Lexington High School - Lexicon Yearbook (Lexington, NC)

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SENIOR CLASS PROPHECY As I sit here surrounded by jugs of apple ciderffresh on the shelves and hard behind the counter- I can watch the world go by. It's mighty nice to see my old friends again. They always predicted that I would go to the top. As I sit here on the peak of Kfount lNIitchell, I realize that truer words were never spoken. Of course, selling apple cider at the top of llount hlitchell has its compensations. Kly old pals Ross Ritchie and Ang Lindsey, who live on the next ridge, often drop over to chat a spell. They used to be in the hard cider business toog but since the revenooers came, Ross has become a traveling preacher, and Ang is a mule doctor. Them revenooers, by the way, are ferocious F. B. I. men, Don Leonard and Sidney Dictionary Proctor. They took Ross and Ang to court, but they got off with a light sentence from Judge Ronald Farabee. You know, it's amazing how many of my old classmates have found their way up to Mount Mitchell. One time Barbara DeLapp came up to campaign for votes when she was a candidate for Senator, and she happened to come in my shop by accident. She acted real glad to see me, and so did Becky Potts, her capable campaign manager, and Bobby Leonard, the rich Lexingtonian who is financing Barbara's campaign. Now that Barbara is in Wlashington, I reckon she will give Flossie Abernathy some com- petition when they run for president at the next election. Buddy Beck often comes up this way collecting jokes for his florist magazine, Bloomfr Almanac. And since Carroll Leonard built that new railroad up to the top of the Mountain, I often see him and his attractive secretary, Jo Ann Blackwelder, riding in the Caboose. Flyin' Jack Parker zooms over in his rocketship, designed by noted engineer, Jimmy Temple and built by Berrier and Call CDonald and Cecilj Aircraft Corporation. Every week Jack sends down in a parachute The Taterpatch, main rival of The Difpatrh, capably edited by Elizabeth Clodfelter and containing the comments of the Sheik of Sports, CBS sports announcer Jim Redwine. Being interested in the higher type of literature, I also get The Lexhipep every month. I was happy to see that the Lexington High School band has been voted the best in the state, under the capable leadership of Bandmaster Don Sink. Marvin Crow is the new principal, since 1VIr. Wike retired, and his lovely private secretary is June VVilliamson. Frances Truell is girls' physical education director, and Nig Clark is football coach. Betty Ann Gosnell has been teaching chemistry since Nliss Mat- thew-s got married several years ago. Blance Cox wrote me a letter the other day, ordering a jug of cider for Carolyn KIiller's birthday present. They are both nurses at Lexington Nlemorial Hospital. Nancy Bumgarner is superintendent of nurses, and Florence Marble is baby nurse in the maternity ward. Emily Russell used to be out there, but she eloped with an intern last year. Blanch also told me that Robert Sutton is a general practitioner in Lexington now, specializing in hang-nails. Jo Ann Perrell, who is engaged to a French diplomat, is is Dr. Suttonis efficient oflice nurse. Speaking of nurses, Martha Hooper, the prettiest nurse at Bowman Gray Hospital, has been voted the nurse whose hand I'd most like to holdv by the football team at Notre Dame, where Harold Carter is head coach, expertly assisted by Kenneth Everhart. Over at Bowman Gray, too, is Dr. Jack Evans, specialist in heart flutters. Jane Nelson is a baby specialist at the Mayo Clinic, and she is quite wealthy because of her invention, leak-proof baby beds. Charles Harris is a pediatrician at Johns Hopkins, and he has become famous since he and his wife, Sadie, wrote that book on baby psychology. Robert Mims, his wife, and their triplets stopped by last month, and Robert told me that he was finally getting settled in business. He and Vernon Darr have rented the upstairs of the March Hotel for the 'LMims-Darr Clinic for Considerate Care of Animals and Toothless Humans. Robert is doing big business making dentures for folks, and Vernon looks after the dogs and cats in the next room. Robert told me that Nlary Alice Wilson, McLellan's Store heiress, is engaged to the new manager of lXIack's 5, 10, and 2Sc Store and is about to cause a merger of Mackls and IVIcLellan,s Marlene Peeler is superintendent of nurses at the largest hospital in Philadelphia. And Harry Gore, the Kdasked Terror of the boxing world, gained new fame by being voted Mr. American because of his well-developed, outstanding muscles. In the women's sports world, Betty Lindsay has become tennis champion of the United States this year. And Candis Carpenter is on the athletic staff of Duke University. , A great many of the class of 1950 have gone to New Yor k City, it seems. Roxanne Twinkletoes Disher is operating a chain of tap dancing schools that rivals Arthur lXIurray's Elizabeth Hall is airline 22 1

