Nitro High School - Nitronian Yearbook (Nitro, WV)

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 Well-well, Nancy Ellis and Bill Bailes, they were al- ways such a loving couple. They now own and operate a large hay farm in Ohio, and the little ‘BALES’ (of hay that is) are really gaining fast.” “Now there’s Bill Mottesheard—he always dressed so nice and looked so neat even at the end of a school day. And you couldn’t guess what Bill Is doing now—yes, that's right, he’s a model in Nitro’s own Army and Navy Store. And in his spare time he helps Bennie Martin, manager of the store, with the trade. Jane and Alice smile as their eyes rest on three sweet girls, Eleanor Casto, Betty Jo Painter, and Janet Burford. “These three have married their Sissonville Indians and have decided to promote better teams for the future. One has decided on raising a football team, one a basket- ball team, and the other a squad of cheerleaders. So far they have a pretty good start. ’ The two that really surprised me,” remarked Jane, “Were the Cook twins, Harold and Howard. These l oys were always so quiet in class and now they are the only twin 'Hog Callers’ known in the history of the United States. They are with the ‘Catch-All-Circus’ under the direction of Tom Simms. It seems that their business is a thriving one.” “Ray Dudding, Ottis Coodall, and James Harris have made the sports headlines. They are players on the pro team ‘The Triple M’ (mighty muscle men). Yes, these boys were always having a time playing ping-pong against one another so they have changed the game a little so they could nlay together. They have been de- feated only once ancf that was by the undefeated ‘Triple Threatening Toughnecks’ which consists of Barbara Stull, Juanita King and Eileen Hinkle.” “Louise Hill and Billie Christian, two rather quiet but industrious girls, now have a beauty salon in Wolfe Pen Hollow. Their slogan is ‘If we can’t fix you nobody can!!’ The girls say they would really make good money if it weren’t for the fact that ‘Doc Wolfe (he owns most of the property around there) charges so much for the use of a walk to get into the salon. You remember ‘Doc’, he always liked easy money, and this seems the easiest way possible to make it. “And there’s poor Betty Eskew. After seven years in ‘Walla-Walla for the murder of an old heart throb from Morris Harvey, Betty finally bribed the caretaker Edna Angeli to bring her jumping beans for dinner one day so that she might jump through the window from the 13th floor so as to end her misery and shame.” “Walter Magaw is an engineer on the New York-to- London non-stop run rocket boat, which travels 1,000 miles an hour. Walter always did go in for fast things.” “Don McCrew, the oversized human (?) stands behind a bar day and night. As a great lawyer, he is working on the famous case ‘Who Stole President’s James Com- stock’s Beer Mug?’ Feeble-minded James after one drink, never knows where anything goes to. After a year’s hard work on the case. Bob ‘Patrick Henry’ Harris con- fessed the crime and returned the beer mug to Presi- dent Comstock.” “John Lynch is now a salesman for the ‘Fulla-Bull’ brush company. He sells brushes to the girls who want to give the boys the ‘brush-off’.” “Bill ‘Dashhound’ Gibson is a big politician now. He is going around politicking’ for county dog catcher. “Lester Iludnall decided to go to mechanical school, lust to show how much his education has helped him, he now tightens nuts (bolts) on motorcycles at Grover’s Service Station.” Our musically inclined Clarence Burdette, who always did such a good job of playing first chair trombone in the Nitro band, is now playing second ‘shoe-horn’ in Bob Comstock’s shoe store. It is said that Bob is going bank- rupt as Clarence is ‘blowing’ the customers away.” “Charles Draper is doing his daily dozen as a bouncer at a high class night club. Charlie always did have plenty of ‘pitch’ didn’t he?” “Charles H. Boggess has been doing a lot of research work for the Buck Rogers Space Ship Corp. He received the ‘Nowbell’ prize for the most effort made and least results achieved.” Charlie Raynes, a certain lady’s man, is now a great Hollywood star. He got his start as the voice for the ‘Lifebuoy Foghorn Co.’, and has now been promoted to ‘sound effects’ man.” “Good-hearted Sue Osborne has just recently found the only known home for stray cats. She has as mem- bers on her staff of helpers Sue Alexander and Jane Marshall. Sue is chief cook, while Jane sees that the cats have their daily baths and exercise.” “Christina Mattox and Betty Criner, two pals in high school, are really very busy now. Christina spends all of her time taking care of little ‘sweet Williams’ (not flowers either!) and Betty Lee has a couple of ‘nit-Witst’ to occupy nearly all of her time.” “Doris Gibson