Lawrenceville School - Olla Podrida Yearbook (Lawrenceville, NJ)

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46 fzcfriofa H EAD MASTEIQ 'S MESSAGE S I observed last year in my communication to the Class of 1945, it has been hard of late for your Head Master to know to whom his message was ad- dressed, or, at least, where his total audience could be found. Some of your class- mates were graduated before your regular Fifth Form year began. Others we chris- tened Alumni and launched upon their various ways last February. There are present among you now certain notorious and questionable characters, Fifth Form- ers in fact, though in defiance of orthodox practice, who will not receive their diplomas till next fall and are really members of the Class of 1947, September Sec- tion. These are trying times! Yet you have always had about you a certain reassurance of impending normality, despite the inconvenience of your comings and goings: for, though some of you have left us at odd times, we could be sure it was not to enter the fighting, that the awful weight of worry for your safety had been lifted from our minds and hearts and those of your parents and other dear ones. That has been a great blessing. Another sign of your normality is that, with one major worry laid away, you have since shown a typical and healthy addiction to worrying about something else, chronically and with extraordinary stamina. More rumors have been hatched among you than could easily be numbered or believed, and the true romanticism of your temperament has been displayed by your disappointment when they were exploded. Sometimes you have preferred to believe the worst. What this signifies I hesitate to conjecture. Members of your Class were recorded prematurely on the list of graduates at the Convocation which opened the school year. Then it was that, among a notable company, Carlos Sanz strode across the chapel platform to clutch the long-coveted diploma. Carlos' entrance to Fifth Form tea in the Alumni Study had always been accompanied by the invariable question, directed squarely at the Head Master, How about that dee-plo-mah? stimulated apparently by the conviction that this challenge, aimed fnot to say hurledj at the proper target, would break down the sinfulness and duplicity of even the most hard-hearted Administration. When the new year opened last September, you followed recent Fifth Form precedent by arranging your affairs sensibly and perceptively. You put in office a competent Council, experienced and versatile. You presided at the re-opening of the Kinnan House and the induction of Mr. Rastede as its Master, and welcomed Mr. Wallace, his successor, into the portion of Upper most conveniently removed from Foundation House. You witnessed, early on, Ed Ettele's leadership of the voice of the people, which lifted from your shoulders the galling yoke of body-building, and you were a little surprised at the ease with which it was accomplished. You will never forget, as I will not, the last-game return of our football cripples to the scene Nine

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46 fgocfricfoz 46 of action in Lawrenceville's most lopsided shut-out of The Hill since 1898, or the wonderful spirit and ability which Captain Ben Harper brought out in his team and produced in himself. The hills melted like wax at the presence of the Lordf, The residents of Foundation House are likely to characterize Fifth Forms partly as they exhibit themselves at tea. So judged, the Class of 1946 drinks a lot of tea and eats a lot of assorted food. And it talks a lot. It is the opposite of self-conscious. It contains paid lobbyists for the Middle West and all sections of the South Qthe climate must be wonderful therej. It is a comfortable, chatty, congenial classg pleas- ant to entertain, helpful, comfortable to have around. And its representatives on the Open Door have helped make Lawrenceville, cordiality and friendliness real to many visitors. ' Your February Section numbered, among' others, Iohn Casadesus, the School's most distinguished pianist, and Captain Kelsey of the wrestling team, whose com- plete treatment violently rearranged the bone structure of his hapless opponents. What made it unique was the membership of Bud McDougal, the first returning G.I. to be graduated. Bruce Brown, Bill Hunter, the brothers Pittis, McClain, and Wardell remained as veterans, living in unparalleled freedom and privacy in the Lodge. The School is glad to have been able to help them. 1946 contributed the Messrs. Attwood, Lee, Leeds, Miranda, Robinowitz, and Thomas to Lawrenceville's first two radio discussions on the Martha Deane pro- gram, stimulating their hearers to a notable volume of fan-mail. Singers and speak- ers have brought pleasure to the friends of the School at fund-raising dinners, bring- ing out the essential musical fervor of such vocalists as Warren Webster and Pete Soderbergh. Arthur Thomas and Iim Campbell have fought for top scholastic honors to the admiration of the whole community. Iim has added to our pleasure as a pianist, and so has Ken Frizzell, who has also done all that could be done fand more than enoughj to advertise the State of Texas. And Tom Taylor, moved by the approach of Spring, and evidently confusing his identity with that of Tarzan, bore for weeks a traction splint on his broken foot as evidence of the occasional triumph of matter over mind. An interesting, accomplished, and entertaining Class! And all these things we shall continue to remember with pleasure. They make up the pattern of the fellowship of Lawrenceville. It is something to belong tog that you will End out. What the School has meant to our country, through wars and other crises, is history. I am glad to think that the next chapter is in your hands. Mrs. Hcely and I bid you a most affectionate farewell. We cannot forget you. Come back often! ALLAN V. HEELY Head Master Ten