McClenaghan High School - Florentine Yearbook (Florence, SC)

Page 31 text:

 History of the Class of 1950 Despite the above enumerated trials and tribu- lations, our seventh year of scholastic endeavor passed without serious mishap, bringing with it a sense of comradeship and animated well- being which we had never known before. Upon entering the eighth grade in the fall of 1945, we fulfilled the solemn promise which we had made to ourselves the year before. The life of each and every member of the rising seventh grade became a never ending nightmare of pranks and bruises. This, however, was a comparatively unim- portant, though amusing, side issue. Other events of much greater impact were occurring. This was the year which marked the first important venture of the Class of 1950 into politics. In a hotly contested battle Herny Dickman defeated Karl Albert and Harry Parker in a memorable race for president of the student body, while Blanche Coleman defeated her opponent in a spirited race for the vice- p residency. Much time must pass before we can forget the hour long flood of oratory, interspersed by wild cheering of each candidate. Nor are we likely to let slip from our remembrance the flood of campaign posters which seemed sud- denly to emerge from nowhere and engulf the entire building with their various and sundry appeals for votes. With such activities as these continually in the limelight, it is not to be wondered at that this, the eighth year of our scholastic en- deavors, fled all too swiftly by. As the final days of our sixteenth semester in the city schools of Florence began to ap- proach, an air of fond hope and eager ex- pectancy seemed to pervade the atmosphere. A mighty epoch in our lives had at last been drawn irresistably to a final termination, to be replaced by a still more vivid and stunning chapter in the mystic book of life. The gates of McClenaghan High School, the epitome of all our hopes and dreams, were about to swing open to admit their thirtieth graduating class. Now ancient friendships and connections were to be ripped asunder and new ones erected upon the shattered foundations of the old. The last few fetters of tender childhood must pres- ently be cast aside, for four glorious years of happiness and contentment lay just over the golden horizon. Among our first transactions upon entering the consecrated walls of this beloved institution was the selection of class officers. Pinckney Sims was elected President, David Harwell, Vice- President, Blanche Coleman, Secretary, and Betty Jewel Turner, Treasurer. Under the able sponsorship of these class officers and the extremely capable sponsorship of Miss Louise Baxley, we were able to steer a safe course through the tempestuous sea of hardship and travail common to all Freshmen classes and Freshmen years. Forced to accustom ourselves to a new environment and feeling deeply our own lack of importance, it was only with the greatest of difficulty that we were en- abled to reconcile our previous concept of grave and dignified upperclassmen with the realities of the situation as we found it, which showed these personages at times to be neither grave nor dignified. One event of this year stands out like a shining beacon on a storm-tossed sea of dark- ness. This was the annual May Day observance. To add to the glamour of this gala occasion, the class of '50 chose from among its fairest three charming young ladies, Bobby Gene Allen, Blanche Coleman, and Barbara Corley to repre- sent it in the May Court. It was with mixed emotions that we saw the last semester of our first year in high school 16