Miss Porters School - Yearbook (Farmington, CT)

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Important Occasions THE SPRING GERMAN, 1937 On May fifteenth, the Spring German was held, directed by Peggy Darsie and Peachy Durand. The gymnasium, completely transformed into a circus tent, was hung with strings of balloons and rows of many- colored pennants. The audience sat on benches around the walls munching peanuts and popcorn, while they watched the antics of the clowns and the feats of the other performers, which included a pony ballet, a trapeze act, a tight-rope walker, toe dancers, and a Wild VVest Show. The gay atmos- phere of a circus prevailed during the whole German, and it will always be remembered as one of the most entertaining events of the year. THANKSGIVING On Thanksgiving evening, the New Girls presented their first enter- tainment. They entitled it The Toy Shop . With the exception of the old toy maker, himself, all the characters represented dolls of various types and nationalities. There were old-fashioned dolls which sang for us, and there were modern dolls which danced. Perhaps the favorites of the evening were a French doll, a tin soldier, and the ever popular Raggedy Ann and Andy. The New Girls showed numerous and varied talents. The entire entertainment was under the competent direction of Ann Wooster. THE FALL GERMAN The Fall German was given by the Old Girls with Carolie Waring as the able chairman. The subject of the German was Christmas in the Gay Nineties . There was a skit of four acts: in the first, Peggy Delano sang Daisy to Edie Moffat while they rode on a tandem bicycle. In the second act, Nancy Wylie sang several songs, burlesquing Ciri Biri Binl' as a broken-down opera singer. In the third act, there were eight tap-dancers. The girls dressed in pink and black costumes, and the boys wore evening clothes. As a last act, four carollers came in singing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen . During the whole performance, four Stooges sat on the sidelines and added greatly to the general mirth and gaiety of the evening. The gymnasium was decorated by Peaches Lowry and Tat Whitte- more with colorful winter posters. Around the stage and at the entrance of the gym were fir trees laden with snow and tinsel. All of this con- tributed to the success of the occasion by surrounding the entertainers and guests with the atmosphere of the Christmas season.

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Fall and Winter The tenor, Joseph Laumer, came on October thirteenth, 1937, and provided a very enjoyable evening's entertainment. Accompanied by Lois Lautner, he sang some lovely songs by Handel, Schumann, and Schubert, and the dramatic Verborgenheit by Wolf. VVe were very sorry to learn that he had intended to sing one of Mr. Fox's compositions, but could not, as he had not been able to obtain the music in time. On October twenty-seventh, the Stmdifvarius Quartette from New York presented a very entertaining program. They played a Mozart quartette, the famous Brahms quintette, and several short selections. Mr. Fox assisted in the quintette. On the fifteenth of November, the Hampton Quintette came to school to sing for us. Besides those old favorites The Old Ark's a-Moverin' , Deep River , and Go Down Moses , they sang a version of the currently popular The Deac' Went Down . One of the quintette talked to us for a few minutes about Hampton Institute. Judging by the enthusiastic applause which followed, it was obvious that the Hampton Quintette was greatly appreciated by the girls. On November twenty-seventh, Mr. John Niles, a recognized authority on folk songs, gave us an unusual concert. He accompanied his own singing by playing the piano, or one of his two dulcimers, rare instruments which he himself had made. All of the songs which he sang were compiled during his research tours in the southern states. The music was written in uncon- ventional measures which we found very interesting. On February second, a piano recital was presented by Mr. Felix Fox. The program was skilfully arranged. We enjoyed particularly Schumann's Carnival and a modern composition of Ravel, Alborada del Gracioso . As an encore, Mr. Fox played our special favorite, the Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde by Wagner.

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THE COSTUME PARTY The costume party, which is a greatly anticipated event each year, was held on January fifteenth, the girls appeared as characters in fiction. The judges awarded the prize for the best costume to Barbara Smith and Mary Graham, as Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, for the prettiest costume to Nancy Grove and Grace Putnam, as Hansel and Gretelg for the most original to Julie Spencer and Anne Stuart, as Sambo and the Tiger , and the prize for the funniest costume was given to Ruth Humphreys, Rosamond Reed, Timmie Kilner, and Nan Parsons, as Popeye and his crew. THE YEAR BOOK MOVIE On February 27, the Year Book Board presented a movie. It was a double-feature consisting of two comedies and a Krazy Kat . Coca-cola, cookies, and popsicles were served between reels. The audience enjoyed this informal evening very much. THE SPELLING MA TCH The thirtieth annual Spelling Match was held on March 6. Prelim- inary contests were conducted in Colony, Main, Humphrey and The Adgate room. The ten best spellers in each group won places in the final match in the Gymnasium. Anne Wisner won the match after almost half an hour of exciting competition, and she was awarded the Spelling Cup. The runners-up were Susan Kelsey, Peggy Delano, Margaret Holliday, and Laurie Abbett. THE PVINTER GERMAN On the last Saturday of the winter term the New Girls gave a German and again proved themselves talented performers. Natalie Bliss was at the head of the entertainment, which was entitled The Show Boat. Murals along the walls were painted with scenes on a steam-boat, and the favor booths were port-holes in a plain white wall decorated with ropes and a life-preserver. The music consisted of the songs from Irving Berlin's Show Boat , which Harriet Moffat and Martha Nicholson sang. By way of contrast, they were followed by two hilarious dances by 'gdarkiesn dressed gaily in varied costumes of checks, stripes, red bandanas and straw hats. The Old Girls found the German unusually amusing, as well as an excellent climax to the entertainments of the winter term.