North Andover High School - Knight Yearbook (North Andover, MA)

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THE GOBBLER-1945 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS HISTORY FI T last June had come. In that eventful year of 1941 we emerged from H grammar school amidst sad goodbyes and not so muffled sighs of relief. We L | were given two months to recuperate from the shock of being told we had now achieved that longed-for title, freshmen. Then came that fateful day in September when we reported to the hall for instructions from Mr. Hayes, our new principal. Then for two weeks we invari¬ ably went to the wrong room every other period until we finally grasped the totally different system of bells and room changes. Class officers were elected in September, too. Top honors went to Bill McEvoy for president and John Ward for vice-president. Due to ballot stuffing, our first attempt at politics, we did not elect a secretary. In November we had our first dance. For weeks before, the seniors had patiently shown us the fundamentals of dancing, but to no avail. Only a few of us dared to leave those protecting walls and corners of the hall to dance. December brought that horrible word, war. We assembled in the hall to hear Congress vote for war, a war which is at this moment raging furiously in the four corners of the world. In January we lost our beloved Miss Green to a lucky man, and gained a new friend, Miss Donlan. After this we, the Class of 1945, prepared for the return dance to the seniors and it was a real success with its songs, solos, and a little sketch the boys put on. We elected Bill McEvoy as president again for our sophomore year. John Sullivan was vice-president and Lorraine Lewis was secretary. Sophomores! That was the proud title we bore now. December’s events included the Sopho¬ more-Junior dance and of course Christmas and New Year’s Day. After viewing the play “Lamb to the Slaughter” we happily adjourned for two months. We started our junior year by electing officers as usual. Bill McEvoy, John Sullivan and Lorraine Lewis were elected president, vice-president and secretary, respectively. This was the year our football team won every game except one. We all will remember Ray Sullivan and Donald Rennie, the co-captains, who carried that pigskin down the field many times to keep us on top for weeks. The first few months of 1944 were filled with the excitement of compiling the Service Directory, which proudly listed all Johnson students, from Pearl Harbor on, who were in the Armed Forces. The service flag was dedicated early in January. It was presented by Tom Gosselin, on behalf of the Stamp Com¬ mittee, and accepted by Mr. Hayes on behalf of the school. The flag, five by eight feet, represented 130 pupils, one of whom had paid the supreme sacrifice. Our shiny new rings now proudly encircled our fingers and we dared anyone to say their school was better than good old Johnson High. The football team was treated to a banquet by the Eclectic Club at the Grange Hall. Just after this the chemistry classes had a few hairsingeing experiments. 24

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THE GOBBLER-1945 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL for bombing from across the sea. This could go on almost indefinitely. The world is getting smaller and smaller, and also countries are becoming more and more interdependent, so this war of science must stop. While I was turning this subject over in my mind and forming the ideas, I went to a service in which a Negro quartet was singing spirituals. One of them immediately caught my attention and I realized that it was just what I wanted to bring out—that it expressed exactly the theme of my talk. “I Ain’t Goin’ to Study War No Mo’.” If science could only use that as a theme and turn to a study of peace with such vigor as they study war! Of course someone will say that all the discoveries in this war are not for destructive purposes and many of them can be used effectively for the good of mankind after the war. Radar can be used to guide ships and airplanes for safety, rocket bombs may be made into meteorological rockets and experimental space ships, jet propulsion will prove to be a new era in engines, and the compli¬ cated bomb sights may be turned into mechanical brains. Also great advances in medicine and in the control of disease have been made which will prove very helpful after the war. But what a price in human lives, property, suffering, and destruction we have paid for these advances! This spring when our beloved President passed away, all the networks of our country canceled all commercial broadcasts and for three days we heard nothing but music, songs, and tributes to our late President. When we hear of things like this we realize the tremendous good that science can do and our faith in it is strengthened greatly. But when at the same time we realize that the German radio was broadcasting lies, insults, and rejoicing over his death, we begin to doubt again. Scientists must cooperate with each other and humanity, because in the future science can mean a great benefit to mankind or its eventual destruction. We have now reached the day we have been looking forward to for many years—the day we could rejoice and say goodby to all the teachers and the school. But now that it is here we aren’t half as glad as we thought we would be. In fact we are actually sad, because we are going to miss the good times we had together, the acquaintances we made, and the happy-go-lucky life of high school. The road ahead will not be easy. Some of us will go on to college, some of us will see service in the armed forces, some of us will start our life’s work, but whichever road we take will involve much hard work. We wish to thank Mr. Hayes and all the teachers at Johnson who have shown us splendid cooperation and thoughtful interest during our four years here. Their leadership and guidance have made our days here successful and they were always ready to help us out if we needed it. We shall always remember them and our happy days here at Johnson as we bid them a sad farewell. Roger S. Smith 23

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THE GOBBLER-1945 JOHNSON HIGH SCHOOL We had just recovered from the excitement of the Prom, our first formal dance, when we were released from school for two short months to prepare for the coming responsibility of being seniors. This was it! The year we had been waiting for! Our last year together, and it passed so quickly because of the innumerable things we, as seniors, had to do. Bill, Jack and Rainy were re-elected as usual, and then we gave the custom¬ ary dance honoring the new freshmen. It was now that such revered phrases as, “Joe Kemp” and “Huba Huba” were used to give that uniqueness to our Turkey Town Talk. At this point I must caution the reader never, never to use those two sacred phrases in such a manner as to mar their present meanings. Around March picture proofs started changing hands and we busily prepared the year book. The third week of the month found the pupils all dressed up in their Sunday best because the group pictures were going to be taken. The Physics class had one swell time with that shocking machine while Mr. Saunders tottered on a high ladder trying to get them in focus. In this busy month we also voted almost unanimously for a Prom. In April “Girl Shy,” a play, was proudly presented by our stage-minded group, who were ably coached by Miss Donlan. The carefree happiness of this April was shattered by the unexpected announcement of the death of our beloved President Roosevelt. Our seniors now started leaving us for the armed forces. Tom Crabtree, Ben Hollins, Ed Cunningham, Lloyd Bauchman, Dave Pickles and Archie Cousins were among the first to leave us. Jack Sullivan and Arnold Wilcox left us in May. Even with these losses we managed to prepare for grad¬ uation. With tear-filled eyes we waved goodby to Johnson, turned around and faced the rapidly changing future with stern hearts and high ambitions. Fred R. Messina CLASS PROPHECY I WAS just closing the store “Bill’s Apothecary Shop” on the night of June 15, 1955, when in walked John Wood and George Tardiff, co-owners of the Tardiff Wood Bobbin Shop. As it was late and business was dull, we got talking and suddenly remembered that it was just ten years ago tonight that we men graduated. The boys asked me if I knew where some of our old class¬ mates were. Of course, I knew where all of them were, because I received all the gossip in the store. I was about to begin my story when a big noise barged in, and of course there was Stewart Wilson, the low pressure salesman. Stewart was selling reversible roller skates for backward children. With his gift of gab, if you want to call it a gift, he can sell anything. After things quieted down, I started my story again. It went something like this. LeRoy Gabriel Marland is a news commentator, advertising his own products on the radio. He owns a concern which manufactures pool room accessories and his new theme song is “One Cue Ball.” Arnold Wilcox has taken over 25