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CLASS HISTORY Have you ever walked into a room full of strange people and felt absolutely and completely lost? This was the feeling of the members of the present Senior Class when we first entered Lexington High. What a change from grammar school! There were six periods, men teachers, three floors to get lost on, and hundreds of new friends to make. We were scared little sub-freshmen that first year and felt that we did not know one another well enough to elect officers, so we had to rely on the guidance of our teachers-who of course did not fail us. Being asked to join the Etiquette Club and to attend the dance for the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades made us feel very important. These two events were the beginning of a long series of social events that have piled up to add dignity and prestige to the 1950 graduates. As our sub-freshman year drew to a close, We sighed and puffed out our chests. We were up-and-coming, full-fledged high school students. Why shouldn't we have been proud? Our freshman year began in September, 1946, and we began right away to make it a successful and memorable year We chose our first officers, since entering high school, by electing Carroll Leonard, president, Ang Lindsay, vice-president. and Shorty Stafford, secretary-treasurer. With such an excellent beginning, we felt that we could not ruin it by falling, down on the job, so we decided to get busy. Some of our boys and girls joined the F. H. A. fboys excluded, of coursej, Glee Club, and Latin Club. Others took seats in the band and tooted horns and beat drums for all they were worth. Boys joined the football and basketball teams while some of the girls invested their afternoon hours in basketball practice. We Went to dances galore and learned that the new friendships we had formed during the year were wonderful. It was a busy year for everyone. We had so much fun, we hated to leave old L. H. S. even for a few summer months. We would have looked silly sitting in rooms with no teachers, so we finally bade Lexington High a fond farewell and left with a feeling of having completed a year of wonderful comradeship and adventure. The summer whisked by, and we returned to school with a feeling of anticipation. Sophomore! It was a wonderful word and, to us, carried much dignity with it. Could we live up to all it stood for? VVe decided to do our best, so we began by honoring Harold Carter as president, jo Ann Perrell as vice-president, Sonny Timberlake as secretary, and johnny Arnold as treasurer. Then we concentrated on school activities. Some of our boys and girls were in clubs, our boys shone in football and basketball, four of the seven majorettes were from our class. Three of our boys decided to show their superior brilliance by joining the staffs of the LEXICON and Lexhipep. It was an honor for the entire class as well as the boys themselves, for the members of both the staffs were usually taken only from the Junior and Senior classes. Had we lived up to the dignity of the name, Sophomore? Yes, at the end of the year we felt that we had, and we left for the summer with a feeling of a year well spent. Bang! That's the way our junior year began. Busy! We hardly stopped to breathe. It was to be a year of vital im- portance, for heavy responsibility was to be ours. We decided that we could use only the best leaders of our class as officers, and that was exactly what We did when we chose Ang Lindsey, president, Jim Dan Redwine, vice-president, Betty Jean Saunders, secretary, and Carolyn Fritts, treasurer. Our boys were on varsity that year and played important parts in the many victories of the football and basketball teams. While the boys on the football team piled up victories on the field, other girls and boys in the class sold drinks and food at the commissary. Why? Well, it was the main way we made money for the Junior-Senior banquet we gave the Seniors that year. To help the treasury Mrs. Fred B. Lewis and Mr. Theodore Leonard combined their talents to direct the Junior play, One Mad Nightf' which was an excellent success. Two girls and five boys were chosen as delegates to Girls' and Boys' State, one of the highest honors a junior can ever attain. To end a perfect year we presented the best Junior-Senior banquet Cin our opinionj that Lexington High has ever had. It was an event no member of the present Senior Class will ever forget. So on June S, 1949, we again said farewell to Lexington High and left to enjoy a summer at the beaches, being lazy at home, or working at summer jobs for three short months. Did I say three short months? I seemed more like three days for we no sooner realized that school was out before we were lugging books to and from school again. Our last year! It hardly seemed possible, but we decided we better get busy before the nine months slipped past us and left us with a feeling of having accomplished nothing of importance. This year We decided that our Junior officers had been superior so We again chose Ang Lindsey, president, Jim Dan Redwine, vice-presidentg with Patsy Nance, secretary, and Bobby Lee Parr, treasurer. We could not possibly have made a better choice! Our Senior year kept us busy. There were invitations and calling cards to decide upon, club initiations to await breathlessly, and foot- ball games at which we yelled our hearts out. We were on the honor system in English this year and proved it was an honor honorably upheld by every Senior in the class. We shall always cherish the memory of the excellent banquet given us by the junior Class. How could we possibly say, in words, our deep appreciation for a memorable event that will live forever? Yes, it was a year that stands out as one of the most wonderful years we have ever witnessed. But without the sympathy and understanding guidance of our beloved teachers, it would have been impossible to say at the year's end, It has been wonderful. I must never, never forget one precious moment of the entire five years. So at the year's close let us all- Sing a song of Seniors, A pocketful of zest, Seven and ninety fledglings Are about to quit the nest? As we glance back over the five years spent in Lexington High, we Seniors feel utter sadness that our lives here are ended. The years before us are uncertain but whatever they hold, may we meet them with the clear understanding, sym- pathy, love and dignity which our school has shown us in the five short years spent within her Walls. Farewell, dear school, and those we leave behind. You, our blessed Alma Mater, will live in our hearts for an eternity. Never shall we forget you! May the graduating classes of the years to come leave with as many loving and scared memories as we, the graduating class of 1950, carry with us. ELIZABETH CLODFELTER, Sanior Clarr Hirtorian. 21,

