Northside High School - Bruin Yearbook (Fort Smith, AR)

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4 5 Lightning struck and dam- aged the smokestack last year, prompting its repair and repaint- ing. Tl1is nostalgic landmark was painted last in 1969. Decorated cars, eating eggs as punishment for throwing them, and special morning meditations by the Creative Writing class were all part of this year's Northside-Southside week, but the Battle of Rogers Avenue is nothing new. Long before Southside the rivalry was between the Van Buren Pointers until the annual game was diswntinued because of vandalism. h I Used even before World War Il, the Student Council gavel was carved from one of the walnut spokes of a caisson from the first fort. The gavel used to sport red and white streamers until the mde presidents believed the ribbons wee too feminine, aoeording to Mr. Wayne Bledsoe, SC sponsor. Following the national an- them, Janet Alexander will sing the Alma Mater, which was written in 1937 by a profes- sional songwriter.

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I O O girls dressing rooms and a balcony with a capacity of 700. An increase in enrollment neces- sitated the construction in 1935 of a stadium and building fupper right, just north of the main building. The Grizzly athletic field was completed at that time also. The present home ec building fbottom rightj was a four-unit apart- ment building before being purchased by the school in 1951. During the fall of 1956 a new wing fupper middlej was constructed I . , '51 w .F 5 over existing tennis courts. The school was without tennis courts until the class of '75 had new ones put down. The armex included an additional gym, now known as Gym B. In April 1962 the school board voted to annex Peabody Elementary School fupper lefty. Elementary classes used the first floor rooms and the high school the second Only tenth graders, however, assigned classes at Peabody. With the construction of a second Smith story. were high school fSouthsidej, Fort High School was changed to Northside High School in August 1961. Costing approximately S350,000, a new fieldhouse fbottom leftj was completed in October 1964 west of the main building. Ee? fr ' :asa l::: qi V is :Q EEE! 5555 ll ll , ll ' ' ' lll llll ll! I! rl lli lil! U! llll -353 Iill 'ill ii' 1 flfv: 4-'ggi W 5 af- . , 'Pg' IIIHN- -gg' E ai 2 md oil 1 lfl rx E1 I l Wai' .::: al

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'ww- 'l'o raise greatiy needed money for the band, an annual queen ' contest was oriilated in 1959. On September 8 Kendra Wallace was Dancing to the beat of the band dnce 1964, the Snper Bear helps to boost the Grizzly spiit. radi ions. . . Given to the school by the Frisco Raihoad about 1960, the Senior Bell, once called the Vktory Bell, is rung when the Grizrlies make a favorable play. downed the 20th band queen by Mr. Ronald Garner, band director. Her escort was drum major john Sneaker. Other traditional queens are chosen for football and badxetball homecomings. Newer schools might be of modern construction with new-fangled gadgets, but none of them can match the warmth and the sense of be- longing of an older school such as Northside. These feelings come from carrying on traditions that could only spell out NHS. Homecomings have given birth to many of these traditions-from the camival festivities to the queen cor- onation. Countless annual performances have material- ized on the auditorium's stage-from Sock'n' Buskin's plays to Senior Fling, Junior Variety and the Do-Your- Own-Thing Assembly. Since this is the build- ing's 50th birthday, it is interesting to take a peek at the history and traditions of the past years. Who knows, maybe after the next 50 years some of the rituals started this year will still be around. Teacher judges, dedding that the sophomore dass had the most spirit at the second competition pep rally, present dass president Debbi Minick with the tradition- al spirit stick.