and Argeatha Snodgrass met with a terrible experience. One day they went down to the pier and rented a boat to go fishing. About half-way out in the river the boat sprang a leak and while they were struggling to keep the boat aloft, they noticed a large black ship on the horizon. This ship was owned by none other than Captain Gene ‘Robinson Crusoe’ Bur- dette and his man Bob ‘Friday’ Cook, who are wanted for piracy on the high seas. They whisked these maids off to sea and the last account of them they were being auctioned off as slave girls in Cairo, Egypt. “Sigh, there’s Bob Cavender’s picture. He always was a handsome brute! Seems he’s just signed a contract with Raymond Turley’s movie company and is the star of ‘Frankinstein’s Brother’, their latest chiller-diller.” “Eileen Howard now owns and operates a one-table pool room, you see this is just a start and right now she has Detective David Turner on a very miserable care and business can’t go on until the case has been solved. Eileen has a large sign on the door that says, ‘Closed Shop’ or ‘Who Took the Pool Table?’ During this slack in business Eileen collects hat checks on the express bus from Charleston to Nitro.” “Oh, my rheumatism,” said Alice Jane. “Why, there’s ‘Tonsi’ Ferrarfs picture. Wasn’t it a shame that such a mystery is connected with her? You know it seemed she always had a big interest in Winfield. She finally hooked a man and settled down there. But one day as she and some of her little ‘Tonsi’s’ were out in a large field pickin’ daisies, a large gust of wind came along and blew her away. The poor little, frail thing was ‘Gone w th the Wind!’ ” “Well,” said Jane, “now that we have found out where and what all our classmates are doing, we had better go to the depot and see what time the next freight train is scheduled to leave so that we won’t miss it.” Thus the two girls closed the weather-beaten and worn yearbook and the Kanawha Valley Leader, and with dirty faces that were now streaked with tears and their hearts filled with renewed memories of the seniors of ’49, they moped on into the depot and out of sight. Page Seventeen

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I. Senior Class Prophecy This scene takes place in an old boxcar on the side- tracks behind the Nitro Depot. We see two “used-to-be- belles” of Nitro high school sitting there with a very treasured book in their dirty, rough hands. It is the 1949 Nitro high school annual. These girls, Alice Martin and Jane Ragle, were the ones that had set out to make something of themselves, and they were doing pretty well until they lost all their alimony from their fourth and fifth husbands respectively, in a big gambling game in Reno. The girls’ greatest desire then was to travel, and hopping freights being the only way they could afford, naturally, it was decided upon. So now in the year of 1965, we find them back in Nitro smiling reminiscently as they leaf through the pictures of the seniors of ’49. Alice was saying to Jane, “Weren’t we lucky to bum this Kanawha Valley Leader that has published the where- abouts of our dear classmates?” Jane replied, “We sure were, I see where Ray Morris, dear ole’ bashful Ray is now coach of the Nitro Wildcats. It seems that Ray’s team has just come back from Morgantown after winning the state championship. The shock of it all has sent Ray to Spencer (via ambulance).” Next they see the names of Gene Merket and Helen Hedrick. They are owners of a million dollar night club ;»nd all the profit is theirs as the orchestra is made up of little Merkets. They have a special attraction in which Helen does a bubble dance, but it seems they closed the place up as the crowd got the idea of carrying straight pins. Smoky Stover became head chemist at the Ohio Apex, but right now all the employees are out of work. Smoky was trying out a new experiment and all of a sudden - - BOOM!!! Looking on down the list they see the name of McCoy. Oh! Yes, dear old Gus has become known the world over for his version of “Groundhog.” “Betty Hammond Kirby is now the world’s greatest singer. She is really going places with her Be-Bop sing- ing, but in her spare time she teaches her little be-bops to play drums.” “Dear me,” said Alice to Jane, “Leave it to “Henri” Turley and “Heavy” Gibson to bring disgrace to Nitro high school. They had a business of their own, and were really making good at it until the police became sus- picious of such men as Ambrose Lovejoy, Curtis Sanders. Theodore Turley, and Lowell Wrieht using a back road into the hills of Rockv Fork, and followed them one day -just to find “Henri” and “Heavy” in the basement of their cabin brewing “apple-jack” by the gallons. The girls are now serving a term of ten years in “Sing-Sing.” “Look. said Jane, “Sammy Williams has finally filled