Millis High School - Mowhawk Yearbook (Millis, MA)

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Class History .. . | am honored to be Class Historian. As the Class of 1953 is modern and business-like, | have brought with me memories from which | should like to tell the history of the Class of 1953. | think it is appropriate to start with a little Ancient History. Let us go back to September of 1949, the fateful day when thirty-one students, bashful and hesitating, stood before the good old Millis High School, waiting for the bell to sound that would start us on a four-year course —good times, happy friendships and instruc- tive work. | well remember that first day, Dickie, Charlie, and Mickie (the big operators of the eighth grade) with heads bowed climbing the unfamiliar stairs to the freshman homeroom. Oh, yes! it would be quite different now. It was a challenge to us to begin anew — to build a reputation for our class — a challenge we were quite willing to accept. It took us quite a while to become familiar with the customs of the high school — | might add especially with the customs of the teach- ers. By December the freshman class was really a part of the high school. It was a great thrill to elect our class officers: Billy, President; Selva, Vice-President; Mary, Secretary; Charlie, Treasurer. Our superiority as a class first showed itself in the football field where some of our light- weight colleagues really made a name for themselves at the tender ages of 14 and 15. We realize that we may have caused Mrs. Gavin much in the way of trials and tribula- tions but we want her to know it was directly caused by overstudying. We had many representatives on the girls’ basketball team which had a very successful year under our previous Coach, Miss LaLiber te. Our freshman year seemed a long and arduous grind — but before we realized it, it was June and summer vacation was upon us. Sophomore year — Ah! memories of good times with Mr. Wilmarth as our home-room teacher. We grew in age, height, weight, and also in assurance — perhaps a little too much in the latter. Many times that year and in the next we were to be checked for our overcon- fidence. Early in September we elected class officers: Cynthia, President; Donny, Vice-Presi- dent; Carol, Secretary; Charlie, Treasurer. It was an eventful year with memories of our fateful trip to the frog pond — Remember how wet we got! and how few frogs we caught. We were a friendly class filled with the zest for living. In our sophomore year we lived in anticipation of the great events to take place in our junior year. Junior year — and a year to remember. Days and days were spent arguing about the style of our class ring. It seems such a trivial patiey now but created so many obstacles then. We were so anxious to start raising money for the Junior Prom — and even for the then distant Washington Trip. Meetings galore — class meetings that seemed to go on for hours and arguments abundant. Our class officers were quite important to us that year — Holding office proved to be a very responsible job, didn’t it? That year there seemed to be as much politics as there is in Washington. When it came time for elections everyone wanted to be president, for he or she would lead the Junior Prom — one of the high- est honors of high school life. The final re- sult was: Mary, President; Donny, Vice-Presi- dent; Carol, Secretary; Charlie, Treasurer. Our first financial venture was a penny sale which we held in December and which proved quite successful. Finally it was April and the plans for our Junior Prom were in full swing. It was a period of excitement and turmoil for all. | well remember our last minute efforts to decorate the hall — Donny Cox perched on a ladder high above the beams — Claire and Louise doing stunts as they tried to get the paper on the backboards. The night of the prom arrived and we cer- tainly were rewarded for our efforts. The hall was beautiful and the girls were quite decorative in their flowing gowns. And the boys — could those be the same boys we see in dungarees every day! How sophisticated they looked in their summer formals! It was an occasion we will always remember. Athletics at M. H. S. this year proved to be the most successful in the history of the school. For it was this year that the boys’ football team beat Medway by a score of 33-0. The girls’ basketball team also chalked a “never- before-in-history event,” by going through the basketball season undefeated. Many of our classmates participated in these events, and some people were of the opinion that our al- ready inflated egos had just about reached the breaking point. The dignified seniors of the Class of ‘53 came fearlessly up the steps of Millis High School. We were seniors now, and we de- manded respect. I'm afraid our reputation had run a little before us. We were ready to take the school, faculty, and students alike, by storm. Alas! We hadn't counted on Mrs. Barrett. She wasn’t quite as impressed by our previous record as we ourselves had been, but we immediately undertook to persuade her that we were the greatest and the best senior class ever to at- tend M. H. S. —Now it is June and | doubt that Mrs. Barrett has changed her mind. It was indeed a memorable year: A broken nose for Donald Cox, A leg for Dickie and Charlie, A collar bone for Billy Tate, Oh! what luck, by golly! The football team this year was comprised

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Who's Who in the Senior Best-looking Best-dressed Cutest Most Studious Best Personality Quietest Most Athletic First to be Married Laziest Funniest Most Ambitious Prettiest Smile Done Most for M. H. S. Wittiest Most Sincere Most Versatile Most Stubborn Friendliest Most Bashful Most Cooperative Best Disposition Most Courteous Easiest to get along with Most Talkative Most Likely to Succeed Most Conceited Prettiest Teeth Prettiest Hair Prettiest Eyes Most Fickle Flirtiest Silliest Loudest Laugh Hottest Temper Most Popular Best Friends Best Dancer Noisiest Slowest Neatest Tallest Shortest Biggest Feet Smallest Feet Shortest Hair Longest Hair Most Likely to be a Bachelor Most Likely to be an Old Maid First to Become Bald One to Crack Up a Car First Donald Cox Donald Cox Charles Harris Charles Harris Donald Cox Philip Gilpatrick Richard Bayramshian William Tate Michael Mushnick William Tate Charles Harris Charles Harris Charles Harris Howard Ingraham Philip Gilpatrick Donald Cox Michael Mushnick Donald Cox Philip Gilpatrick Charles Harris Donald Cox Charles Harris Donald Cox Richard Bayramshian Charles Harris Edward Duhamel Philip Gilpatrick Michael Mushnick Donald Cox Edward Duhamel Edward Duhamel Howard Ingraham Richard Bayramshian Michael Mushnick Donald Cox “Donnie” “Eddie” Richard Bayramshian Richard Bayramshian Edward Duhamel Donald Cox Charles Harris Philip Gilpatrick Charles Harris Howard Ingraham William Tate Michael Mushnick Edward Duhamel Philip Gilpatrick Edward Duhamel Class Mary O'Donnell Selva Patino Claire Lipsett Selva Patino Cynthia Simpson Marie LaBounty Louise Cassidy Louise Cassidy Helena Simarrian Helena Simarrian Carol Greene Mary O'Donnell Carol Greene Claire Lipsett Marie LaBounty Louise Cassidy Helena Simarrian Cynthia Simpson Marie LaBounty Carol Greene Cynthia Simpson Selva Patino Cynthia Simpson Elaine Barry Selva Patino Louise Cassidy Claire Lipsett Carol Greene Mary O’Donnell Janet Brodeur Louise Cassidy Cynthia Simpson Elaine Barry Louise Cassidy Cynthia Simpson Elaine Claire Cynthia Simpson Helena Simarrian Helena Simarrian Louise Cassidy Marion Kenney Marie LaBounty Marion Kenney Marie LaBounty Claire Lipsett Louise Cassidy Mary O'Donnell Helena Simarrian

