Mount Hermon School - Gateway Yearbook (Mount Hermon, MA)

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After gaping through Vespers, Sacred Concert, and lnterscholastics, we swallowed the bitter pill of finals and left for home. Sophomore year and Overtoun-what a year! Our new home soon settled down to the peaceful silence of an overtime boiler factory. One o'clock parties resulted in weekly ultimatums from Mr. Wyman. We waved affectionate farewells to several of our more spirited classmates and tried desperately to uphold their records. Six o'clock clean-ups did not offer us much encouragement. Our second year also saw a revamped social life. Owing to the untiring and per- suasive efforts of our class advisers, Mr. and Mrs. Ward, we soon perceived that last year's out-of-this-world girls had changed considerably and were now the best soph- omore class at Northfield at that time. Spring came and sped by, attended by Sacred Concert and lnterscholastics. Finals were easier. Sophomore year could be summed up as a lot of fun. --1 ln Junior year we were treated to a few new faces that replaced some missing ones- Dia- mond Dave Jewell and his famous Bible lll course, Sir Hugh Silk and his red herrings, Butts Burney and his cloud of smoke, and Chico Spanos and his iazz records. These and others descended upon the Hill. Before we became firmly settled as upper- classmen, we marched in a stalwart line to Sha- ddow Lake, determined that this year . . . it took the Senior musclemen 4:25 minutes to wet us all. We had a very successful first semester. The football team, blessed with thirteen Juniors, had an undefeated season. The cross-country squad, led by four Juniors, went undefeated and cap- tured the New England Championships. As we reflected upon these facts, Christmas vacation sneaked stealthily up behind us, beating a dish- pan. Chagrined, we left for home.

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q 1- CLASS HISTORY HE first hectic day of our stay on the hill is as well remembered as our last. We were dazed by the long, whirling process line in Holbrook, but were soon brought to our senses by the vigorous handshake of the tall man with the deep voice. We iourneyed to the store, where we were again dazed, but once more brought sharply to our senses, this time by the price of the piles of books in front of us. Heavily burdened, we staggered across the road to the cottages. Here we asked, Which end is number one? Before we finally fell asleep that night, we had definite ideas concerning our exclusive ownership of Mount Hermon. The old students returned the next day, and all our cherished dreams were rudely cast to the ground in pieces. We learned a lot that year. We were instructed in the fundamentals of study, room cleaning, and handling a shovel, both in the barns and in the classroom. We picked up the basic principles of rabble on our own and learned the hard way how to get along with table heads. Our class took identity as Johnny Leyden became class President. We held our Freshman class party, and it was a frankly dismal affair. The next day it was confirmed that all Sem freshmen were out of this world. lSome cynical boys were heard to mention the term unearthly. i At least we were all Don Juans. T6

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We returned to green blackboards and sound- proof ceilings. Amazed, we discovered that we could flunk tests iust as well in these pleasant surroundings. Several organizations sprang up on campus, among them the Rippers, a club which special- ized in ripping T-shirts from unsuspecting passers- by. The President of this idealistic club, Lee Poole, had the hilarious experience of ripping his own T-shirt from someone else's back. After a hectic winter term, we once more departed to the evils of civilization. The spring term was too much for us. We saw hard-boiled Seniors becoming sentimentalists. Often we caught a varsity footballer gazing starry-eyed at the rolling hills across the valley. Dubiously we asked ourselves if we would ever descend to that state. Before long we found ourselves taking the helm from the expiring Seniors. Lindfors was elected Students' Council President, Leyden re- ceived the Presidency of the Senior Class, and Lange and Sharp were chosen Gateway and Hermonite editors. Some of us even got to be table heads. Finals loomed ahead of us, but we somehow found time to drop Coke bottles out of our windows onto Crossley's walk, practice for Sacred Concert and Patience, train for our successful lnterscholastics, and dream of sum- mer vacation. At last it came, and we left en- thusiastically to test the metal in the fenders of our fathers' cars. Many of us found that it was not as tough as we had expected, but insurance covered that. With cigarettes in one hand and all our par- ents' savings in the other, we invaded Hermon's hill for the last time-the last for most of us, at least. October came quickly. We marched confidently to the banks of Shadow Lake and watched the Juniors dive for salamanders. Moun- tain Day came a little later in October than usual, but it was a holiday, at any rate. ln the silliest display of clothing imaginable, we piled into the waiting faculty cars and roared oFf at top speed, with Harry Hueg leading the pack in The Green Beetle. Special mention should here be given Dr. Rubendall, for this was the first time in eight years that he didn't get lost en route. After wolfing down the meal so dili- gently prepared for us by the loving hands of the faculty chefs, we were ready to climb. Maurice Lange, Scotty McLeod, and Bob Lloyd took off like homesick angels and reached the top in that order. It was a tired, but happy class of Seniors that didn't do its assignments that night for the next day. Mountain Day was followed by the two big- gest football games of the year, Exeter and Deerfield. The former was a complete walkover, with Hermon doing the walking, 47-7. Then the entire Mount Herman community traveled to Deer- field for the annual classic game. Fighting against the tremendous spirit of Mount Hermon, Deer- field experienced little difficulty in keeping its own score, which was O. Mount Hermon rolled up 27 big points. With this victory, the Class of i953 established the record of never having seen its football team get dumped by the Green.