Notre Dame College - Moorings Yearbook (Staten Island, NY)

Page 99 text:

Father-Daughter Dance . . . Papa Won't You Dance with Me. tling down to the little a, b, c's of logic Mr. Seumus McManus arrived with his tales of the wee folk , shattering all our deduc- tive, or were they inductive, premises. For better or for worse, the Juniors then took us under their wings, as a precautionary mea- sure in view of hazing. Would they dare?- we naively wondered. The great awakening came a few days later, as with jaunty green bows bobbing on pigtails, we appeared sport- ing the latest in black cotton stockings, specially designed for wear with white bobby- sox and high heels. Bathing caps trimmed with tooth brushes bowed in submission until Pat Conniffe, Sophomore prexy, merci- lUllY put an end to the tragic comedy by QlVlnQ us the hatchet. Poor little lambs, shorn of our senioritis 50Dhistication, we set out to find a nook in our home away from home-we had given UD hope Of getting seats in the caf. Little Theatre and Glee Club were beleagured with Talents of all shapes and sizes, pitches and ranges, while the Varsity never fully re- covered from our dribbling . We promptly became l0Yal to Rochester and because Us were so fine we cheered us all the time. G cheered, cheered, cheered for the Fresh- men ' l:lnallY, the long-awaited Junior- men from ,Vince arrived and with it those anhattan, St. John's, Fordham, Freshman D St. Peter's, lona, and Seton Hall, who later mysteriously reappeared at the Sport l-lop. Remember the Paul Jones which ended up with Lil' Abner waltzing Cinderella around the floor. Just one week later the N.F.C.C.S. Relief Dance won our wholehearted support. The Bridge and Fashion Show was next on the agenda fby that time we had all mastered the art of bidding? and with it came the Gibson girl and swirling ballerina. As the holiday season approached Joan Costello, Frosh president, banded us together as Santa's helpers. There was a wreath in every window as Mary McArdle, playing the part of jolly old St. Nick, acted as our spokes- man in appreciation for our first few months at Notre Dame. Veterans of the Blizzard of '47, we attended the Heaven Sent formal, successor to the realistic Winter Whirl, garbed in our gay apparel. And a few weeks later we assumed that straight-haired look of exams! With thirty-two new recruits detailed to our troop, we were academically sworn in on that leap year's February 29th. lnvestiture was followed by a chorus of Papa Won't you Dance with Mel' at the Father-Daughter Dance, and Tramp, Tramp, Tramp as we marched down Fifth Avenue in the St. Patrick's Day parade. Recall those flowing gowns so well filled by winter coats, that

Page 98 text:

dfoaf afifze eladfi afl95l Christmas i947 . . . Joan Costello, Freshman proxy, banded us together as Santa's helpers. Time fashions the cloth out of which his- tory is made. lt intensifies the significance of events, outlining their conformity to the pattern of civilization and cutting away the ravelings of prejudice and 'self-interest which obscure our vision of that which is too close to us. Through the perspective of time, his- tory measures man, his rise, his progress, and his fall. It views his efforts and his achievements, it judges his principles and his ideals. But history must be written anew for the Class of '5l. As Freshmen we committed to memory Nevin's definition of history and then promptly set out to make our own. United in our individuality, we both adopted and adapted the traditions of the past to the pulsing spirit that was our flaming youth. September i947 . . . and the beginning of Notre Dame traditions found us parading up the hill to the first of those all com- prehensive assemblies with the Dean. ln Room 6 we were graciously enabled to grasp our relationship with the past, and to chart on general lines our immediate forward course. The first faltering step of that four year course was taken the very next day as we officially met the student body and unofficially absorbed the spectacle of bob- bing hats and bear-like embraces. Orien- tation to the ways of Notre Dame began with the serving of coffeelat the high tea held in our honor-and didn't we feel like speci- mens under observation, as amused and knowing looks were exchanged between upperclassmen. Basic training included our first experience with those benches at the Mass of the Holy Ghost, a barrage of tests, mostly psycholo- gical lwe were pigeon-holed from the startl, an enthusiastic introduction to Midland Beach prefaced by Chesterton, Dr. George's version of the Athenian bottle and Dr. Hart's Bostonian economics. Under Mr. Grace's tutelage we all become avid readers of the Altantic Monthly and prolix writers of our mental associations . Just as we werevset- February Frosh . . . With the arrival of Leap Year 32 new recruits were detailed to our troop.

Page 100 text:

SodaIity's Christmas Bazaar . . . The night we paraded home with stuffed animals, scrumptious cakes and empty purses. brought demands for Johnny Lujack and jibes regarding our back field positions. At last, a pause for meditation and initiation into the spirit of Lent was provided by Father Ansbro's thought provoking retreat, which concluded with the consideration that men are just as good as their women. With the tulips came two campus queens, Mary of Scotland and the Junior queen of the Flower Cotillion. Helen Lesch, our own soprano soloist CEmma wasn't available for a duet? starred at Glee Club's annual con- cert. A repeat performance was scheduled at Waterbury, Connecticut but Notre Dam- ians never did get to see that beloved spot of Rita Rompre, Rosemary Cianciola and Gertrude DiBlasi. Blue books were distrib- uted, impressively filled, and collected-and as with all due regard to impediments which may exist in individual cases we moved our tassels out of our right eye, and adjourned to Howard Johnson's, the first chapter ended. The following September saw us back trudging up Theresa and Eddy Places fthe short cut was still in usel just in time to compare suntans and jobs, .bargain for second-hand books and snatch a table in the caf, With an aloof air of detachment we surveyed the new fledgelings as possible material for our mass experiment. Little did they know, as they smiled shyly at our united front, the terrors of those baby days ahead. However, we soon surrendered to their dimpled charms and paid reparation at a buffet supper in the caf, followed by a real old-fashioned minstrel, complete with black face and white gloves. Never to be forgot- ten was the ever lovin Mandy , While becoming enthusiastic devotees of Canadian flavored philosophy, and volunteer subjects for Dr. Kubis' pathometer, we were introduced to the mysteries of the lab, more specifically the earth worm and Jack's coffee. We visited the chapel, newly panelled in Holly Hop . . . We concentrated on a prayerful, Please, no blizzard. - '-'- f - -1, .ff .- - - .- - .' -- 11 ' -7- -1 -- 'V -'-- -lf'-f-4 -' -- 3 L'-' - .. M'-L-iLJ'f,'o5'w-2e's:f'.': L--- . - .. .-W., ...... -. . ,- ..... . . ,. .. ., ,- . G