Marlinton High School - Marlintonian Yearbook (Marlinton, WV)

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A caravan of youth set out from Marlinton in the summer of 1949 to tour the United States. They had just reached the fruit of their toil of twelve long years and were ready to step out into ad¬ venture on the great desert of life. As the caravan moved along different ones of the group began to drop out at places along the way which attracted them. Now in the year 1960 we shall retrace the route of that caravan to discover the fortunes which our former comrades have made. Our journey begins in New York where we renew our acquaintance with Hattie Wooddell the assistant editor of the New York Sun. All along Fifth Avenue we see pictures of Doris Spitzer the famous model who is being featured in all the current magazines. We stop into the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street and find Clive Alderman working there as a broker. From Wall Street we go to the docks where we find Jimmy McCarty and Johny Allen working as stevedores loading goods on ships from foreign ports. We have just time to get back to Grand Central Station to buy our tickets. On our way to the train we pass by a figure which seems vaguely familiar, upon close examination it turns out to be Johnny Webb a helpful redcap. Aboard the train everyone is being happily settled by the pretty hostess Anita Dunbrack, she is de¬ lighted to see us and tells us that we have other friends on board, Bruce Galford and his wife Coty Robertson whom we later met in the diner. Our two hour wait in Baltimore gives us time to visit a few places of interest. First we go to Mont¬ gomery Wards Mail Order Department to visit with Raymond Nelson who is head bookkeeper there. For a little relaxation we go to the Hippodrome Theatre where we hear Naomi Carr, a noted singer, and see the beautiful chours girls Betty Clutter, Georgia Barkley and Mary Malcomb. It rushes us to get back to our train but twelve hours later finds us rolling into Detroit. We make an appointment to see John Galford at General Motors Corporation where he is completing designs for a new jet propelled automobile which will be put on the market next year. Walking down by Lake Erie we see a huge yacht which we are told belongs to Jack Vaughan. His skipper is our old friend Robert Varney. Leaving Detroit we head for Chicago where we p lan to visit Aragon, the exclusive night club, where our old friend Kenneth Faulknier and his Hillybilly Band are making this the most popular night spot in Windy City. The cute little red head at the hat check counter is Joyce Nottingham. Tomorrow we will visit the Wrigley Tower where Robert Dilley, the eminent lawyer, and his secretary Mary Lou Perkins greets us and show us around. Our journey now takes us away from the cities to a huge ranch near Omaha where we find Eugene Friel running a combine through one of his six hundred acre wheat fields. Near Cheyenne, Wyoming, we run across Hubert McKenney who has turned into a storybook cow¬ boy. From the huge ranch house in the distance we hear the old familiar strains of “Home on The Range,” warning us that Margaret Irvine is bravely facing the future in true pioneer spirit, as she sings and draws water from the old-fashioned well at the ranch house. We proceed on our journey toward Ogden, Utah. The train stops suddenly on the outskirts of the city—are we to be treated to a train robbery in the good old-fashioned style? ? No, its only Tom Mor¬ rison trying to get the gold spike out of the ties for souvenirs. Our next stop is Salt Lake City, where we find Carl McNeill in the very prosperous business of ex¬ tracting salt from the Great Salt Lakes. Going through Idaho we decide to stop off at Sun Valley for a little sport. As we stand looking over the beautiful mountain scenery we see a streak go by. It is a bird? Is it superman? No, it’s Juanita Howard, practicing for the Olympic skiing championship. Since we are visiting all of the places of interest it would not do to leave out Reno, Nevada. Con¬ trary to the belief that people only come here to get divorces, we encounter Betty Buzzard and Keith Dilley who have come here to say “I Do.”

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In September 1945 seventy-three shy and excited freshmen gathered at Marlinton High School to form a caravan to explore the Valley of Knowledge in search of gold nuggets. Mr. Yeager, our guide, drew us a map (schedule) to help us in our four years of wandering in this unknown land. He also informed us that there were several sign posts (teachers) to be found in and around the Valley to aid us in our struggle for gold nuggets of knowledge. Being unfamiliar with this cold and unfriendly land we decided to choose Nancy Chestnut as our leader with Doris Spitzer to help her. Mildred Wilfong was to record all important happenings and buy our supplies, needing faith in ourselves we chose Lorna Wyatt and Margaret Irvine to cheer us on. Starting out with high hopes of succeding we were ridiculed by some of the older prospectors who through carelessness had failed to find some of the most valuable nuggets. Possessing perseverance, however, we survived the ridiculed and discouragements of the first year and after three months of rest sixty-seven of us were prepared and eagerly waiting to continue our journey. Returning to our caravan for our second year we decided to call ourselves the Sophomores as we had traveled far and learned much and we felt that the name suited us better. With a determination to succeed in the fulfillment of our plans we elected James Livesay as our leader and Doris Spitzer as his assistant. Nancy Chestnut was to keep our records and Raymond Nelson was in charge of our supplies. Realizing that we needed a reporter to keep the rest of the valley informed of our pro¬ gress we choose Margaret Buzzard for the part. Margaret Irvine and Hattie Wooddell were to cheer us over the rough spots of our journey. Feeling brave and more carefree we decided to initiate our low¬ er classmates and thus secure revenge for our own humiliation of the past year. Things ran some¬ what smoother than the previous year and after nine months of hard work we again called our cara¬ van to a halt and took a short vacation. In the fall of 1947 when we again met to continue our journey we realized that out number had decreased from the sixty-seven of the previous year to fifty-six. This year we selected Clifford Arbogast to take charge and Forest Kellison as his aid. Raymond Nelson was to be our recorder and Clive Alderman was put in charge of our supplies. This year we elected Margaret Irvine and Mary Perkins to cheer us on our way. Being older and more sure of ourselves we took time out for a greater amount of entertainment during this year. Several of the boys had much success in sports while others of our group put on a play entitled “Aunt Bessie Beats the Band.” Then Mr. Yeager again called a halt and once more gave us our freedom from work for three short months. Returning in the fall of 1948 for our fourth and last year in this part of the Valley, we began to feel sad because we realized that we had grown quite fond of our friend prospectors as well as Mr. Yea¬ ger and several of the more humane sign posts (teachers). Quickly hiding our feeling and with a great show of courage, however, we begin to choose wise leaders for our group such as Nancy Chestnut our President, Bob Kellison, Vice President, Mildred Wilfong secretary, Clive Alderman, Jr., as our trea¬ surer, and Hattie Wooddell, Margaret Irvine and Betty Clutter as cheer leaders. Thus convincing ourselves as to a wise choice in leaders, we settled down to getting many gold nuggets of knowledge as well as quite a bit of fun out of this last year. During the year several of our members again made a name for themselves in the field of ath¬ letics. We also put on a cake walk and a play called “Cracked Nuts” with much success. Thus after four years of hard work and much fun and laughter we bring to a close our search in Marlinton High School, The Land of Knowledge, with a week of fun and celebrations for our successful journey. After which we will scatter with the winds, still in search of more gold nuggets of knowledge whether at work, play, school or plain everyday living. I’m sure all of us will always consider our four years in M. H. S. as one of the happiest times of our lives. The End

