Our Lady of Mercy High School - Mercedes Yearbook (Rochester, NY)

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stood before her mother and brothers and s1sters m order that they m1ght pass yudg ment upon her appearance Everythmg was satlsfactory To Mrs Rourke espec1a1ly her youngest daughter made a charmmg plcture clad 1n her gay dress her blonde curls tum bhng over her forehead I must go now Mommy announced Patty lmpatrently Or Ill be late All rlght dear agreed her mother as she klssed her httle daughters cheek God bless you And Mrs Rourke who was sentrmental as well as pract1cal shed a tear as her daughter left for her first party It was but a short walk to MBIICS house and Patty set out rn the gayest of sprrrts clutchlng her grft t1ghtly IH her hand Ahead of her she recogn1zed two of the fifth grade glrls also hurrymg to Mane s home Patty ran softly up behmd them hopxng to announce her presence wxth a loud Boo' She never earned out her plan She remem bered afterwards her one thought as she ran on t1p toe up the street I m go1ng to a party' Im go1ng to a party' Im go1ng to a She heard her name and stopped Well she sazd she was com1ng But she never comes to partres She hasn t anythmg to wear She s com1ng to this one Then she ll probably wear that same horr1d yellow thlng she wears to school most every day of the week And her present to Mane lt ll be as cheap as rt can be bought She mlght better not come at all Thats no way to talk Jean Patty cant help It 1f she s poor Thelr angry volces faded away For a mm ute Patty stood st1ll qu1te st1ll Then she turned and began to run She net er stopped unt11 she reached her own front steps Her dreams shattered her longmgs r1d1culed there were tears rn her eyes that she could not shed In one heart breakmg mmute she had learned that poverty does not mean merely domg wxthout thxngs but also contempt and r1d1cu1e and ostrac1sm She knew rt wxthout understandrng If Someday someone would explarn to her that she could rlse above her poverty and take her rlghtful place as many had done But now for the first t1me lt was not an unfortunate c1r cumstance It was somethrng to be ashamed of The ldeals of l1ttle ch1ldren when dashed to the ground cause revolut1on III httle hearts Bud her oldest brother was standmg on the steps when she came runmng up the walk Bud who would graduate thls June only to go to work Bud who had referred to todays party as Patty s Debut wxth a rather cymcal note 1n hrs vorce beneath lus humor No party? he demanded curlously She tr1ed to brush past h1m He clutched her arm glanced at her face and stood asrde to let her pass Once rnsxde the house she started up the stalrs but tears bhnded her eyes so she could not see and she stumbled stood up agam Then her mother was at the bottom of the steps Patty' What s the matter? Her eyes cleared for a mmute She was on the seventh step how many UITICS had she counted them' She stared at the worn carpet Down there was her Mother Her Mother would always be there Patty' one word anxlous fearful lovmg The tears tears of rehef rushed to her eyes agam as she ran down the starrs mto her Mother s waltmg arms A Sprmt A swlft dash Then loommg tape Vlctory then fatxgue 6 JOAN CARNEY . . . . - Y - , . . . , . 7 .- . . . - . . , , . , - - . at 97 ' ' ' 1 1 3 ' - ce 1 77 ' ' ' ' 1 1 ' ' st ' 11 ' ' 1 1 ' ' - 1 sc ' . 11 ' . 1 1 . , 1 , 1' n - 1 , . if fl if if O 0 . 1 1 . , - I 1 1 1 1 1 . . . . . , - 1 1 - 1 cc 77 ' - , . . - - as 79 - , . , . - at 37 ' ' . . - ' 1 1 . - ac 1 - ' ' ' . . , 1 - 1 ' 77 ' ' . -. ... - , . - .. .- 44 - - 17 , . u ' 7 . . ' 17 at 1 97 . . . u 1 ' ' 11 ' . . as 1 ' - ' - 1 0 'T' Q . , . . 77 u 17 ' 1 a ' I , .1 p cc 1 1 ' 1 ' - - . . , ,, . . . . . . - , . . . . . 1 1 . , ,

