Onarga Township High School - Onarquois Yearbook (Onarga, IL)

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.THE '43 ONARQUOIS Our Sophomore year found us on the giving end of the Frosh-Soph Reception. As things turned out, we merely softened them up for the Seniors. Our sponsor for this year was Mr. Ross, affectionately known as “T. B.” T. B. really was short for Thomas Baker, but we found other things. Mary Kinrade left us this year so we gave a big party in her honor. (Not in honor of her leaving). What a party! A scavanger-hunt and Scorchy’s “Captain Kidd Highballs” (black-cows to you). Boy that reputation we acquired back there didn’t do anyone any good. The going got a little tough and it seemed that the teachers had only one mooto—“Ye shall not pass.” Before I forget (which maybe I should) our class officers were: Lloyd Keever— Pres., Wilma Neal—Vice Pres., Newt Dickenson—Treas., and Darken Mc-Fadden—Sec’t. As Juniors we found another student leaving us. Elra Lambert left us to take over the deck-swabs for the Navy. So another party was in order. We also tried to cut in on Jack Benny’s stuff. Our jello might not have been of the highest grade but we had 14 flavors — all different, of course. Say! did you ever have spring fever? Well, we had it this year — in the form of our Junior class play. We’re still under the effects of that. And our class program! WOW! Wrote it ourselves too. Boy, were we cuties and I do mean “Can-Can” (those cans are for this corn). In case you’re wondering about that jello, I’ll tell you. We used it to make money for the Junior-Senior Banquet and Prom. You see, it’s up to the juniors to give the seniors a big send off. And with Ross Melk and his orchestra doing the sending it was quite an affair. The orchestra’s theme “Linger Awhile” really fit the mood of most of the seniors. This year we really had to watch what we said. Miss Dryden was not only our English teacher but also our sponsor. For class officers we had—Duane Cultra—Pres., Rosadele Siebert— Vice Pres., Jim Kitsmiller—Treas., and Bettie Russell—Sec’t. Well, here it is—our last year. Yep, now it’s our turn to be bowed to. We caught the freshmen off guard and really let ’em have it. When we finished with them they knew they had been initiated. That was the first big event and now that it was over most of us settled down to some study in order to get out of those finals. That’s one thing the seniors always look forward to—not having to take that last exam. We now see the value of Mr. Reed’s math.—rings, pins, cards, announcements — more money! Will we ever get out of debt? Speaking of Mr. Reed, as our sponsor, knowledge of parliamentary procedure came in mighty handy, especially in electing our class officers — namely, Lewis Osterbur—Pres., Ronnie Black—Vice Pres., Wilma Neal—Sec’t., and Dorothy Jackson—Treas. As the year wore on three things were upper-most in our minds and after much debating we finally decided on them. Class colors: Blue and Silver. Class Flower: Carnation. Class Motto: “In Unity There Is Strength.” Oh by the way, if you are wondering about the senior play — we suddenly developed a case of stagefright (stranger than fiction . Heading into the last two months of school the war really hit home. Duane Cultra, one of the six to finish to-

