Jackson Township High School - Jacksonian Yearbook (Valparaiso, IN)

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When she and Jim were Seniors at Jackson, they had noticed one night after a ball game, how nice it was to have refreshments. It had been their secret for the rest of the year that, as soon as they were able, they would open a soda bar in Africa for the people who were tired and in need of refreshments. Another of their secret ambitions was to defy society and have thirteen children. Now no one can say that they are superstitious! Having been refreshed, we again mounted our burros and now began to really battle the jungle. We had gone just a little way when Leslie stubbornly refused to go any further. He looked frightened and began babbling about a professional head shrinker. Finally Johnnie got him quieted enough that he could tell us what was wrong. Shivers went up and down our spines when we realized what he was saying. There was actually a man who specialized in shrinking heads ffor a pricej, and an enemy of Leslie had already employed him to shrink Leslie's head. A few of the party wanted to turn back, others gave such a convincing argument we con- tinued. Bidding Leslie and his burros good-bye, we began to walk on our way to find OC -YAW , the head shrinker. When we were nearly ready to give up in desperation, a small flop sounded in back of us. Imagine our surprise to find a young, beautiful girl in a leopard fur sunsuit fvery chicj standing behind us. Joan let out a shriek and yelled, lt's Cec! and sure enough it was. She had come to Africa to civilize the natives, but, after seeing the enjoyment they got out of living as they did, she was convert- ed and became a Tarzana. Although this seemed peculiar, we dismissed it as an idiosyncrasy and welcomed her with open arms. She didn't know OC -YAW personally, but she easily directed us to his place of business. With fond fare- wells to Cec, we again began our search for OC-YAW. After getting lost a couple of times, we finally came upon a beautiful castle. At first glance we knew we had arrived at OC -YAW's, for there was a big neon sign proclaiming the fact. As we approached the building, the front door opened and a magnificent butler came out. We told him that we had come to meet OC -YAW and see his collection of heads. The butler led us into the castle and up a flight of stairs to OC -YAW's chamber. We just stared--for there before our eyes sat Ron Wayco! He solemnly rose and offered his hand in welcome. After greetings were exchanged, he unbent a little and became himself. It seems that after graduating from Jackson he traveled to Africa to learn all he could about head shrinking and being the intelligent boy he learned quickly and soon surpassed his teachers. He then established his business, calling hi.mself OC -YAW Qwayco spelled backwardsj, the head shrinker! Anyone's head that you wish to have shrunk just deliver it to OC -YAW and the poor guy is sunk, is his motto. He enthusiastically showed us his prized collection of heads. We politely exclaimed over the well-done work, but each of us admitted afterward a slight fear of Ron. He fed us very well and offered us a bed for the night. Everyone of us hurriedly declined the invitation, but greeted with glee the offer of a zebra for each of us to ride. Ron instructed his butler to provide us with water and packs of food, for we would soon reach a desert. We started off singing the Jackson School Song, for we were all in high spirits

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Class Prophecy We, the Senior Class of 55 , started on our very first trip to Africa. This may seem out of date but, since we had come to know almost every inch of Mars, we wanted to be different. As we took off, Grace, who was piloting our space ship, shifted into first gear and landed. We poured out of the space ship and waited impatiently for the guide to bring up our reserved burros. Soon we spied them coming up the jungle trail. After making a careful study, we saw with amazement our old friend, Leslie Krause. He was the guide. He told us how delighted he was to see us and bade us welcome amongst the braying of the burros. We mounted the burros and gaily started down the trail. Leslie had told us that he would guide us to the Chief of the Pigmy Tribe. Many hours later we wearily rode into the clearing which was filled with Pigmies. Unable to sit, we stood in a circle while the drums rolled. The Chief strode into our circle and said, I just wanta get the facts, ma'am. We did a double-take as we recognized Richard Krause. He told us that he had be- come discouraged in his plan to become president and had come to Africa and, with Les1ie's help, was soon chosen Chief of the Pigmies. We accepted his invitation to dinner. After we had cleaned up a bit, we came out of the huts we 'd been as- signed to and met the chief cook and bottle washer, Mrs. Richard Krause. Be- neath the feathered headdress and paint we found Mary Katrin Arndt. She was so happy to see us and when we asked her how she came to be here, she told us the ' following romantic story. I She had been idly turning the pages of a magazine and come across an article written about Africa. She read about this white Chief of the Pigmies who had everything. The article told how badly he needed help and Mary decided that to help him was the life work she had been looking for. She came to Africa where she found Richard and romance. After a well-cooked dinner we reluctantly said farewell to our old friends, and mounting our burros rode onward into the wilder- ness. D After what seemed an almost endless ride, we spied a building with the words Te Olde Soda Bar painted on a sign above the door. Everybody was enthusiastic over the idea to stop and refresh ourselves. Leslie, with a knowing smile, led us into the small soda bar. We all gasped, for right behind the bar stood a Jackson Senior of 54 , Valene Myers! We excitedly gathered around her, every- body asking a different question. Seeing that she couldn't get a word in crosswise, Dorothy, always logical, suggested that Grace, as head of our expedition, should speak for us. Grace asked her to tell us why and how she came to be in Africa and in the only soda bar in the country. Before she started her story she insisted we meet her family and, calling them out, she introduced each of her thirteen children and then, to our surprise, her husband, Jim Long to us. ' Again confusion reigned, but Valene, taking matters into hand, straightened things out and began her story.

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After many hours of weary riding, we came to the desert. Ron had given us specific directions of how to get across the desert. With Leslie taking the lead, we followed what we were sure was the right way. By nightfall we weren't quite so sure, in fact we had to admit we were lost. We had just begun to try to figure out where we had gone wrong, when Peggy stared off into the darkness with horror-filled eyes. Everyone naturally turned around to see what was up. A woman, hair flying and clothes in shreds, came to- ward us. It was Mary Lou Brodie. She had heard from the natives that we had started off into the desert and she, knowing we would lose our way, had come to head us to her hotel not far from there. As Mary Lou led the way to her hotel, she told us her story after leaving Jackson. Schroeder had been shipped to Africa, and Sammy followed. She had searched for a long time, trying to find his camp, but with no avail. She had come to the desert and had hit upon the collossal idea of building a hotel for desert way- farers. In this way she supports herself while waiting for Schroeder to happen along and find her and her hotel. The hotel was cool and inviting, and Mary Lou looked quite like her old self after cleaning up. After a good night's sleep we thanked Mary Lou for her hospitality fshe treated us as guests because of old acquaintance, and started our trip back to our space ship. Although we had had an interesting trip, everyone felt quite relieved to reach our awaiting space ship. We had all just become settled when we discovered an extra pair of feet. Looking closer we discovered a stowaway. It was none other than Joe Fraley. He begged us to give him a ride back to America so that he could escape from the Ubangi tribe. Joe, who had been the hero, was now a failure in the natives' eyes. His ever-triumphant Ubangi women's basketball team had met with their first defeat, and now their coach is an outcast. With tears in our eyes, we unanimously invited him to accompany us back to our forever faithful Jackson Township and off we started with the zebras left to the past. In a few minutes we had arrived home, tired but contented. It had been a. happy surprise to meet so many of our old schoolmates, and to explore a country we had studied about, but home surely looked good. MWWJMM WMM ,VW www 5 AW WW QMAGMJM M ,WL 5317