you that I was there, and that my position in the world is the History teacher of Homer Academy. By the way, I nearly forgot to tell you where the reunion was held. Well, it was held in the gym of the school building. Did you know that Mr. Walker is now the head of the New York State Institute for Mental Defectives. He came back for the reunion, and said that he attributes his success in this line to his experience with the class of 1927. I had a letter from Laura this morning, saying that she was very sorry she could not attend the reunion, because she was unexpectedly called to New York. She said it was something about her work as English teacher at Mount Holyoke. I think that our class has done its part in the world, don't you? So sorry that the whole class could not have been together. Your old classmate, Mary P. Shearer Glass will Most worthy President, Classmates, and Friends: You are now gathered together on this most sad and solemn occasion to listen to the last will and testament of one of the finest, brightest, and ablest classes that has ever graduated from Homer Academy, and to accept from this class, which has honored the dear Alma Mater by its presence for the past four years, the most precious possessions of its members, possessions which the class has guarded and loved faithfully. We, the Class of 1926, who are about to sever all connections with Homer Academy and Union School, a school which was in earlier days frequented by seekers of knowledge from every state in the Union, a school which is yet renowned for the scholars it produces, a school which is sit- uated in the very beautiful little town of Homer, with its green, churches, Old Ladies' Home, and David Harum Hotel, a town which is even more beautiful than Little York or Dresservilleg we, in these last few hours of perfect happiness, do hereby make known to you and to the people of the country that we will distribute our virtues and merits, and perhaps some of our failings, to our friends who, we think, are most in need of them.