Mother of Mercy High School - Mercywood Yearbook (Cincinnati, OH)

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Ufam 1717155601 On a beautiful day in early September, l942, Our Blessed Lady lovingly smiled down upon the 31 eager, excited young maidens who for the first time passed through the portals of a high school dedicated to her honor. Cn that day Mother of Mercy welcomed us as her green yet lovable freshmen. A feeling of security was offered to us in the form of our Hbig sisters, whom we loved and respected as our ideals. The fun-rollicking day of initiation which they presented to us is one to be always remembered. Patched dresses worn inside-out, pigtails, tin curlers and oddly matched shoes and anklets were humiliating, yet so amusing. Our class set about choosing a mission project and adopted St. Philomena's Parish in the basin of Cincinnati. One of the highlights of our mission labors was the skating party we sponsored in order to raise funds for our adopted parish. At Christmas each of us brought a small toy for the small children of our mission. Surely we shall never forget their happy, glowing faces when at Christmas we visited them bringing with us our own Santa Claus laden with numerous gifts and surprises. To climax the year we presented our big sisters with a garden party complete with Carnation corsages and a tiny hatbox containing a lapel pin in the form of a little crocheted bonnet. Before we knew it, September had again rolled around, bringing us back to Mercy as sophomores. We had lost 6 of our original members but this was well compensated by the 59 new members of our class. As a result our class was divided into two homerooms. Both classes however sponsored a theater party for the benefit of our missions. - Our second year at Mother of Mercy was climaxed by a picnic at MacFarland woods given in honor of the senior class. God blessed us with lovely spring weather which helped to make the day a memorable one. Before one could realize it we had become luniors. We were then 88 in number, having lost 8 girls and having gained 12. Again the two lunior classes demonstrated their fine spirit of cooperation by sponsoring a dance in honor of the senior class. None of us shall ever forget the planning, work and enjoyment that made our Ulanuary lump such a grand success. And of course one of the most important events of our lunior year was the selecting of our class ringsesymbols of four years of study, work and fun. Scissors, pictures and fashion magazines also played an important role throughout the year, for with the aid of these and our vivid imaginations we fashioned for each senior a yearbook of treasured memories. ' The climax of this happy year was the never-tosbe-forgotten lunior-Senior prom at Hartwell country club. Page 14

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Ugcljlizl A haven ot peace and contentment. Yes, these words may well describe our little chapel overlookino the ever beautitul campus ot Mercy. Here a tew moments oi each day are lovingly dedicated to Qur Lord and Savior, lesus Christ, to bring to Him all the joys and sorrows ot our hioyli school lite. l-le listens with loving and tatherly interest to our prayers and petitions. Qur many prayers tor peace were answered when Our Blessed Lord gave us victory over our enemies and peace among nations. We leave this lovliest ot all places with deep love, new hope and new inspiration for the future days yet to come. As we bid farewell to our dear Alma Mater there are many events of our school days which we will not remember, but the lovely little chapel and our daily visits to Christ, Our Eternal Kino will always hold a high place in our lasting treasure ot memories. -to

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1 , The year that always had seemed so very far away finally arrived. Here we werewfull-pledged seniors and entitled to all the privileges of such. Ours were the beautiful gold class rings bearing the year 1946. Ours was the senior lobby with its comfy lounges and merry voiced piano. Ours was the honor of visiting Our Lord each morning in His little tabernacle home in the chapel. Ours was the privilege of being first on the big school busses. And yes, ours too were our beloved little sisters, of whom no one could have been prouder. We soon discovered however, that senior life at Mercy did not consist only of privileges. We also had many responsibilities. Through perfect cooperation and hard work Gleanings our schcol paper, was published six times and was Well worth the praise it received. We also put forth our best efforts to make our annual one of the finest in the school's history. In keeping with Mercy's tradition, we chose as our class patron the beloved child saint, Little Agnes, and honored her duly by a program on her feast day. It was on this day that we proudly displayed our red and white class ribbons for the first time. The names Amy, Beth, Meg, and 'llo will always hold a special meaning in our hearts because Little Women was chosen as our class play. Our class also received recognition when a number of its members took active parts in debates and lunior Town Meetings. With the cooperation of the junior classes we gave a dance, The Apple Bounce, for the benefit of the missions. Another dance never to be forgotten was the Mercy- Elder dance, Hearts Hop, the first of its kind in Mercy's history. The year passed all too quickly and lune soon arrived, bringing with it the final days of our high school life. On the fourth of lune the 84 members of the class of '46 assembled in the halls of Mercy for the last time. As we marched in pro- cession, clad in white caps and gowns for class night exercises, our minds reviewed our years at Mother of Mercy, four of the happiest years of our lives. The laughter and singing in the lobby and visits to the lake, the rush of changing classes, long hours of study and the smiling face of Our Blessed Lady from her throne in the beautiful stained glass window are now only memories. But our actual departure from Mercy came on lune 7 when for the first time in her history Mercy joined the ranks of Diocesan Catholic High Schools at St. Xavier field house for the reception of diplomas. How proud we were to represent our beloved Mercy at such an impressive assembly of Catholic youth. This was our formal goodbye to Father Connell, our own Sister Mary Emily and all the teachers and friends we held so dear. This was our farewell to Mother of Mercy and our happy high school days. Though a feeling of reluctance always accommodates goodbyes, our hearts were lightened by the realization that on some future day we should again meet-that day when the 84 members of the class of '46 will gather at the feet of our Mother of Mercy in our heavenly home. Page 1 5