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hostess on TWA, and she really gets around. Carlton Burkhart, patrolman on New York City's police force, patrols the waterfront in his helicopter. Peggy Costner has opened Costner,s Charm School and Model Agencyv which is very successful. Lorene Prevette is gaining fame as a beautician there. The most charming graduate of the school is Carolyn Koonts, and she models as uafterv for the before and after ads. Marilyn Saunders designs the well-known Marilyn Garments for Glamourous Galsf, and Nancy Foster models her more daring creations at fashion shows. Shorty Stafford is a radio announcer on CBS and does the hdidnight disc jockey program. And Dorothy Mae Leonard is vice-president of the Radio City lyfusic Hall where Frances Gobble is financial secretary. Bill Cox and Blake Crouse have converted the Empire State Building into a 20 million car garage. Juanita Tesh, Delores Hutchins, and Phyllis Everhart are their competent secretaries in charge of Hat tires. Bill Trexler and Ralph Jones have opened a menls clothing store on Fifth Avenue which features gentlemen's hats by Lilly Dache. And that new restaurant, Carter's 5 la Carte, is operated by the proud owner, Jimmy Carter. Back in Lexington, Patsy Nance and Betty Jean Saunders are directors in the new Community Center. Patsy is swimming coach and Betty Jean is boxing director. Earl Everhart has invented these flourescent flying saucers that are so in fashion nowadays. Buddy Crowell is surveying land for a new road to Southmont by way of Salisbury. Margaret Hinson is married now after having taught the fifth grade at Robbins for three years, Peggy Shoemaker is well on her way to being typing champion of the South, so I hear. And Curtis Leonard is helping Joe Greene manage his million-dollar industry. But now let's get back to mountain society. I delivered some cider down to Appalachian State Teacher's College a few months ago, and Whom did I see but Bobby Lee Parr, now professor of dra- matics there. As soon as he had finished his class in breathing exercises, he came over to speak to me. He told me how well Mary Dean Hedrick was doing as head of the vocational department at Mars Hill. Johnny Morgan is at hdars Hill, too, as spy for the State Bureau of Investigation. Shirley Dreyer has been employed by the Naval Academy at Annapolis to teach home economics to the ofiicer's daughters. Sonny Timberlake leaves the beach during the hunting season and comes up to the mountain to shoot tigers. He brought me a tiger skin once, and I sold it for fifty dollars. Carolyn Fritts is a mis- sionary up to Mount Mitchell, but it's hard to reform us mountain folks. Fannie Young runs a 50-room hotel for the socialites up on the mountain. And Charles Campbell, recruiting army officer, tried to get some of these mountain folk to jine up, but it was preserved turnip time, and everybody was too busy to listen. We have a civic music association up here. Jo Deane Swing was guest pianist once, and she played Rhapsody in Pink. Nancy Thomason was soloist last month and sang f'Always and That Good Old hfountain Dew. And Robert Jolly, Gilbert Yarborough, and Jimmy Ayers are making a name for themselves in the Mount Mitchell Philharmonic Band. Bobby Clinard, photographer for Peek Magazinz, came up not so long ago to take pictures of moun- tain wild life. We were all there, including Betty Sue Leonard, Betty Everhart, Verlee Edwards, and Peggy Thomason, a group of secretaries who were in the mountains for the skiing. Peggy McCulloch and her husband came by to get orders for jewelry from lNflcCulloch,s Jewelers. They have to keep business going now that they are raising a family. Audrey Lanning and Betty Ree Coppley were so impressed with Professor Clark's sociology class in high school that they became social workers. Theyfve been up to the mountain several times, when a chicken coop blew up. Mr. and Mrs. jim Swing fthe former Arlene Lashmitj came up to Grandfather Mountain on their honeymoon. They became so alarmed about atom bomb rumors that they dug a cave into the mountain. Thatfs how they discovered gold in Grandfather Mountain's mouth where nature had put a gold filling. Now they are millionaires and live in Florida the year round. Loraine Everhart and Frankie Jo Biesecker have opened a dress shop up here in the Blount Mitchell community. Their Fancy Duds Shop advertises A dress that slims you mountain clemsf' Nancy Hathcock is their saleslady who does all the work which isn't much. And now, if you'll excuse me, I have an engagement tonight. All us folks up here in the hills get together ever so often and have a possum party. We eat possum and play possum. And I'll possumly see you all again sometime in the possumly near or fer distant future. The Old Woman of the Mountain HARRIET LEONARD, Prophet. 23