North High School - Tower Yearbook (Wichita, KS)

Page 15 text:

f 1. Bearing torches to light the bonfire to sig- nify the 50th football game are Cross Country runners Mike Howell, East, and Marty Winslow, '79, 2. Honklng horns and shouts of We're num- ber one , announces the arrival of the spirited car caravan. 3. Happy Birthday to you , , . Proving that rivals can also be friendly, East Aces cheer- leaders congratulate North on its fiftieth year. 4. Touchdown, somewhere under a pile of Aces a Redskin cradles a football, that helped to add to a score of 19-17, Redskin victors. lng of the junlors of both schools and the senlors of both schools Qsopho- mores were equally dlvlded between the twol competed In rough games llke catching a greased plg, cllmblng a greased pole, pushball, and tug-o'-war. Described Roy Groe, North's athletlc dlrector ln 1940, Field Day got to be a knockdown, drag-out thlng. There were Injurles by the dozen, and lts amazlng that no one got klIled. By World War ll, however, Fleld Day ended because of the roughness. Sadly, the hlgh lntenslty of the North-East rlvalry has also ended, due to the fact that nlne teams now com- pete ln the Clty League. No longer do North students have a ready-made ex- cuse for gettlng out of school for a half-day, going palnt happy, or deck- Ing a non-Redskin durlng a fleld game. The splrlt Is stlll present, but now more pro-North and fewer antl-any ln- dlvldual team, just because there are too many teams to work up a good honest hate for. But the North-East game stlll deserves notoriety ln the an- nals of hlstory, through the vehe- mence which Its past games have ln- voked. fm' gif s-4 fsf'

Page 14 text:

T I-IE Rl ALRY Spirited North-East Vendetta Endures For 50 Years There ls, ln sports, a certaln Intensl- fylng, excltlng element known as an arch rlvalry. The opposlng school ln such a rlvalry must be beaten at all costs, ln order to avold Ilvlng under an embarrasslng cloud of defeat for an entlre year. That one speclal game can make a one-and-elght season a wln- nlng season, as long as the slngle vlc- tory ls agalnst that other schooI. For North Hlgh, that must-wln game has been agalnst the East Hlgh Aces.AIth- ough the opening of West Hlgh In 1953 ended Wlchlta's days of belng a two- school town, and consequently some of the rIvalry's fervor, the North-East game wlll always be somethlng spe- clal, lf only because of the rlvaIry's zealous hlstory. On the day of the football game, stu- dents were released from school at around noon for all of the pre-game actlvltles. A parade comprlsed of both of the schools' bands, several floats from each school, and varlous dlgnl- tarles of the school system made Its way down Douglas, lnvolvlng the en- tlre clty In the rlvalry. Besldes the bands and floats, former North athle- tlc dlrector Blll Klncald always trled to get a student to dress up ln war palnt and bonnet to rlde along on some sway-backed horse. The rldlng Red- skln added a North Hlgh touch to the parade that the Aces never could du- pllcate. After the game, students from both of the schools would go to a dance sponsored by elther North or East for the crownlng of Grandstand Sue and Plgskln Pete. The dance sup- posedly made everyone frlends agaln after the normally bltter contest, and was usually peaceful. Perhaps the most bltter football game of the rlvalry was In 1948, In terms of both weather and game. The parade was cancelled on account of sleet and sub-freezlng weather, al- though a few tough tradltlonllsts ex- hlblted thelr floats on Douglas wlthout the rest of the procession. Both North and East were undefeated, and, as the game was always the last of the sea- son, It was to determlne the Ark Valley champlon. During the flrst half, both teams sllpped and stumbled up and down the fleld but nelther team could score. In the thlrd quarter, however, the Aces recelved a punt on thelr own flfteen-yard llne, and fumbled It away a few yards later. Ell Romero scored the Redskln's touchdown from flve yards out, and Bob Cooper klcked the seventh polnt through the uprlghts. East later scored a touchdown but could not convert, and North beat the Aces for the flrst tlme In slx years, seven to slx. The exuberant students then went to the dance at the Forum, held there for the flrst tlme because of the extra large crowd, and burnt off the day's excltment to the tunes of Dlck Haughton's band. Some students, however, rldded thelr excess energy In a more artlstlc way. Every few years students would bulld enough nerve to go on an Infa- mous palntlng expedltlon. The key tar- get of the North Hlgh Art Club was, and stlll ls, the statue In front of East Hlgh, whose students could and usual- ly would return the favor all over the Mlnlsa Brldge, only ln blue Instead of red. Occaslonally the culprlts were caught, but when they were not, the Student Legislature of the offendlng school had to pay for the expenses of restorlng the artwork to Its orlglnal color. Thls was not the occaslon In 1943, however, when Prlnclpal E. C. Strange concluded that Darrell Green, '43, had done the dlrty deed, by the brlght red palnt all over DarreII's hands the next mornlng. Another rath- er lnept eplsode occurred before the 50th Annlversary game, In 1978. Not only were North students caught palntlng a statue, but It happened to be the Roosevelt Junlor Hlgh statue, and not the one In front of East. Naturally, the superintendent of schools always trled to prevent these klnds of vandallsm, and one of the technlques used was Fleld Day. Fleld Day orlglnated when there was only one hlgh school ln Wlchlta on North Emporla, and was then Intended to consume the rlvalry between junlors and senlors In a supervlsed way. But Fleld Day's purpose changed after North opened, to break down the sometlmes destructlve rlvalry be- tween North and East. Teams conslst- I r I I I 1 1 4 1 I I 1 J l

