Major Edwards High School - Mesa Yearbook (West Boylston, MA)

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tAc MAJOR EDWARDS SENIOR ANNUAL West Boylston, Massachusetts 1954 1 .

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The half-century existence of a secondary school in West Roylston has slowly come to an end, temporary though this end may be. With the decision to tuition our high school pu{)ils to Holden, the final chapter has been written of nearly fifty years of exist- ence of a secondary school program in our town. A few years after the turn of the century, in 1905, the first pupils attended a local high school which was established in the old Town Hall. For thirteen years, classes were held in this structure but in 1918, a destructive fire forced school officials to look else- where for school housing. Classes weie then held foi ' high school pupils on the thirfl floor of the Goodale Street School and this system continued until 1936. Graduation exercises for seniors at both buildings, the Town Hall and Goodale St. School, were held in the local Congregational Church. Hundreds of graduates left these stiuctures to enter the real path of life and many of our townspeople will remember with nostalgia the classes held there. But somehow, the old order changed and the growth of the town coujjled with the benevolence of a local citizen brought about the pi ' esent structure, the Major Edwai ' ds building. Major Victor E. Edwards was a i)hilanthropist in the true sense of the word. Born in 1863, this brilliant man eventually rose to the positions of vice-president, chief en- gineer, and director of the Morgan Construction Company in Woicester. He invented numerous man-saving and labor simplifying devices in the steel industry and achieved a great measure of fame by his invention of the flying shears. Upon his death in 1931, he left ten acres of land adjoining Goodale Park to the town of West Roylston and the sum of $1,()()(). to have the land cleared for jiark purposes. The present school was huilt on this site and named after Major Edwards, the donator of the land area. From an opening enrollment of eighty j)upils in 1936, the number of students has increased with its jiresent listing numbeiing more than two hundred. A school housing problem has forced the decision to tuition the pupils to the Wachusett Regional School and the utilizing of the Major Edwards’ building for the housing of lower grades. The past then is behind. An era has come to a close and with it a sincere desire by all for happiness in the new school situation. And yet, one cannot close this final chapter without paying tribute to all who aided in providing for us some of our best and most instructive years. Repi-esenting all the previous high school graduates of this town, we thank the townspeople from the bottom of our hearts!