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-if For day: Patty had dreamt about ber very firrt party But 'when the great day carme ib- fftffft U15 Hrs! Party S.: WOULD THE DAY EVER COME r was the day of the party That was Patty s first thought when she felt her mother s gentle hand agalnst her cheek and heard the famthar words Its seven 0 clock Patty dear Oh Mommy I can t walt unul afternoon' Yesterday you couldn t walt untll th1s mornmg Patty but you hved through xt some how Mrs Rourke rephed Mommy IS very practxcal left the room Pmctzcal was a x new word but she hke xt It was quxte an addmon to the vocabulary of a ten year old The mornlng sun shone m through the one wmdow nn the llttle room It was a beautl ful day for Marles party A beautlful beautrful day' Patty became a httle mtox1cated wxth the antncnpa non of the good txme whrch lay before her It was to be her first real party Her first real party wxth games and presents and 1ce cream and cake All the glrls rn the fifth grade had been 1nv1ted And Patty was beslde herself wlth joy She had been 1nv1ted to other partxes but the mvrtatlons had never been accepted Not that Patty dxshked partles Oh, mdeed not' Every day of her l1fe she had longed for and dreamed about the day when she would go to one But partles were expensxve There was the present for the httle hostess and there was a new dress to be bought for Patty s dresses were all slmple and useful affairs whxch would never do for a blrthday party And the Rourkes had a hard enough time makmg ends meet with seven chlldren to feed and clothe There was nothmg left for the purchase of luxurles By Sbezla Hogan 46 So Patty who was a sunny httle soul by nature havxng been mdoctrmated wlth the ldeas of savmg and economlzxng ever smce she could remember understood when her mother explamed about the party sxtuatlon and cheer fully accepted her fate It was hard to see a group of playmates start out for a good t1me whxle she was left behlnd It was even harder when the fun was over for then the party was dlscussed But Patty never complamed And now nt seemed as lf her pauence was to be rewarded For Mane Patty s speclal frlend, was havxng a blrthday party whxch promlsed to be a gala affalr Patty was mvxted W 'W' of course and Patty deserved the best ume posslble That IS why Patty was so expectant this happy sprmg mornmg That IS why the sun seemed even brlghter than usual The mornmg hours dld seem long for Patty slnce Mrs Rourke hastened them w1th the assignment of some memal household tasks wh1ch kept her daughter busy However Patty often found time to run upstairs for a refresh mg peek at THE NEW DRESS THE NEW DRESS hung m Patty s closet It was a snmple but pretty little affalr colored flowers upon a whnte background But to Patty lt was ful fillment of years of longmg In xt lay the eprtome of her dreams And at last the momentous hour arrxved It was a quarter to two and Patty m full array 5 E at V I ' 7 7 I . , - , , . . . . , . . . , . , ' ' CC 1 1 1 1 1 11 ' ' - Cl 1 ' 1 1 ' - n ' 1 1 3 Q' - f .J 44 v ,-E gl l 17 ' Q 1 ! . , - - , 'F , tc . - n - 9 - . . thought Patty, as her mother - 'U V ,- and rediscussed for many days. . ' ns, Q ' . , . . . 1 , o I . f I ' . . X :: .' . . 0 0 '- ' 9- hi I . . . ' ' I J ' I dv L. , 1 1 ' Q T ' . as as as as as 4 . . . . , u c o a . . ' 1 c , u ' ' - . , . 1 ' ' , . . . ' ' ' 1 U U 1 K l . . - I - 1 . 1

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-if The outstandmg career of a champxon .vwzmmer I5 presented ar encouragement to would be record rmasbers Bv- Ehampzvn Cell Her Sin y HBE UU you pant as you wearxlw l1ft your drrppmg body out of the pool Gosh but consldermg my meagre seventeen years that 1snt so bad Well while you re gettmg your second wmd may I tell you the story of another famous swimmer: Havxng been influenced by some of her fellow sw1mmers Charlotte Boyle was finally persuaded to enter the amateur swrmmmg races held at Brrghton Beach near New York Motrvated by dire fear the young seventeen year old l1terally swam for her l1fe At last she reached the fimsh lrne only to find no one near her but a l1ne of swlmmers behmd her Thmkmg another race was bemg swum she asked a nearby reporter who had won the race Incredulously the newsman stared agape at the g1rl who had just came wlthm two seconds of the worlds record predlctmg that one day the young swlmmer would be a champ1on There was another rmpressed spectator at Brrghton Beach that day too He was the famous swlmmmg coach Lou1s De B Handley who lost no t1me 1nv1t1ng M1ss Boyle to swlm for h1m at the Natlonal Womens Llfesavmg League where he coached After a lapse of 1nd1f'ference Charlotte Boyle finally presented herself to Coach Handley who began to rev1se completely her amateur stroke He trred to teach the young swxmmer the conventional four beat crawl but adhermg to her record of astomshlng feats she couldnt learn the four beat crawl but mstead the SIX beat crawl Now the latter of these two crawls was contended to be physxcally lmpOSSlblC by experts but Coach Handley proved otherw1se through h1s protege Charlotte Boyle Under rlgorous mstructxon from Coach Handley a champion was finally pohshed and PERSONAL INTERVIEW By Pat Hoy, 46 ready to conquer exrstmg records One after another was conquered until the score rose to over 50 natronal and rnternatlonal swlmmrng champlonshlps accredited to Charlotte Boyle Dur1ng her champ1on swxmmmg career Charlotte Boyle met Ethelda Blerbtrey To gether the two constxtuted an unsurpassable team For three years every record was held exclusively bv the two speedsters no one beatmg them but each other Crmcs were at a loss to pronounce the better of the two for as soon as a dec1s1on had been made the other teammate would conquer two or three more records So laurels were equally shared by the two After swlmmmg m Honolulus Centenary Celebration where they were presented to the Duke of Kent and Pr1nce of Wales the record smashers Boyle and Blenbtrey declded that Honolulu was a swimmer s haven so there they would remam But the Amerlcan Olympic Commlttee had other plans for the 1llustr1ous team whrch finally persuaded the two to rep resent the U S at the 1920 Olympic games to be held at Antwerp Speclal mstructxons ln marchrng were gnven the representatives pre paratory to the maugural parade Each con testant clad in a speclal umform strode brlskly 1nto the flag bedecked stadxum at Antwerp to stand at attentron faclng the kings box, as released doves bearmg whlte streamers flew to the kmg s box hovered there for a few mo ments then flew off Then the tense grueling games began the strenuous beats seml finals and finals through which the Ameneans emerged the proud prxze possessors Cllmaxmg therr European sojourn lt was the honor of Charlotte Boyle and Ethelda Blelb trey to swxm rn a prlvate exhrbxtlon before the 7 1 1 7 cs ,, . , . . . ' 1 . ' . . H y V . - 1 1 - 1 11 ' 1 ' ' ' ' . , - cs - 97 ' ' ' ' 9 . 0 - I 7 , . , 1 , . . 1 - 1 , . . , . . . . , . 1 , . . . . 1 1 1 . . . , - 1 , . 1 ' ' . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . 1 ' ' . . . . . 1 1 . . . . . , . . . , . - 1 1 ' 1 1 1 ' . , . , 0 '- . , , . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1