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' Pxofr eccf (coutitiued) - San Francisco is our next destination. We plan to visit Andy McLaughlin who, is a civil engineer, and is building a bridge that will far surpass the Golden Gate Bridge. From San Francisco we follow the Ocean Drive south to Los Angeles, where we shall be greeted by Christine Rimel whose current book, “Wolf in Man’s Clothing,” is a best seller. She has promised to show us around Hollywood so that we may see how our esteemed friends are catching on as stars and starlets. Walking through a gate toward M. G. M.’s studios we see Ephie Adkins with her fiery temper quarrelling over her contract with her producer Samuel Goldwyn. Inside the studio we are greeted by Lucy Thompson, a very efficient receptionist, in an adjoining office we find Mildred Wilfong, who has become a very competent secretary for Bing Crosby. Going out on some of the sets to watch some of the takes we find Bob Kellison the understudy for Boris Karloff and Jackie Sharp a second for Butch Jen¬ kins. Just before leaving California we spy a couple of old prospectors and their pack mules. Drawing closer we recognize them as Sammy Hannah and Harold Miller, who inform us that they have not as yet “struck it rich,” but being enterprising souls they asked us to grubstake them on a new expedition. We are about to turn our faces homeward and we decide to visit the Grand Canyon. While stand¬ ing on the rim of the canyon basking in the splendor of this most magnificent spot of scenic grandeur, w ' e observe an artist busily capturing the beauty and simplicity of the scene before her. It is the fam¬ ous artist of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mary Ellen Ervine. Somewhere in the wilds of the desert between Grand Canyon and Santa Fe our caravan overtakes Wallace Buzzard and Styrl Sharp driving cattle and singing “Riding Down the Trail to Santa Fe.” We stop off at Oklahoma City for a brief visit with our school teacher friend Twila Smallridge. St. Louis beckens us, where we hope to see two of our classmates. Dempsey Trainer, the owner of a very reliable insurance agency, and Mary Katherine Lovelace who is a waitress in a swanky down¬ town restaurant. Continuing our journey to Cincinnati, we enter the huge Grand Central Station to find Ann Clay Allen at the information desk. She tells us that Lenore McCloud is working as a court reporter in the Cincinnati Municipal Courts. The next stop on our ticket shows Charleston, West Virginia, here we find Nancy Chestnut, super¬ intendent of nurses at Charleston General Hospital, at a flashy corner stand for used cars, we find Clarence Gibson and Eugene Channel as the efficient and prosperous owners. From Charleston we turn north-east to Pittsburg, the city of steel. In one of the huge steel mills we meet our friend Ralph Wiley testing the hot metal. In reply to our inquiry as to how he likes his job, he wipes the perspiration from his brow and comments, “This is a—,” but he never completes his state¬ ment because at this point, another drop of melted steel intended for the test tube connects with his finger and the last we see of him he is headed for a much colder atmosphere. Observing a huge sign which reads, “The Amalgamated Tin and Aluminum Company,” we decided to pay them a visit. Clarence Anderson is president of this firm. He is trying to force the steel mills into bankruptcy. We are now headed for Atlantic City, New Jersey, where we have a reserved seat for the bathing beauty contest. We see Olive Burgess competing for the Miss America title of 1960. By this time we are becoming travel-worn and are anxious to return home, but wait! We were about to miss a visit with one of our old friends—so we climb on board once more. This time to Bos¬ ton, Mass., where we find Hallie Abdella living in one of the aristocratic old mansions there. When we arrived, we find the servants busily preparing a meal of Boston Baked Beans. After this delicious meal, we feel we have the strength to board the train for the last time. So with many happy remembrances of old acquaintances that will linger forever in our memory, we return home, tired and worn, but knowing that has been the most momentous and unforgetable jour-- ney of our lives.