Laurel School - Leaves Yearbook (Shaker Heights, OH)

Page 33 text:

Donna Rae Berkman Berkie, Berk 1954 Donna is remembered in the dorm as one who works by night. In her role as dorm president, she consoles her friends, usually at midnight, sometimes to the dismay of her elders. But not all her late- night hours are spent in seriousness. She can usually be found on week-end nights among a group of girls engrossed in a hearty game of bridge on the floor of her closet. But this generally ends in bursts of laughter, followed by Quiet, or we'll be caught. This good-natured, friendly girl is a Steuben- villeite, but, due to various reasons, would rather claim any other city in the U. S. A. as her home town. Arriving at Laurel at the tender age of thir- teen, Berkie quickly made friends which have stayed with her. Donna is also a fine hunting dog in the art of tracking down food. This food stays her appetite much the same way that her fan mail stays her yearning. This mail arrives in bushels from the famed colleges of Columbia, Michigan University, and Harvard. Berkie's room is frequently referred to as Grand Central Station because people are con- stantly invading her privacy to take advantage of her private facilities. I guess some people have all the luck! Oh you wouldn't.

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Gail Elizabeth Bender 1955 Gail will be remembered at Laurel for many things. In the dorm, girls will remember sitting in her room eating delicious brownies, baked in the Bender kitchen by their maid Laura, while watching slim Gail try on her beautiful new clothes. She is almost always with her other half, Barbie Phillips. Every spring vacation, for example, these two bask in the Florida sun and water-ski on the ocean. Gail is definitely the outdoor type, for she comes from a baseball loving family. Her twenty-two year old brother Bob plays for a Pittsburgh Pirates' farm team. But she has many indoor interests also. Danc- ing-from modern as a dance club member to jitterbugging-appeals to her. Gail likes all kinds of music and has been taking piano lessons for ten years. While at home in Peninsula, Ohio, she adds to her foreign' doll collection and during summers she takes part in the Peninsula Players' productions. The Benders spend part of each summer on their Lake Erie island, where it has been rumored that Gail shoots snakes for a pastime. Gail is thinking seriously about going into ele- mentary education, for she has an affectionate inter- est in children. Nevertheless, she certainly has the normal Laurel interest in males and is planning to settle down with her right one before she's thirty, at least. That colchicine really did the trick.

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Gail Eugenia Billings Gaily 1952 Gail is the owner and operator of the large blue station wagon known as the Billings Bus, which is always filled to capacity. She's ever so sleepy in the morning and manages to follow the route to school only by force of habit. When Mrs. McCollom was fascinated with Gail's imitation of waking up during a dance, she didn't know how real it was. Gail has always busied herself with dancing of some sort. First it was ballet, then toe, and then tap dancing. She more or less worked her way up to modern dance and her executive position as president of Dance Club. When not running blithely about in a leotard, Gail is most often seen behind her camera. As Photographic Editor of Laurel Leaves she has work- ed hard and thoroughly, as she will at any job. Gail can be silly and frivolous at times to the frustration of those around her, but this is only a reaction to the time, effort, and care she puts into her school work and activities. So you think you're queen of the gods?