Hoosac School - Owl Yearbook (Hoosick, NY)

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Stanlru Iflecpier Activities: Sixth Form Council Member VI, Sigma Omega Delta IV, V, VI, Glee Club V, Waiter IV, V, VI, Head Dining Room Committee III, Graftonian IV, V, VI. Boar’s Head and Yule Log: Sprite I, II, Elizabethan V, VI, Sword Dance VI. Athletics: Grasshopper Basketball I. II, Varsity Soccer V, J. V. Basketball V. Sobriquets: Stanley, “Stan”, “Stash”, “Slim”. Favorite Saying: “How’s that grab you?” Always Found: Playing pinochle with Bliss. Ambition: To have breakfast in bed. Interests: Hollywood dragstrips and three-act plays. School Memory: Old School party . . . Bequests: Driver’s license and employment card to Garges. Pet Peeve: Weight lifting . . . after lights. Stan, the oldest surviving member of our class, as far as years at Hoosac go, which isn’t far, is Los Angeles’ contribution to the valley of the Owl. He is president of the pinochle club and an active member of the after-lights canasta society. Stan’s favorite pastime is hunting. He hunts at Emma Willard, Albany Academy, and St. Agnes. The two troubles with his hunting are: 1. he has no license, and. 2. he has no gun—at least as far as we can see. Stan’s main ambition in life is to attend Vassar, but he heard Skidmore has an easier physical; therefore, he might have to settle for that. Best of luck with the wimmin and U.C.L.A., Stan.

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lu'dnr’s Xetter “(The Higbt to the (tree of JCife” Each year at year's end, the Owl Board is kind enough to ask me to say a few parting words to the graduating class. I am, of course, happy to do this, even though I know that what I write will soon be forgotten. Nevertheless, there are some things I would like to mention with the belief that some day they may take fire in your hearts as your experience broadens and deepens. You are now leaving the small world of school life to go into broader fields of great interest and opportunity for you. You will go eagerly and with high hopes for the future. Fortunately, none of us can foresee what lies in store for us so we can only venture forth with dreams in our minds and hope in our hearts and with the courage to try to make our dreams come true. These are challenging times. Yet despite all the signs of difficulty that lie about us on all sides, I am sure of this one thing. There never has been a more exciting and desirable time to be alive than the present. The challenges are great, but the opportunities to live life to the full are even greater. In the Book of Revelation which closes our Bible, St. John the Divine seeks to pierce the veil of the future in symbolic language and to describe the new heavens and the new earth which God will and does create. In the 22nd Chapter and the 14th Verse, St. John writes these words which are my parting ones for the graduating class: “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates.” It is my hope that you will think deeply about these words and seek to penetrate through to the treasure that lies in them. We are in this present era witnessing the great struggle to build the city of God here upon earth. That it will ever be fully accomplished before the end of time is doubtful but certainly we can all enter into the great creative task which God has laid upon us. He wants us to earn the right to the tree of life and to enter into the city by the main gates. But He tells us that we can only have this right if we obey His commandments. This life of ours is based upon many levels of law. First, there are the laws of nature which surround us every moment of our lives such as the laws of matter, energy, gravity and the like. We accept these as a matter of course and if we are wise we shall so order our lives as to obey them. Next, there are the laws of ordinary human society, whereby we learn to live together with our neighbor in peace and decency, respecting the rights of others. Third, there are the great moral laws given to us by God whereby we know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. The basis of the moral law is laid down in the Ten Commandments and in the second great Commandment of our Lord “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Finally, there are the laws of the spirit, whereby we come to know God directly through prayer and through communion with Him. This supreme law is summed up by our Lord in the first and greatest of all Commandments, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind.” Natural law, human law, moral law, spiritual law-all of these in the last analysis come from God. The wise man is he who understands these laws and who seeks to obey them. He is the one who earns the right to the tree of life. He is the one that will enter into the city by the main gates. As you leave this School, may God bless you richly with His abundant love. I am sure that you know that my prayers will always follow you. Ever faithfully, your friend and rector, MEREDITH B. WOOD.