North Carolina School for the Deaf - Clock Tower Yearbook (Morganton, NC)

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Boys’ BASKETBALL GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

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“ 5 THE CLOCK TOWER “ Thanksgiving Drama This year was the first time our school had attempted to give a play in the auditorium as part of the Thanksgiving Program. According to reports received from the spectators, this was the best play ever presented on our stage. Mrs. George H. Bailey directed the play and Miss Mary Frances Miller, crafts teacher, was in charge of the scenery. The setting was the kitchen of a log cabin at Plymouth, Mass. away back in 1621. The interior of the kitchen was very simple although realistic. The log walls were made of paper mounted on plywood and the stone fireplace also looked very convincing, although it too was made of paper. Snow-capped trees and glitter- ing snowflakes could be seen through the cab- in’s one window. The room was furnished with colonial ta- bles, chairs, a spinning wheel, a bed-warming pan, rags rugs, gourd dippers, a musket, and a dutch oven. At one time in the play a pan of bread dough was placed in the oven and later taken out fully baked, much to the astonish- ment of the audience. Those taking part in the play were: Pattie Kerley, Kenneth Leonard, Richard Absher, Joyce Gallimore, Ronald Richards, Dan Miller and Everette McAllister. They were all authen- tically dressed in costumes of the pilgrim days. These costumes were the work of the girls’ sew- ing classes under Mrs. Wesson and Mrs Free- man. Christmas Pageant For several years the Christmas Pageant has been an annual affair on the stage in our audi- torium. Each year seems to find quite a bit of improvement over the previous pageant. Mrs. Marie Davis and Mrs. Addie Knox were in charge of the program, which was attended by quite a few people from Morganton in addition to the students and faculty members. Frances Withrow enacted the part of Mary, Elrice Daniels was Joseph, Earleen Crater was Gabriel. Pattie Kerley, Ollie Calhoun, and Dot- tie Moore were the angels, Buford Pressley played the part of King Herod, and the girls and boys from 11th grade acted as wise men and travelers. The entire story of the birth of Jesus was portrayed. Beginning with the angel’s visit to Mary, we saw scenes at the inn in Bethlehem, Joseph and Mary in the stable, the angel’s visit to the shepherds, the three Wise Men following the star, and the Baby Jesus in the manger. Throughout the play the stage was lighted with a beautiful colored spotlight, which changed colors according to the mood of the scene taking place. The acting, costumes and the lighting effects were superb. Many voted it the best pageant held in years. The spectators were held spell- bound by the beauty and reality of this port- rayal of the Christmas Story.

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“3 THE CLOCK TOWER 2 Sports By MELVIN ELLIs FOOTBALL As another school year nears its end, we can look back over a rather successful year in athle- tics. Our teams did not have an extraordinary string of victories nor did they win any cham- pionship, but they did put up a good fight in every game and never failed to show good sportsmanship. This sportsmanship, even in the face of hopeless odds, did much to create re- spect for our teams. Practice opened August 20, with forty boys reporting to try out for berths on the team. Coach. Fishler, who replaced Raymond Butler, really put the boys through a rigorous session of conditioning before allowing any scrimmage. At first it appeared that the loss of four lettermen from last years squad would weaken the team considerably, but Coach Fishler soon found men to fit into the vacant positions. However, no one could be found to duplicate the passing of Marvin Tuttle, a fact which hindered the team throughout the session. Perhaps the most exciting games of the year were the ones with the Florida and Virginia Schools for the Deaf. Florida was defeated by a score of 7-4 on the Morganton High School field and this was probably the cleanest game of the year. The game with Virginia was played on the Virginia field and ended in a 19 - 32 defeat for the Bears. Both Wayne Hilton and Melvin Ellis were injured in this game, but luckily they were able to finish the season. The most heartbreaking game of the year came near the end of the season when the Bears ran up against the strong Hickory team and went down in defeat to the tune of 54 - 6. In this game the Bears again gave the fans a taste of their unbeatable spirit and sportsmanship. Although Hickory had a vast advantage in weight and substitutes, the Bears kept plung- ing until the end. So many of the N. C. boys were injured in this game that it was necessary to forfeit the final game of the year with Lin- colnton. It was discovered that Earl Smith had suffered a ruptured kidney and fractured vert- brae in this game and had to be taken to Charlotte Memorial Hospital. At the time of this writing, we are happy to say that Earl has completely recovered and is back in school. In summing up the season’s record we find that of the thirteen games played, four were wen and one was a tie. This record may not seem so impressive, but when one takes into consideration the tremendous odds against which the Bears had to complete he must admit that to win even four games took a “never say die” spirit. R. H. Bledsoe, veteran lineman, won a honorable mention on the All-State team and also a position on the All-American Schools for the Deaf team. BOYS’ BASKETBALL After a brief rest from the rigors of the foot- ball season, the Bears assembled in the gym on December 1, to begin practice for a 16 game basketball schedule. Bernie Cumbee, Marvin Tuttle, and Truitt Saunders were missing from this years team, but Coach Fishler soon found replacements. The gym floor was painted and the seats also received a couple coats of paint, and then the Bears really buckled down to practice - hoping to avenge some of their grid- iron defeats. In an exhibition game with the Statesville All-Stars on December 13, the Bears gave the fans a peek at what was in store for them by completely out-classing the visitors to the score of 42-33. The first conference game of the season was with our old rival, Morganton High School. This game turned out to be a thrilling over-time affair which ended in a 30-29 victory for Morganton. In the second conference game, Shelby gave the Bears a 31-21 licking. By the time the third game rolled around, the Bears were in better condition and proceeded to whip the taller Rutherfordton quintet 46-29. On January 20, a return game was played with Morganton High School and