his life’s ambition. Just recently he replaced Eddie Arnold on the Checkerboard feed store’s radio program. Bill Witt accompanies him with a guitar. These boys are not expected to be on the air long as it has been an- nounced by their sponsor that in the two weeks this show has been on the store has practically gone bank- rupt. Wonder why? “And do you remember Patty Yates’ love for the transit buses?” JAVell, Patty has changed to boats now, almost anyway.” She is the sole owner of two steam- boats. It was just last week that a passer-by saw Pattv standing so stately in the crow’s nest in one of her boats, yelling, “Throw the anchor, mate-I think it’s time for that transit bus.” Pattv’s first mate is none other than June Silman—these girls have broken all speed records on the Kanawha and Ohio rivers. The boats are called, “Gone with the Wind,” and “The Silver Streak.” “Mary Games and Evelyn Layne, ‘beauties’ of the class of 49 were disappointed in love. They are still very nice spinsters though, and are growing old gracefully on the porch of Grandma Norma’s Poor Farm, which is super- vised by Norma Kersey.” “Eleanor Stephens is now head of the Indianapolis Speedway and is the champion woman driver of America. In her leisure hours she is teaching her little Eleanors and Bills just how to be winners.” Dortha Wandling and Annabelle Turner now own and manage an up and coming skating rink on Tyler Mountain. A special attraction, featured on Saturday nights only, is a cousinly ‘dance-on-skates-team’ Betty and Iris Hamrick. My, how they do cover the floor and sometimes it’s not with their feet.” “Virginia Holley has now skyrocketed to fame in the movies. Her name is now Pansy Petunia. Her latest movie is ‘Perfume of Love.’ She has as her first maid and hairdresser Marilyn Remeelin. CC.wgp “It says here,” said Alice, “That Orvie Jordan and Alma I eadman have just finished a missionary course at Anderson College, and are on their way to India. Let’s hope they meet with more success than what we have.” “And there on the bottom of the page is Jo Ann Gilbert’s picture. Wasn't it a shame the trouble Jo Ann always had trying to hold a man? But now after taking ju-jitsu lessons for a couple of years from James Samples, JoAnn is getting along quite well.” “Oh, Yes!” said Jane, “There's Jean Basham. Poor Jean! She is now working her fingers to the bone to scrape up enough money to put Jack through college. Where Jean used to work for his love, she now works for his education, yes, that’s right-she is an assistant to Charles Higginbotham as window-washer of Nitro high school.” “Alice Ingram and Joan Craddock have gone quite well for themselves; they both sing for the dinner guests at “Harley’s Hang Out. owned by our own Harley Powell. The chief cook of the place is Clara Belle Lanham. Harley says she can really knock you dead, and there is no doubt of that as everytime you go in someone is being carried out. However, some of these cases could lx blamed on the drink-mixer Bill Lamb. Bill is now known for his version of “Kick-a-poo Juice.” Bill says it really has the kick. “Isn’t it a miracle how some people never change?” asked Alice Jane. “Take for instance. Jack Ingram. Poor Jack, he never acted as though he had energy to get from one class to another. And even though jack is now working his way through this busy world, you can guess what kind of job he’d choose. Yes, Jack is a tester for the ‘Rest-Easy’ Mattress Company. “And it was just yesterday,” said Jane, “That we saw that billing as we were coming through Sattes that the nation’s most nerve-wracking Hell-Drivers, featuring ‘Hot-Rod-Harry’ Tidd, ‘Speed-Demon’ Bill Kautz, ‘Fleet- Wing Charlie’ Dent Boggess, and ‘Tear ’Em Up’ Tom Simms, would be in town for a week’s attraction. ‘Hot- Rod-Harry,’ who is manager, says that your money is absolutely guaranteed if not satisfied throughout the act.” Pnu.f Sixteen

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Charles 11 igginbo tham Student Council 4 Football Manager I, 2 Louise Hill Eileen Hinkle Y Teens I, 2, 3, 4 Modern Miss 4 Lester Hudnall D. O. P. 4 Alice Ingram Voice Class 4 Glee Club 1. 2, 3, 4 A Capella Choir 3. 4 Library Club 2, 3, 4 Modern Miss 3, 4 All County Choir 3, 4 All State Choir 4 Y Teens 3. 4 Biology Club 2, 3, 4 G. A. A. 2 Jack Ingram Band I, 2, 3. 4 Voice 4 Virginia Holley Or vie Jordan Modem Miss Club 4 Library Club 3, 4 Y Teens 4 Voice Class 4 Bill Kautz Vice-President Senior Class Visual Education 3, 4 Masquers 4 Thespians 4 B sketbail 3 Class Tournaments I, 2. 3 Science Club 1 lunior Dramatic Club 1 Soft Ball 1. 2 Norma Lea Kersey Quill and Scroll 3, 4 Masquers 3, 4 Thespians 3, 4 Jr. Red Cross 3 Nation?! H nor Society 3. 4 Band I, 2, 3. 4 All County Band 3 Glee Club 1 Wildcat Staff 4 Risketball 1 Biology Club 2, 3 Page Eighteen