Page 16 text:

If ,Yr sa ,iw rw is 'E+ . vkjlijsgffl .S , W hi . X 1 .1 L in ew? , . -' inch Nw . A , I , Q, If ,sl ,,,, wWVA,:-align, , pgs .---. . Q,-.fe I iq P .-4- -M 1: 4 R 'IQ-f .- rf , N, -Wm. I.. 'X . . , 5' '.- Q 9' , 4 If ' fd ' f. -I -z-,fy Jr 1. .,-, 5 '. ' 1 H .' SCT. .I Q- - . fs Vgpgg, W -1 .3 W ,W .. 3 U. f gi ' A J-.T VM f Wg' vm . . ' iv N .,.. I ...go f J - . ,V , 1, E -uw gg r Q .. Q5 ML. Q .9 f, --t .ul J Q. We we I 1 L R '9 l f 'I'T -e K 1 -- e P' -5-. ' ' I7 kd, -if e- 't ' ??2? ??ii c ---4-4 r. 1-QI 'mf f, lac-sm a 1: 'J'i:: 4 --,W . ,,..,.-V whey , 4. f' .. I A -ix 5 A R ' -1 S- Z? River Reveals FestivaI's History I had come to thls spot under the Mlnlsa Brldgewlth absolutely no clar- lty of purpose. This Idea of lntervlew- Ing a rlver was beyond ebsurdlty, more Into the realm of lnsanlty. My blank notebook paper rustled In the cool breeze, addlng Its sound to the soft gurgle of water against the brldge. My lnltlal, embarrassed hellos had gone unanswered, and a teellng of foollsh- ness crept lts scarlet-hued way Into my face. But, much to my shocked sur- prlse, a deep, echoing volce answered .,,. hat I had prevlously thought would I my st word to be spoken under ,M ,lg , - 4 I. -algae brldlge. The boomIng,sllghtIy lrate ,Q- 3.YIeIl. boy, 'lfve been flowing along this spat-Jer some tlme now. Longer What do you want? had so flabber- gastgd me that I could at flrst do llttle but sputter. Eventually, I rather stut- than a thousand Ilfetlmes of a tadpelelgib ltgrlngly ' Introduced myself and ex- pllkeyou. I remember way beck befqre 'ihy whlte -man ha:I.sseen fmq,4, when ,fl Ilned ,my,banks, and bilffalo --r .water :Ffh l f . . plaliied-my deslre for Inslde Infor- e lrnatlon onthe North Hlgh Water Festl- val:f1'he llver's grumpy, answerlng- the-telephone-at-three-In-the-mornInge A Q, 'F V ,xg 'sf A i I' W- . ,.-,,r.,ls- . , who M. me ,aw - tone of volce was lnltlally unsettllng to me, but, llke a retired army colonel telllng war storles, he soon warmed to the subject of himself. v As I was saylng, boy, the flrst whlte man that I ever saw was . . . , I-ley, are you gettlng all of thls down? i Yes sIr, I lled gullltlly, but what I would realy llke to know Is your reac- tlon upon learnlng of plans forthe 1930 water festlval. r Well, I found out about that flrst festival on the seniors try-out dayi The Idea struck me ashbielng a llm- dandy, slnce I was klnd of the guest of honor. The water festlval was the bralnchlld-soft John Johnson, North Hlgh's flrst athletlc dlrector, who -had partlclpated In a slmllar event as a col1 lege student. Events of the water festl- val Included .both swlmmlng and ca4 noe races, -followed by a nlghttlme spot-llghted procession of decorated lcanoes. ' By the end' off the ' races, the , K X ,