Ionia High School - Ionian Yearbook (Ionia, MI)

Page 26 text:

Claaa postit Robert Bills. It’s time to say good-bye To our old High School here. We really want to sigh Now that parting is so near. We know what we are leaving, And what pleasure and delight We found when at our games To win we had to fight. And soon we will be parting From the friends we hold so dear; But our memories will not die For those we’ve met while here. And when the years have passed, Though we’ve strayed far away We’ll recall the faces of the friends We knew in our school days. It’s time to say good-bye To the tasks here begun; But we haven’t time for sighs; There are great deeds to be done. And some day, I am sure, That in this class of ’21 There’ll be some to reach the goal. They’ll keep fighting till it’s won.

Page 25 text:

W e are thankful that all of the discoveries have not been made, and that the greatest heights have yet to be climbed and remain a chal- lenge to the world. The whole wide world waits as the peaks wait for the pathfinder—for the feet of the triumphant mountaineer. The discovery of America, the invention of the printing press, the telephone, wireless telegraphy, the railroads, steam navigation, the airplane, the discovery of radium, electricity, the abolition of slavery, and the marvelous progress of education are some of the tokens which have been brought back by those who have preceded us. But on the unsealed heights which lie before us are the obtaining of a universal peace, the banishment of preventive illness, abolition ot poverty and the waste of war, the doing away with illiteracy; India, China, Africa, South America, crowded countries, spacious continents are all a challenge which will precipitate the conquest of the ages. The challenge of the heights is in our ears, the pinnacles beckon, we must quit the pine-clad valleys of selfishness and press on with new vigor towards the triumphs for which all the ages have been struggling. In ascending the heights thus far we are greatly indebted to our parents, the Board of Education and the taxpayers of this city for their assistance and especially to our teachers, who have been our faithful guides. And as we go forth from this institution and from your further guidance, we hope that, as we attempt higher altitudes, we may so achieve that you will not be disappointed.

Page 27 text:

(grftatorimt Aft ress G. Galloway Classmates, Members of the Faculty, Alumni, Parents and Friends: In keeping- with a favored custom of this school, it is my happy privilege today, in behalf of the Senior Class of nineteen hundred twenty-one, to place in the hands of this cherished school and its many devoted friends a small remembrance of our high esteem and respect. We know how well books survive the passing years, and how dull this life would be without them for companions. Therefore, we think our little gift today to be one both lasting and appropriate. By it we hope to be remembered often by our many friends and especially by the present and future alumni. We have not been inspired to rival the mighty classics in these simple lines and messages; we only seek to hold for ourselves and to bring to others some of the cheer and happiness of our good school days. For twelve years v e have been passed from one grade to the next—the “hand-me-ups” of all the teachers, who have wished us on our way, some with regret and somp, of course, with pleasure. Yet in this little volume we have caught only a bit of the brightness and but few of the memories that make those years so dear to us. Our friendship for the faculty, members, and friends of Ionia High School is very keen and deep; and we hope we have merited, in a small degree at least, the confidence and well wishes so often mani- fested toward us. When at some future time you may chance to look through this little book, it is our sincere wish that it will bring to your mind some kindly thoughts of us. When we peruse its pages, in what our Prophet has told us will be happy and prosperous years, it will be with thoughts like those of that well known verse by James Whitcomb Riley: “As one who cons at evening, o’er an album all alone, And muses on the faces of the friends that he has known, So I turn the leaves of fancy till, in shadowy design, I find the smiling features of an old schoolmate of mine.” As a member of the Senior Class of nineteen hundred twenty-one I have the honor and pleasure of presenting to this school and its friends the Official Year Book of the class of 1921.