John D Bassett High School - Timber Tints Yearbook (Bassett, VA)

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Senior Class Prophecy As the hypnotist murmured the words, “Go to sleep, go to sleep! You shall view the future,” 1 felt myself drifting into another world. My brain clears. Now I behold the future — 1957. What an odd scene! My eyes pick out the Senior Class of ’47. This is what I saw in my semiconscious mind: Rommie Moore — Successful professor and physical education director. (Also girls’ basketball coach.) Rudolph Spencer — Hollywood talent scout. Looking for the “oomph” girl of ’57! Ellene Norton — Chief writer and poetess of L. I. H. (Love is Hopeless) Gazette. Kathryn Bailey — Opera Star of Brazil. Fred Shropshire — Assistant manager and half-owner of Bassett Furniture Industries. (Finished a two- year college course last year.) Gerald Stone — Owner of Stone’s Grill and Billiard Parlor. (Very successful in business.) Betty Lee Howell — Head nurse at B. 1. M. 1. (Bassett Institute for Mentally 111). Everybody’s going berserk. Ray Frith — Family man: One wife and three kids — John Quincy, Sylvester and Rayfus. Faye Wrenn White — President of local orphanage. (Unable to find a man, she proceeds to raise one.) Gladys Moore — Powers model and “Miss America of ’57.” Betty Baker — Designer of dresses for tall, slim ladies. Frances Dyer — Manager of “ Woolworth’s Five and Ten.” R. J. Fisher — Manager of Brooklyn Cubs. Dorris Foley — Checker champ of three states and lower Slablovia. A. J. Mullins — Dean of V. W. C. (Virginia’s Women’s College). Inell Johnson — Math instructor in the new Bassett High School. Iris Fulcher — Assistant manager of Fulcher’s Beauty Salon. Duane Collins — Prominent New York Playboy. A real woman’s man. Audrey Smith — Pianist for the New York Symphony Orchestra. Edward Craig — Owner and editor of the Bassett Herald, the leading newspaper of the United States. Elva Turner — Woman’s National basketball star. Voted the most valuable player in basketball. Joe Joyce — Mayor of the promising community of Bassett. Busiest man in town. Lawrence Rorrer — Designer and chief engineer of Henry Ford’s new rocket car. Nancy Fretwell — Now operating a sweater factory. Knits her own “made-to-fit sweaters.” Frank Ingram — Owner of Bassett Beauty Shoppe for old men and bachelors. Elva Booth — Now living in the sunny climes of California. Part-time actress and member of Ziegfeld Follies. Starling Whitloe — Playing baseball in the Mexican League. Voted the nation’s most valuable player. Elbert Turner — Broadway actor and handy man of the stage. Kathleen Adams — Kathleen loved and lost. Now she writes a Lovelorn Column in the paper, trying to get everyone else to lose, too. Edmond Stone — Great ’possum hunter — always trying to find a good dog. Hazel Scarborough — Teller at the new bank. Everybody’s saving money now. Beatrice Philpott — Head of Young Peoples’ Division. Also a strong worker in the church. Louise Holt— B usy secretary for a prominent business man. Geneva Joyce — -Designer of bathing suits for distinguished women. Iris Mize— Music and voice instructor. Teaches men only. Betty Vernon — Having caught a rich man, she is happy. Who wouldn’t be, with a million dollars. Nancy Vernon — President of a famous women’s college. Una Mae McMillan — With the man of her dreams, she has settled down to rear a large family. Harry Dalton — Haviim gotten rich selling his latest invention, an odorless perfume, he is now spending the rest of his life in Sunny California. Mary Fisher — Getting bolder in a search for a husband, advertises for one in want ads every day. Dorothy Johnson — Famous fortune teller — she can tell a man his past but prefers to help him in making his future. Ruth Dalton — Proprietess of Bassett’s largest hotel. She leads a high life in society. Lois Prillaman— A popular screen star, now starring in a movie opposite Clark Gable, who plays the part of her father. David Dyer— He now owns a large muscle-building course. Charles Atlas is his closest rival. With an odd whirring, my mind slowly moves back to the present. I look about me to assure myself that it is still ’47. The world becomes more different, complicated and amusing each day. Dorothy Johnson Harry Dalton [ 23 ]

