Oakfield High School - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Oakfield, WI)

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Dear teachers, we shall ne’er forget, The lessons you have taught, We trust the future may perfect, The work ycur hands have wrought. And may they bring good gifts to you, These years that swiftly fly; And may you kindly think of those, Who bid you now “Good-bye.” “Good bye!” It shall not be farewell, We hope again to meet; But happy hours are ever short, And days of youth are fleet. There’s much to learn and much to do; Oh, may our aims be high, And ever lead to that bright land, Where none shall say ‘ ‘ good bye. ’ ’ ----Class Poet. WHEN WE GRADUATE. Ed has decided as to graduation day, He will show how past events our future actions sway; He will speak of how the world goes ever on and on, Steered across the sea of time by happenings agcne. Ethel’s undecided, says she can’t make up her mind, If her graduation waist should not be lined. Grant doesn’t waver; he will take his stand and show How and why, and when and where the nations ought to go. He has solved the problems that confront the human race; He will tell us all about the troubles we must face. Lilian’s hesitating, she is trying hard to plan Cuffs and belt and collar that will match her filmy fan. Alvin knows when Congress made its great mistakes; He shows where diplomats made their gravest breaks; He is satisfied with what conclusions he has reached. Shows us how to keep the ship of state from being beached. Jessie still is worried, she’ll decide, then she’ll annul; First she wants an organdie, then she wants a mull. Marshall has statistics on the influence of deeds; He finds new problems in every newspaper he reads. He knows precisely how the country should be run; But he’s in hysterics, for his coat is not begun. Lee views the future with a calm, unbiased air, And not in a fidget, for he knows what he’s to wear.

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FAREWELL POEM. June time is here now in all of its glory, The season when Poets and Seniors spring forth To make themselves known in rhyme and in story, And show to the world just how much they’re worth. This is the month when the roses are blooming, Which urges us each at our best to appear; We think it went be at all to presuming, To ask of our friends a listening ear. We will not tell ycu of worldly ambition, Or of fond hopes for the bright years to come; For little we know of the glad fruition That flows o’er the soul when the race is near run. We have not wings, we cannot soar, But we have feet to scale and climb; By slow degrees, by more and more, The cloudy summits of cur time. Memory binds us with her spell To the school days past and gone; Ambition calls us, who shall tell What bolder heights may yet be won. Our play days are gone and we sigh at the thot, No longer we know what our portion shall be; On the river of youth, Hope’s breezes we’ve caught, But how shall we fare on life’s broader sea. To those who still below us stand, We’d gladly give one cheering word; As heart to heart, and hand to hand, They list the call which we have heard. The hills may be rugged and steep, The calm of the valleys alluring; But the idler no harvest can reap, No good but the toil won is enduring. Arfd now this happy class must break, A strange new world before us lies; We’ve heard the voice divine that spake, And called as tongue of morn, “Arise.” But wherever we go, to warm regions or cold, Where-so-ever our frail barks are driven; We’ll never forget our Oakfield High School, And the best of all classes, our own ’07.

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THE SPIRIT OF THE PIONEER. “The path of the world’s progress is the path of the Pioneer.” The love of freedom, the spirit of adventure, the desire to learn something of those vast regions about which the people were so superstitious, has led brave, fearless men across rugged mountains, thru dense forests beyond dark waters, to seek and to find tho e rich and fertile countries which have added so much to the wealth and civilization of the world. The first known pioneer was Abraham, who heard the voice of God calling to him, telling him to depart from his country and kindred, unto the land of Canaan. With his family and possessions he went fearlessly westward thru the wild deserts to the country of an unknown people. The many hardships and privations that he suffered, did not daunt him, for he knew that if he obeyed the Voice, he wou’d find rich, fertile fields for his flocks. Ages ago, so long that all record of the time has been lost, a little band or people, known as thfe Aryans, heard the call of the Wild, lurmg them over the Himalayas; and, leaving their cradle in India, they obeyed this call, passed over rugged peaks—and Eurose was found! These people were unconsciously bringing about the first great migration. The green, fertile pasture lands, the stately mountains stored with untold riches, the great wealth to be gained from the majestic forests—all of these things lured men continually onward in all directions over the vast territory of Asia and Africa, until in all parts of the continents, the north, the south, the east, the west, the descendants of these pioneers were to be found. Undoubted'y. no migration in the records of history, interests us as much as the one which brought cur ov;n country into light. Columbus, believing that the earth was round, thot that Asia might be reached by sailing westward and casting from his mind the superstitious fears of terrible ship-devouring sea monsters, he put forth an urgent plea for assistance. Other men, too forgot their superstitions, and many voyages were made to the new wmrld by adventurous people. The Spaniards and the Portuguese were the first o?o-reers who came to America, but they thirsted for gold rather than for emoue. In almost superhuman campaigns, Spanish arms conquered Mexico and Peru and gained a foothold that lasted about three hundred years. After thi:. nearly every country in Eurore was desirous of owning land in the new world. In England, the contagion of adventure, increased by the persecutions taking place in that countrv, spread very rapidly. To escape the cruel religious persecutions, in the year 1620, a little band of pilgrims railed away to America. On a bleak November day they larded off Cape Cod. Men went ashore and began to erect such buildings as thev could, but it was slow work, for many of the people, being unable to withstand the cold, damp climate, had fallen prey to disease, which spread rapidly until only one-half of the colonists were left. To add to the horrors of contagion disease, a famine was fast coming upon ihevr. The food was nearly gone and only a small spoonful was given to each person for a day’s ration. When spring came, the few that remained had no desire to give up and go back to the old country where their loved ores were, but went to work with an indomitable will to clear a little space in which to plant their grain. The Pilgrims were afraid of the Indians, some of whom had attacked the first exploring party that had landed. Therefore the fifty remaining members of the colonies fortified their little village as much as possible. This new home with