Kent School - Kent Yearbook (Kent, CT)

Page 26 text:

20

Page 25 text:

history of tfje Class of 1925 FOUR years ago this Prize Day, there sat among tlie throng of guests assembled for the graduation exercises a group of boys set apart from their contemporaries by their extreme youth and their appearance of awed interest in the ceremonies of the day. This body was the least noticeable of those gathered under the elms; it represented the present Class of 1925 at the end of the first lap of its career. There are not many in our present number who recall the events of that first Prize Day, or the months preceding it which went to make up our first year at Kent. There remain indistinct memories of the confusion of the first days— alcoves, many brooms and dust-pans, jobs to be done, all mingled with a general awe of Sixth Formers. Then there was that notorious resort, the Second Form room. It had an atmosphere of study, and the rows of obedient figures which lined the desks upon the appearance of Father Sill or Mr. Anders or other celebrities conveyed that impression to the world at large. To us, however, the old room arouses memories of periodical rough-houses, a surreptitious exchange of missiles when Squires entertained us during study periods. Second Form year is always picturesque, and it is unseemly for any class to boast of being more capable trouble-makers than were its predecessors. But “The evil that men do lives after them , and the difficulties of Second Form year outlive in tradition accomplishments either scholastic or athletic. We lay no claims to notoriety. We may, however, with pardonable pride point to the fact that during our tenancy, the alcoves were referred to as the sewer of iniquity . Such was our entry into the School. The next year, we found our ranks considerably increased. Some few familiar faces were lost to us, but we had assumed responsibility for more. We began the year with anticipation and elected (’lark as president, an office which he had filled the previous year. We had left the old Dorm and were separated throughout the buildings prepared to enjoy life. The football season that fall was rather disappointing. Choate and Hotchkiss each defeated Kent upon our own field, but the team achieved a memorable victory over Pawling, tying the Columbia Freshmen. Already the Form had begun to show indications of athletic strength. Stafford and J. Palmer made the squad while our Form team took one of the three long-remembered contests from the Fourth Form eleven. That winter,.!. Palmer made the hockey team,our first letter man. Another matter which may seem remarkable in the light of the Form’s present scholastic record was the fact that the marks turned in for the Autiim Term showed the Third Form at the head of the School. And the school average was over seventy at that. The Spring of our Third Form year saw the grading of the athletic field which gave the School a second football field and a fine baseball diamond. The freshets of that year caused the flood which carried away the old bridge and the rude 19

Page 27 text:

awakening of the inhabitants of the Field House in the dead of night to plunge through icy water knee-deep to the more sheltered buildings higher up. Forest fires later on caused diversion and not a little excitement. But the most significant event of the Spring was the organization of Kent's first crew. With the appearance of a shell on the river. Fr. Sill's long-cherished hope for a School crew became a reality. These agencies hel| ed to make the Spring a busy one. Jones and J. Cheney made the baseball squad, though the team suffered a rather unsatisfactory season. The crew took fifth place in the Yale Regatta, an auspicious beginning. On May first, another Fifth Form assumed executive duties, and a new Council was elected. Our representatives were J. Palmer and It. Cady, our other nominees being ('lark and Stafford. Prize Day came again and we bid good-bye to another group. We departed next day, but with a deeper sense of our significance in the school life. Our Fourth Form year possessed a peculiar importance for us. No longer were we lower formers. Through our representatives on the Council, we shared in the School authority. Athletically we were well represented. Palmer was elected President that fall and has not yet been removed from office. The undefeated football team of that year will lx long remembered. Jones and J. Cheney made their letters as regulars and have been valuable men ever since. The hockey team duplicated the performance of the eleven, concluding its schedule with a thrilling win from the Princeton Freshmen by the score of 2-1. J. Palmer was again a regular. Meanwhile, the strip of land between the Chapel and the creek afforded a busy scene as the walls rose for the New Infirmary. In the Spring, it was to be complete. Work had also begun on the new bridge, but progress was slow, and the temporary wooden structure erected to replace the original one still stood through the winter. The Spring Term passed speedily enough. The crew was fast, though Choate twice nosed out the Kent shell in the Yale and Harvard Interscholastic Regattas, each time after a hard race. On May first. Palmer and Cady were reelected to the Council. In June came another Prize Day. This time we began to realize that some day we, in our turn, would be going forth from Kent. In our Fifth Form year, two facts were clearly brought home to us early. The first was that our abilities ran rather to brawn than to brain. The other showed us that we lacked unity and many other attributes of a useful Fifth Form. There were many things to Ik accomplished before we could assume authority. We supplied many candidates for the football squad, but the results were below those of the previous year. The hockey team that year was a strong one. The team defeated St. Mark's, Pomfret, Choate, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, and, as in the previous season, wound up its schedule with a bitterly contested win over the Princeton Freshmen. 21