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Senior Prayer Dear Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the privilege of going to school, realizing that many millions around the world do not have this opportunity. Help us to be more conscious of our responsibility that comes with this bless- ing — that responsibility is to serve the world. We pray, dear Lord, that we may grasp the vision which will inspire and challenge us to do our best, knowing that the greatest needs of mankind will never be met by a half-hearted effort. Our Father, God, we pray that our school may continue to inspire and to challenge the youth of our community to be the best citizens of tomorrow. — Rommie AIoore Class Song Tune — SANTA lucia Bassett High! Oh, Bassett High! Thy name we cherish; We from the halls have come W ith characters molded. Grateful are we to thee; Each one gives thanks for thee. Now we alone must face Troubles in this large world. Chorus We bid each one adieu; Pledge truth and faith to you. In all our memories Top place is held by you. Kathryn Bailey

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As Time Passes We have reached the peak of our high school career. Yes, nineteen hundred and forty-seven has rolled around, and we are the graduating class. Now that our wish to become seniors has materialized, we pause for a brief glance into the past four t-ears to refresh the memories of our high school days. We recall the happy times we have had together, and simultaneously we see days when struggles were many. How vividly we remember the days of our high school career as freshmen. In 1943-44, Frith was presi- dent of seventy-three freshmen. This class, being so large, was divided into two sections with Betty Lee Howell as president of the group of which Mrs. Richard M. Divers was sponsor, and Losia Rorrer as president of the other group with Rev. Kenneth M. Hayes and Miss Virginia Parker as sponsors. With these capable leaders, we progressed steadily, understanding better the principles of life. In September, 1944, we discovered that sixty-one of our class were entering the sophomore pathway. This year was more prosperous than the first because we had become better acquainted with the purposes of high school. The sophomore class also was divided into two sections with Ray Frith as president of Miss Louise Matney’s group, and Herman Byrd as president of Miss Elizabeth Ward’s group. Even though our sponsors were newcomers, they proved themselves capable and faithful leaders. As we became more familiar with high school life, we began to join various clubs and to take part in athletic events. When we began participating in these activities, our work became more difficult, but still we struggled onward toward our goal. Another year had passed; we were juniors. Realizing that our senior year was rapidly approaching seemed to make our hearts beat faster. L’nder the leadership of Kathryn Bailey as our president and the faithful guidance of our sponsors. Miss Ruth Whitt and Iiss Elizabeth Ward, we anticipated a happy and successful year. There were, much to our surprise, only forty-five members who had returned to continue their work. Our class welcomed to its folds Lois Prillaman from Martinsville. Our realm of activities widened. Who could forget the night on which the beauty pageant was held when so many of the junior girls were called back to the stage time after time! We were proud of the scholastic record of our class, as fifteen members were inducted into the National Beta Club. Then came that important social event — The Junior-Senior Banquet at which time the seniors were our guests at the Riverside Hotel. Soon another year had passed into our book of memories. As we go through our last year, time seems to be flying. Our class now consists of forty-four members; of this number, five are newcomers; Harry Dalton from Henderson, North Carolina, and a former student of Bassett High School; Gerald Stone, Edmond Stone, Joe Joyce and A. J. Mullins, who have returned to our school after having served in the armed forces of our country. We cannot leav ' e Glenn Hollandsworth out of our memories; he was killed in an automobile accident which was a terrible shock to our class. This year we have Miss Ethel Stone as our counselor and Fred Shropshire as our president. Other officers elected were: Rudolph Spencer, vice president; Ray Frith, secretary, and Faye Wrenn White, treasurer. We elected Harry Dalton as editor of Timber Tints, and immediately he set the log rolling on its way to press. The seniors proved their business ability and the community manifested its interest in the school when our sale of ads for the annual reached a top peak. Our hearts throbbed with joy the day our class rings arrived. We seemed to be riding the clouds when we were being measured for our caps and gowns. We were thrilled as we watched our football team in action, proud that several of our senior boys participated on the team. This was the first time in twelve years that Bassett High School had produced a team. The Rotary Club extended its courtesy to the seniors by inviting the boy who had the highest scholastic average at the end of each six-week period to become an honorary member and to attend the regular meetings of the club for six consecutive Monday evenings. Each year has brought to our class wider horizons and keener values, and now as we are about to leave Bassett High, we realize the high privilege of the close ties of friendship with classmates and faculty which we hope will endure. As we go through life we shall find, as in school, that we yet have many duties to perform. We may become discouraged at times as a result of a duty; however, it is then that we must remember the challenging words of our class motto: “My duty is my pleasure.” Ray Frith