Ionia High School - Ionian Yearbook (Ionia, MI)

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CLASS PROPHECY Friends: The nature of my part in today’s program, the class prophecy, demands that I take you with me twenty-five years into the future. Now that we are safely transported to the year 1962, let us look back over the period intervening between 1960 and 1962 when good fortune made it possible for me to make a breath-taking jaunt around the world in two years of thrill-packed experience and adventure. It was in 1960 that I first approached the shores of Sciencia, a little island in the tropical waters of the southern Pacific, and there time and circumstance began the chain of events that makes it possible for me to report so completely on the class of 1937. Sciencia, as the name implies, proved to be the home island of a number of very progressive scientists whose ideas were revolutionizing the world. I left my boat moored in the still waters of the Pacific, and walked from the sandy beach to a very imposing building facing the waterfront. Inscribed over the door were the words, ''Brain-wave-space Machines for World and Interplanetary Travel.” My curiosity was immediately aroused and my first thought was to enter the building. As soon as this thought flashed through my mind I was mysteriously transported inside. Here I discovered that the brain-wave-space machine had been put into operation by its inventors. Picking up my thought-waves, the device had suddenly carried me within the structure. It was here that I first came in contact with some of my old classmates of 1937. William Robertson, Melvin Mann, Rudolph Johnson and Robert Wilder were among the group of scientists who had created this miraculous machine. I was told that chief pilots Bayne Bernier and Donald Seiler would accompany me on a world tour in one of their famous inventions. I thought this a wonderful opportunity to see the world, and so after securing my log in which I planned to keep a record of my experiences on the journey, I was eager to be on my way. After entering the machine, I was instructed to merely think of a certain place in which I would like to be and the device would immediately respond by carrying me to my destination. I thought of the world’s largest and most noted hospital in Berlin, and before I knew what had happened I was standing before the huge structure. Upon entering the building, I discovered Fred French, who was employed as an interne, issuing orders to a number of nurses. Fred told me that a major operation was being performed and that through the hospital’s large television-radio which had been perfected by Berdyne Travis, Gaylord Lake and Bill Scheid, it would be possible for us to see and hear everything that was taking place in the operating room. While making our way to the large room which contained the famous television-radio machine, I was admiring the structure of the enormous building. Fred informed me of the fact that the plans for the hospital had been drawn by William Nelson and Gordon Panncy, who had made their fortunes in the field of architecture. Page 22

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VALEDICTORY Friends: We, as Seniors, are about to emerge from our classrooms into a new world ... a world that is a challenge to all who enter its folds. We are more prepared for life’s tempestuous sea because we have taken advantage of the opportunity provided us, that of a high school education. As we are pausing awhile before we undertake the work ahead, we realize that we have crossed the bay, but the ocean lies before us.” It is pleasant to pause here, on the shore of that vast ocean of life, and consider the pleasant calmness of the wave-ripples through which we have so easily been sailing. Thus far, our teachers and parents have been at the helm, guiding us through our first span of life. They have inspired us to make our life worth while, and they have provided us with the necessary instruments to pilot our ship through the deeper channels against the stream of active life. As we embark upon our voyage, we must have a destination or goal toward which we can strive. Although the course may not be chartered, and we may not know exactly what field of life work we intend to choose, we can still attain the goal of achievement by making success and defeat a dividend of experience. As we head our ship into the oncoming tide, we know not what lies before us. Sometimes the light will be hidden by the clouds, and for a moment we may lose our way; then a faint glimmer will break through the darkness, and we press forward with renewed courage. The youth of today must always be on the alert for unknown waves which roll before them. As youth, we accept with gratitude our precious heritage from older generations, and we pledge ourselves to pass it on, untarnished and undiminished . . . but we will guard only what is precious. In the same way we propose to beware, lest our enthusiasm for the perfection of life doesn’t blind us to the realities and limitations of our ideals. We will champion the essential . . . not the accidental, fulfilling always the church’s function as society’s conscience. As modern youth, we intend to think for ourselves, not only in terms of idealism, but also of realism. And so friends, as we go out into life, we will have many adventures to encounter. In meeting these new experiences we have a firm foundation of training provided us by our teachers and parents, and in addition, we have our own responsibility and initiative, to make each event one of success. Life is far too short to make mistake after mistake; therefore, each grain of sand, small though it may be, when laid on a pyramid, should bring us nearer the stars. The stars are symbolic of hope, of achievement, of success. Every act, however insignificant, that lifts mankind nearer to its ideal, is a worthy addition. Says Channing Pollock: When I come to the end I want to be able to tell myself, 'With the days that I had, and the strength that 1 had, I have done what I could toward that progress. When the pyramid is finished 1 want it to be so much higher by my grain of sand Margaret Dodes. Page 21

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By this time we had reached the television-radio room and found the machine already in use. On the screen before us we could see the operation which was taking place at that very minute. I learned that the famous surgeons who were performing the operation were Raymond Blumberg and Robert Hazzard. The three nurses assisting them were Helen Johnson, Ruth Sible, and Marian Smith. Because it was necessary for these people to wear masks during the operation, I did not recognize them immediately. I was also informed that the anaesthetic which was being used had been discovered by Mary Scheiern, a former nurse of the hospital, in cooperation with Gordon Ransom and Merle Hoy who had formerly been employed as internes. It was explained to me that this new anaesthetic not only deadened all pain, but also kept the patient from talking about his operation for months afterward when it had been completed. I next visited the ninety-sixth floor of the hospital. Here flashed a sign which read, Radio-Therapy Treatment of Disease.” I learned that Elwin Brown, Clifford Roche, and Thomas Gee had perfected a method for preventing and curing various diseases by means of shortwave radio. All in all my visit was a very short but intensely interesting one. Time was flying, and I wanted to see the rest of Berlin. Taking leave of the hospital, I found my way to the edge of the city where the large stratosphere transportation building was located. Here I found that Elaine Wanamaker, Margaret Chance, and Mary Howard were making very successful rocket-powered ships which had been invented by three of the world’s most noted inventors, Roger Robinson, Charles McMellen and Willis Johnson. At the time three of the rocket ships were returning to the field, completing a half-hour’s journey from New York. As the pilots one by one emerged from their ships, I immediately recognized them as being three of my old classmates of 1937. Alfred Palmer, Leonard Ginebaugh, and Eleanor Chamberlain had been piloting rocket ships for the company since 1950. In my hurry to gain entrance to the main office of the building, I nearly overlooked Dorothy Gott, who was working and chewing her gum most diligently at a desk outside the door. I could plainly see by the sign on Dorothy’s desk that she had obtained the position of first secretary to the owners of the firm. Dorothy explained that it would be impossible for me to see my classmates, the three owners of the company, because they were at that time trying to close a deal with Wolverton Brothers, Richard and Robert, for the purchase of a half-dozen Wolverine rocket-ships. After having a long talk with Dorothy about the class of 1937, I decided it was time for me to leave. I had wished to spend that night and the following day in the great city of Paris, so I immediately made my way to the brain-wave-space machine where my pilots were waiting patiently. Having become familiar with the operation of the machine, I began to concentrate my thought on the beautiful city of Paris. The next minute we were standing in front of the Franco-American Hotel, Page 23