Old Town High School - Ye Olde Towne Crier Yearbook (Winston Salem, NC)

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ee ee NEATEST Carolyn Smitherman and Deo Smothers Missed Ma Owe dre =—§ SuUWH

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HISTORY OF THE CLASS OF ‘55 As we look down the road of the past we see little boys and girls setting out on their jour- ney to the ‘‘land of Seniors’’. To start our trip we must go back to our first year at Old Town. In the fall of 1943, sixty-nine passengers climbed aboard the '55 Special, with Mrs. Triv- ette and Mrs. Flynt, conductors; and, of course, for mascots, Mac and Muff. Chapel programs used to be major productions. Remember when John Alex was Santa Claus? He was chosen for this honor because he was chubby in all the right spots. Alas, how time changes all things! Never again will anybody view John’s lanky six feet four and see a poten- tial Santa Claus. In the early grades, Vada and Azalea had to play mother to the rest of the girls. Remember our houses under the big oak trees? It was always a temptation for the boys to pull them down. Everyone looked forward to Miss Hales’ annual operettas. Over the years we played the roles of fairies, gypsies, dancers, ’49ers, and bats. Our bus traveled on, changing conductors with the years. When we stopped at the fifth grade, Mary, Betty, Joe, Jerry, Peggy, and Joanna had joined us. This year we played hide and seek all the time, using the old well top for base. Whenever we couldn’t find someone, he al- ways turned up in Miss Mullican’s room. She used to catch whoever tried to run through the hall. Deo should remember this well. Another of our favorite games was ‘’Snake in the Gully’’. Many of us have scars to re- mind us of falls on the cement beside the old lunchroom. And, of course, don’t forget how much we used to enjoy the playground device known as the giant stride. We used to miss lunch just so we could get to use one during lunch recess. Caro- lyn Smitherman will always remember the mud puddle under the giants. It seems she wanted to have one last ride after the bell rang. A recent rain had filled the always damp spot with a thick goo. Well---how could she keep what happened a secret when she looked like a mud pie? By one means or another, Miss Mullican made sure we learned what we should learn in grade seven. All of us remember the ‘‘means’’; some of us became familiar with the “‘another’’ angle. Anyway we passed. In the eighth grade we journeyed to the ‘thigh school side’’, and then the next year our ever- traveling bus delivered us safely in high school. Our homeroom teachers, Mr. Harris and Mr. Williams, were introducéd to us. We were very much excited with the idea of changing classes. We stopped briefly to allow ‘‘Oliver Twist’? and ‘‘The Ancient Mariner’’ to join us on our bus. We left them at a suitable destination and continued our journey. This first year in high school was forever darkened for us by the death of our principal, Mr. McNew. All children loved and trusted him. Surely there is no higher tribute to pay to any man. When we entered our sophomore year, Mrs. Pratt was our new conductor, and Gwyn Staley was a new rider on our bus. That was the year when Mary and Deo brought honor to us by win- ing respectively the county recitation contest, and the safety slogan contest. Mr. Williams kept us busy with tree samples and frogs. One mystery still prevails. How did Margaret get her finger caught in the frog’s mouth? With Mrs. Benton’s help, the girls got through the fashion show looking like models from a fashion book. After we mastered ‘“‘Julius Caesar’’, we felt that we were ready for the next lap. We worked hard our junior year, with Mrs. Pratt again as our sponsor. ‘Our Gal Sal’’ was presented by the class, and that play along with movies and other projects provided the means for our beautiful Junior-Senior Banquet on the Balinese Roof of the Robert E. Lee Hotel. We were proud to have Joe, Neil, J. C., Deo, and Gordon as members of the State Champion football team and County Champion basketball team. Our class rings arrived in April. How proud of them we were! | should have said ‘are’, not “were’’. We shall always consider them beautiful and wear them with pride as symbols of the happy memories that are ours. Then at last we reached our final destination, and our bus drove into Senior Station. Ann Brown joined us to make a total of twenty-nine seniors. Twenty-one are original passengers who started together on the long journey. What a year this last one has been! We have worked on our endless projects to make our trip to Washington possible. We have published a yearbook, we have done a successful senior play, we have prepared vespers for graduation. What haven’t we done in this final, wonderful year! Our guidance through this year has come from Mrs. Newman, our senior sponsor, to whom we are forever grateful and devoted. Now that our senior year is past we will start our separate journeys, keeping the friends we have made at Old Town, and the memories of the years we have shared as cherished parts of life for each of us. CAROLYN PERRYMAN Historian

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MOST TALENTED Hazel Cartner and Neil Chatin MOST LIKELY TO SUCCEED Carolyn Perryman and J. C. Phelps