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THE ’43 ONARQUOIS. Starting in the seventh grade we found a change of scenery. While the old building was being remodeled we held our classes in the Odd Fellows Hall. We couldn’t get used to the idea of going to school and being up town at the same time. If there had only been matinees on week days, everything would have been great. Here in the seventh grade we had our first taste of what high school would be like. By that I mean we had more than one teacher. Mr. Wright and Mr. Beavins were our class sponsors with Miss Artz and Miss Yaw taking over on music and art. These teachers remained throughout the eighth grade with Miss Ross (now Mrs. Clifton) helping out on art. James Kitsmiller joined us in the seventh and most of us thought him pretty much of a dude. But he turned out to be a regular-fella in spite of Chicago’s influence. Remember how Mr. Beavins would tell about his trip to Mexico? And those matches he brought back! Down there they make ’em with two heads because the Mexicans don t know which end to strike. As the eighth grade came around Mr. Wright seemed to be pretty much in charge of things. The boys became full-fledged members of the Safety Patrol with Llovd Keever, Captain and Duane Cultra, Lieutenant. The entrance of Eva Marie Beasley and Dorothy Jackson along with Betty Burnett brought the total of our graduating class of 27. GRADUATION — and all the glory, traditions and heartaches that go with it. The night we had looked forward to for eight years was here and most of us were sorry that it was. Although we were eager to become high school students, we hated to say good-bye to the grades. The graduation exercises came off in grand style with the Legion Awards for that year going to Darleen McFadden and — and — oh, I’m too modest. Well that winds up eight years. Now to get used to the idea of going to school all day with no recess. Golden Rule Days September, 1939 --Judgment-day is here. Who said our education • was free? We paid for it this year. Yes, like all freshmen, we had to be initiated. The initiation program wasn’t too bad, but that bowing to seniors got awfully tiresome. 35 members comprised our freshmen class so the seniors had their hands full. We found that many of our former classmates were not with us and that their places were taken by students coming in from the countrv. What a time we had the first few days—“What’s our next class?” — “Where’s room 16?” — “Two minutes between classes? Why that ain’t enough time to sharpen my pencil!” But we finally got the routine down pat and from then on things went smoothly (a figure of speech). Miss Reed acted as our class sponsor and under her direction we gave our first class program.-Form your own opinions about it, I’m not talkin’. For class officers we elected Ronnie Black—Pres., Todd Frazier—Vice Pres., and Dorothy Fishback—Sec’y. Treas.

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THE ’43 ONARQUOIS pother what they started back in 1931, was called for active duty in the Army Air Corps. I’d like to take this opportunity to say that in as much as we hated to see him go, we’re proud of the fact that our senior class could give Uncle Sam a first rate soldier. He’s always been at the top in our class, I guess he’s been at the top in everything else and I guess he always will be. Anyway he picked the right outfit to go to the top in. You know, when a fella has been with you as long as Darb has, he seems to become a part of you. Maybe that isn’t the way to describe it, but that Friday morning after we had given him a little send-off party, you could tell there was something missing. No Darb coming in late for English, no Darb to fall back on in physics — there was just no Darb. We really miss him. Now Snookie’s not the type of fella who would want you to make a lot of pretty speeches about him, so we’ll just say, “So long, good luck, and we’ll be seein’ ya.” While in this kind of mood maybe I should bring in the six I mentioned before. Out of the 41 that began in the first grade, only six have gone all the way together. These are: Wilma Neal, Kathleen Reynolds, Duane Cultra, Wayne Eversole, Lloyd Keever, and Roy White. Let’s get back to activities around school. We don’t know whether the juniors hated to see us go or were glad to get rid of us, but they really give us something to remember when they held the annual Banquet Prom in our honor. The old gym, decorated with our class colors, would have put the Trianon to shame. We found that Ross Melk and his orchestra was back for the dance and most of us were glad of it. It reminded us of the year before when we were giving the Prom and for a moment or two it took our minds off the fact that we were really at the end. Only two more steps left before entering the big mixed-up world on our own — Baccalaureate and Commencement. Baccalaureate services were held Sunday, May 16. The fine talks inspired us all and gave us heart to face the future. Nothing now but Commencement. The exercises were held Thursday night, May 20. This was it! After 12 long years. It was pretty hard puttin’ on a front for our feelings. We were happy, smiling, yet down-deep inside we felt sick. We tried not to feel this way and more than once we heard, “Come on, cheer up. Just think, no more grammar tests, no more history reports, why you should be happy!” Happy? We were saying good-bye to the best years of a guy’s life. All of us were wishing we were freshmen again. Well we received our diplomas, friends and relatives shook hands with us and wished us the best of luck, students congratulated us, slapped us on the shoulder and said, “So long fella, take care of yourself”, and more than one turned his head to----oh, we’re too old for that so I won’t say it. Well, it’s all over. We’ve added our names to the list of O. T. H. S. Alumni. We hate to say goodbye but we must. So,thinking of the past and looking to the future, we say — good-bye — to the faculty (the best in any school), the students, the school, and — oh yes, Bill — we couldn’t forget him. In saying good-bye we also want to say, “Always remember us, ’cause we’ll never forget you.” The End of the Trail.