Oak Grove Coburn High School - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Vassalboro, ME)

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OAK LEAVES 1949 Instead of the high entrance on the South, there is again a daring touch in a modern picture window overlooking the long Kennebec Valley and yet designed with such feeling that it is also unobtrusive. A porch to balance the one on the Western corner has been added on the East of the tower, tying it in more closely with the Quadrangle on the hill. The grounds have been landscaped with the old road across the South front eliminated and a new driveway going past the new porch to an ample area for parking beyond the Chapel. The exterior is now a silver gray that exactly matches the ribbon of mist we see over the winding Kennebec River on so many mornings at Oak Grove. A legacy, gifts from several friends, and every- thing that might have gone into a transient celebration of Oak Grove's Centennial have been used for this and now we have a Chapel that is in- expressibly lovely. ON THE WAY TO CHAPEL 8

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OAK LEAVES 1949 entirely new project with a series of letters which told a story and which, perhaps, we liked best of all. Now we are wondering what new project Mrs. Pulsifer will have for the course next fall after she returns from her long summer re-visiting Europe and we are looking forward eagerly to our next course in Letter Writing when we welcome her back to Oak Grove. NEW CHAPEL The Centennial Commencement will be held in our Chapel which was built in Massachusetts sixteen years before Maine became an independent state and four years before the Constitution of this country was ratified. The main structure, which is now one hundred and sixty-five years old and has the mammoth original hand hewn timbers, was built on the simple lines of Quaker Meeting Houses of that day. A steeple, stained glass win- dows, and a golden oak wainscoting were embellishments added in the Nineties. With the necessity for more seating capacity, it has been given the appearance of much more length by recessing the complete pulpit into what had previously been a storeroom at the west end. There were certain constructional problems such as the support of the roof at that end, but these problems have been solved so unobtrusively and artistically that one is not only unaware of the problem, but one immediately feels an added length, serenity and beauty. With the skillful use of smaller arches in the distance and through low, wide steps on which the graduates will ascend to the seats at the right, the Colonial atmosphere of the early Meeting House has been recaptured, with complete lack of ornament except for the pillars. While the new design is chastely simple and unadorned, yet in a subtle way one immediately feels the atmosphere of an old cathedral. It has been done over with conservative simplicity but with the daring of youth and in a color scheme as new as tomorrow. Instead of a carpet with the traditional red or cathedral green and instead of the cream walls one invariably finds, the woodwork is in Colonial white and the walls in Oak Grove blue, which is the azure of the zenith on the sunny days that smile over this little School. The broadloom carpet is also in Oak Grove blue except in a far deeper shade and only these two colors are found except in the timbered ceiling with the mellow brown of age and a few soft tones in the stained glass windows. Under the devteod leadership of Mr. Hampson and Mr. Brandt, the parents organized a committee to cooperate with the Seniors in making a special Class Gift for the Centennial. We shall always remember their visits and the thrilling evening program to celebrate the progress of the Organ Fund. The gift is a fine Wurlitzer Organ that is already installed and will always remind us of the Centennial Class and the parents and friends who united with them in this beautiful gift. 7

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