Port Byron High School - Echo Yearbook (Port Byron, IL)

Page 45 text:

1942 - THE ECHO - 1947 A Senior Publication In the fall of 1942, the first Paper Staff was organized un- der the sponsorship of Rue Cooper, Commercial instructor, and in May of that year, the first Port Byron Year Book left the press. Since an Hechou is a reflection of sound, the name 'Echou was chosen as appropriate for the Annual for the Staff felt sure that in years to come the book would reflect pleas- ant memories of life at Port Byron High. Editor-in-chief was Delbert Simpson and assisting him were Class Reporters: Norma May, Evelyn Mose, Virginia Smith, Dorothy Bachman, Annie Mae Searl, Mary Ester Kelly for the Senfirsg Earl May, Norma An- derson, Barbara Rick, Jane Simpson, Phyllis Wildermuth for the Juniors, Dick Keeley, Marie Hedeen, Isabelle Boardman, Evelyn Pannell of the Sophomores, Beverly Dye and Barbara Mathes for the Freshmen. The Book was dedicated to Principal 3. C. Monson in appreciation of the guidance he had given the eniors. The second issue of the Echo left the press in 1943 with Miss Cooper again acting as Adviser. This was the first year of World War II and the book took on an army theme with Freshmen Sophomores, Juniors, and Seniors ranked, respectively, priv- ates, Corporals, Sergeants, and Lieutenants. It was dedicat- ed to Charles Lamb, a 1938 graduate, whose life was sacri- ficed in a plane crash on a fog-obscured base in California. In 1944, the second year of conflict, Margaret Welch, who suc- ceeded Miss Cooper as Commercial instructor, sponsored the publication of The Echo, and inspite of inconveniences due to war-time restrictions of labor and materials, her Staff put out a most commendable Year Book. With the nation still at war, this third volume was dedicated Wto Mothers everywhere, who untiringly and prayerfully work on-that the stars in win- dows may soon be removed.n In 1945, the fourth issue of The Echo was edited by the Senior Class under the guidance of Catharine Perring, successor to Miss Welch. This was a war-conscious class. They had lived in a world at war since they were eighth graders. During that ybatrand succeeding years at high school they had seen their country turn from its usual peace-time pursuits-to which they, as children, had become accustomed- and gear itself for total warfare, the most disasterous struggle in the history of man- kind. This was their heritage as high school students. They saw the neighboring tri-cities converted into a vast war area, They saw them turn from their usual schedule of peace-time pro duction to blue-print themselves for the out-put of weapons of

Page 47 text:

'-'-'ww'v'I'vU -Ty-f ---f- -!'-- f- vxfv -1- ef--.f-.- V.. .....,, ...e ,,.v.......,..--,-...,,--. .-- .T ,,.,, ,.,,b ,,,, ,, n,n, lm, ,, ,gnnwvgrg destruction. They saw long lines of tanks leave the Arsenal daily for shipment over-seas, heard the constant boom of guns as they were tested on its ground. The Port Byron Honor Roll in the Globe window grew longer and longer, blue service stars appeared in windows in increasing numbers. Nany of the blue ones turned to gold. Then the real tragedy of war was brought closer to the class of '45 when the news reached the village that Duane Irwin, their life-long friend and classmate through the grades and high school, who would have been one of the graduates, had lost his life on the air-craft carrier, the ill-fated Franklin when it was sunk by an enemy bomb, when Arthur Hughes, a 1937 graduate, was killed on the battlefield at Eiak Islandg when Fred Hanny, 1940 graduate, died from wounds received on the Jap-held Island of Iwo Jima, and Robert VcCune's plane fell victim to enemy attack while flying over German territory. To Duane, the Seniors dedicated this issue of the Echo-and printed a page in memorium to Charles Lamb, Arthur Hughes, and Fred Hanny. Another page cited awards A given to other graduates for meritorious service to their I country. I I Such was the heritage of the class of '45-the awful carnage of war from December 7, 1941, to August 12, 1945. But on the twelfth the joyful news of the cessation of war was flashed ' by radio and press around the world. Guns were silenced, and p the four years' war with all its death and destruction, its. I worry and heartache was at an end. Peace once more reigned I upon the earth and this class, unlike the class of '45 who saw a nation converted into a vast arsenal, saw the country turn from a schedule of war-time production to one of peace, saw it blueprint itself, not for the out-put of weapons of destruction, but for peace-tire products needed by a war-torn nation. In a spirit of gratitude they-as graduates of the class of for this new Era upon which '46-were about to embark, the Staff dedicated this fifth issue of the Echo to Peace. The fall of '46 saw service men returning to their homes and loved ones and endeavoring to pick up the threads of life again as they once knew it. Charles L. Hoff after a period T of navy service resumed his former position as head of the Q Athletic program in the high school. Under his capable and i inspiring leadership, our football team covered themselves with glory, becoming Two-Rivers Conference champs, winning for the school the first athletic warded by the Conference. To the leader the Senior Class dedicated pages were written for Coach Hoff whose prowess on the floor earned tion Trophies in one year. trophy in football ever a- team and to its efficient the '47 Echo. Complimentary and for his basketball team for the school two Consola-