Rock Ridge Hall - Rock Ridge Annual (Wellesley Hills, MA)

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Valedictory. JE O our kind friends Who have gath- ered here today, to the faculty who have been our faithful guides, and to our fellow students and class-mates I have the honor to give a last greeting and farewell. We stand on learning's hill, half up or more, and gaze on the summit Where lie the serious things of life. With pleas- ure we have looked forward to this day, but now that it is here, a sense of sadness creeps over us at thoughts of parting from old and familiar friends. Yet we would welcome Mirth and banish Melan- choly. U Now is the high-tide of the year, And whatever of life hath ebbed away Comes flooding back with a ripply cheer. To you, Sir, the founder and director of this school, our first words of parting are due. lVe would express our fond ap- preciation for all you have done for us. :AE dl! We realize your high ambition for an ideal school, one that makes for Inanliness and tits for life, and we feel for a certainty that Rock Ridge has been founded upon more than a. material rock. Trusting We have been good ground to receive the good seed sown here and that the harvest which is yet to come will be an abundant one, we part-farewell. To our headmaster and the faculty who have ever been our faithful friends and advisors We must at last take our leave. There is much that we would like to say to each one of you individ- ually, but this is no time for personal tribute. We know We have not always been all that you would wish us to be. NVe have had disagreements, but they have been mere trifles, and we do truly see how patiently you have bourne with us. You have been more than teachers, you Page Thirty-one.

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ulty, it will be their most precious posses- sion. Besides these enforced gifts, we will and bequeath the residue of our property to our beloved Director, for his use and benefit. He may use the knowledge and startling information we have given him at examination periods, for future use in the education of our younger brothers. Page Thirty. And we do hereby appoint the said Director sole executor of this, our last will and testament. In witness whereof, we, the class of nineteen twelve, the testators, have to this our will, set our hand and seal, this second day of June, Anno Domini, one thousand nine hundred and twelve. E. L. SMITH, '12, E. C. LAMBERT, '12,

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V ,, gw have been leaders, comrades in a goodly fellowship. And We would that you could realize this afternoon with what gratitude for the past and hope for the future we bid you adieu. Undergraduates, to you who in turn will take the places which we are about to vacate, we entrust the keeping of the high ideals, lofty sentiments and noble purposes which we have fostered and of which we have been the guardian, trusting and be- lieving that you will cherish and promote those things which are best for the inter- est of our Alma Mater. To some ex- tent we have been a pioneering class, and as you go on with the work which we have begun may you see where we have fallen short of our goal, that in the future you may avoid our mistakes, and improve up- on our work, that it might not be in vain, but that with your assistance we may leave behind a history and tradition which suc- ceeding classes will be proud to inherit. You have been faithful companions, always ready to stand with our class in all lofty achievements, and it is with sadness that we bid you a last good-bye. Page Thirty-two. Fellow class-mates. The time has come to say fare-well. Most of us are about to enter upon that larger life-the college life. Some few together, but many of us must wend our way apart among ff new faces, other minds. Whatever our lot may be, may we live lives worth while, forgetting not the lessons taught us here, and may we be to those to whom we go what we have been to each other, true, generous, loving, loyal and helpful. We have lived together for a long while. We have become staunch and true friends, bound by those early ties that last through life. Together we have passed through joys and disappointments, together we have experienced triumphs and reverses. Companions in the class-room, on the ath- letic field, in our social life, and here where we have gathered for daily wo1'ship, we feel so firmly united that naught could divide us, but now the time to part has come. The morning sun whose kindly rays shown down upon us as we formed our friendships here, is now the setting sun sinking beyond yon western hills. Our day is well nigh run. Yet we must