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almost completely of seniors. | understand a few might be coming back to take a few courses next year — anything for football. The seniors on the football team were: Billy: All scholastic Junior and Senior year. Dickie: A great lineman who always kept the line alert and eager. Charlie: Broken leg and all, he played 32 minutes a game from the sidelines. Donny: Greatest broken field runner in Millis history. Mickie: All-scholastic and all-football player. Howie: The fastest little center Millis has ever seen. Eddie: Tremendous speed; league’s outstand- ing punter. The team was ably coached by Coach Par- sons and Coach Tim. At the end of February the girls’ basketball team took account of stock and found that they won five games and lost five games. The team was captained by Louise Cassidy. Carol Greene, Cynthia Simpson, Claire Lipsett, and Selva Patino played as guards, while Elaine Barry, Mary O'Donnell, Muriel Winiker, and Janet Brodeur played as forwards. Perhaps we'll have our own Millis Alumnae basketball team. We again started on our fund-raising ven- tures which lasted almost up to the minute the train departed for Washington. We held penny sales, record hops, paper drives, and a few of the girls got together and organized a concession stand at the football games. In December we held our Senior Play, “A Date With Judy,” which proved to be finan- cially the most successful ever produced at Millis High School. We, too, can look back and laugh now at our moments of anguish as we wondered if Mickie would ever learn his lines; if Charlie would keep his grammar straight; whether or not Dickie would blow us out of the hall with his enthusiasm. But it was lots of fun and memories of Donny Cox's, “I’ve got a Date with Judy,” will echo through our minds in the years to come. Fortunately for the present juniors, Mrs. Barrett has survived the many ordeals to which we have subjected her during the course of the year, but it certainly proved a happy and successful year. Now we are to pass into the ranks of the alumni. We have “done our bit.” We were an active, sociable class, and now when the cur- tain is to be drawn for the end of the fourth act of our high school drama, we have nothing but best wishes of good luck and happiness to the Classes of ‘54, ‘55, and ‘56 and to the. teachers who worked so hard to help us have both a profitable and happy career within the portals of Millis High School. —Marie LaBounty Class Will . . . Know All Men By These Presents: We, the members of the graduating class of 1953, being of sound mind and body, do hereby bequeath to the underclassmen and faculty, our peculiar qualities and unusual abilities. We make this our last will and tes- tament. After the payment of our just debts and funeral expenses, we give, devise and bequeath as follows: | wish to inform those people who do not know, that Mr. Brown owns a summer board- ing house situated by the side of a lake in the state of Maine. Mr. Brown practiced diligently in order to become swimming champion — but the lake seems to grow deeper and deeper every year. It’s along way to the bottom, isn’t it, Mr. Brown? Perhaps a pair of swimming trunks with a built-in motor would be the ideal gift from our class. Do you recall the day, Mr. Doyle, when we mentioned the titles of our themes? To you, Mr. Doyle, we wish to give a book entitled: “The Writing Styles of Steinbeck and Hemingway” written by one of our own classmate critics, Billy Tate. To Mrs. Barrett we leave the serene atmos- phere of our empty room. Most of you will be surprised at this one. Mr. Kline left last April; but if you notice, Marion Kenney stayed on with us. Well, Mr. Young, your summer vacation is almost here and your physics class thought it would be nice to leave you a round-trip ticket to Hawaii, to see the land, the scenery, the girls and to find us a watchstrap — need we say more? To Mrs. Edwards we leave our canary-like voices and hope that she can get some more birds like us. To Mrs. Feeley we leave a serious-minded French III class. At least these future students won't try to go off on tangents. To Mrs. Magraw, Louise Cassidy leaves this message: | wish | may, | wish | might | know that | can leave tonight! To Mrs. Kenney, who teaches first- aid, we leave a noose. Maybe she’d like to demon- strate it on a few of her pupils. (Hello Pat). To Mr. Parsons, Howard Ingraham leaves a slightly used cigarette lighter with the inscrip- tion: “Catch me if you can.” Ha, ha, Howie! You're at a disadvantage with short legs. To Miss McKinstry we leave the job of a real estate agent — in order to buy land for a new school, of course. The Senior Class appropriates $10,000 for a miniature Yucca Flats, where Mrs. Gavin can carry on her hydrogen tests! We give back to Mr. Tim his expression— “No kidding, you’ve got it!” Thank heavens, we can’t take it with us! We leave a silencer to be placed on Miss Currivan’s potato peeler in order that it