Sandy Ridge High School - Oak Leaves Yearbook (Sandy Ridge, NC)

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Q-Jropfecy When the world-renowned psychiatrist, Professor John Robert Reece, came to Sandy Ridge and opened a consulting room for the mentally unfit and intellectually unsettled, all these eamest students rushed to see him since many of them had been in his biology and geography classes, Anu now comes the exciting part of my story, Last night I, too, had occasion to enter Professor Reece's office, Not because of any mental weakness, merely to collect the rent, The Professor wasn't in, so I looked around the room for something to read, All I could find was a black-covered notebook, Isaw, to my amazement, the names of my classmates, I confess without shame, I read that notebook, I determined that my friends would find out what the famous psychiatrist wrote about the members of the Senior Class, Betty Jean Steele is the inquisitive type. In ten years' time she will be a reporter for the Charlotte Observer, Audrey Brown has a superiority complex, Her ability to answer all questions, sometimes correctly, points to but one calling- -that of a school teacher, Taylor Bottoms likes to sit and watch things, he will have a race track built up the side of a house, keep a stable of racing snails, lie back in a hammock, as his faithful snails crawl on and up to victory, Ruth Ellen Amos has a good strong voice and will be able to sing two entire songs without losing the tune, Wilbur Hall is persevering, not easily discouraged, By 1965 he will have become America'scham- pion pole sitter, non-stop aviator, radio listener and mammy singer, Ted Spencer is politically inclined, He will have been three times govemor of the State of North Carolina by 1965. His motto is, 'All for One and That One Me, He will be a candidate for the presidency, but will be defeated by Mary Jane Nelson, who becomes the tortieth president of the United States. Stanley Hill will be a Rear Admiral, Naval Officer, and Target-shooting expert, Russell Martin will become a famous inventor, He will invent over one-thousand labor-saving devices, X- Jack Hill will be hailed as the world's heavyweight champion in the Coliseum at Rome, Annie Mae Bowman will be a housekeeper deluxe and a happy wife, David Riggs, an astronomer, will study the heavens at night with his beautiful wife assistant, Ray Snyder will become a winter-wheat and summer-squash farmer, Nancy Siske, the most stylish girl in the class, will design gowns for the best dressed women in the country, Lillie Mae Lawson will be a private secretary to the head of a huge corporation, The highlight in I, C, Hutchens' life will be when he wins the trophy for being the counny's most outstanding motorcycle racer, Harold Amos will become a minister and pastor of First Baptist Church in Winston-Salem, Curtis Beasley who likes quiet and solitude will be very happy on a large cattle farm in the Alps. Winnie Gunter will be head coach at Hanes Hosiery in 1965. Elsie Belton will become the first policewoman in Sandy Ridge, In 1975 Barbara Ayers who will become a world-famous poet will win the Nobel Prize for her in- spiring poem, 'My Youth, Donnie Priddy will become the head surgeon at Stokes-Reynolds Hospital, assisted by Marquira Robertson, superintendent of nurses, Geneva Williams will be noted for her work as a missionary in Alaska, The men trapped on the Submarine 1313, during hurricane Hazel No, 2 will be rescued by J, E, Fulcher. a deep-sea diver, Bonnell Smith will win the intemational medal of honor for the best photographic study of nature in 1975. The question to be decided will be 'Which twin has the Tonii' when Sylvia and Synthia Nelson start modeling on TV, Peggy Hennis will be an instructor in plain and fancy golf in Martinsville, Virginia, The usher in the Carolina Theater in Winston Salem will be Betty Lou Robertson, Artie Mae Dodson will own the first pet shop in Sandy Ridge, Peggy Bullins will be happily married to David, living in Greensboro, Virginia Ann Steele, the home economist, will be serving as an airline hostess for TWA for four years, then will teach home economics at Bessemer High School in Greensboro, Doris Smith will be a typist for Westem Electric Co, in Winston Salem, I will become an evangelistic pianist and the wife of a minister, It is only fair to tell you that I learned this morning that the Professor Reece is not a psychiatrist at all, but an escaped lunatic from the state asylum, Of course that will not affect the accuracy of his notes at all, but I thought you might like to know. chalk.. 'rn -n ximian- D.-nn!-of

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Zasf Zfjzfhazzcf gesfamenf We, the Senior Class of 1955, in the town of Sandy Ridge, the County of Stokes, and the State of North Carolina, being in as good mental condition as usual, and in much better temper than usual, do hereby make this our last will and testament, To our principal, Mr, Gibson, we give and bequeath a sense of relief that we have at last been graduated, pleasant memories of our 12 years together, and a feeling of pride in any great deeds or noteworthy achievements that our future may contain, realizing that such glories--if any--will owe much to his example and counsel, To our homeroom advisor, Mr, Byrd, we bequeath our very kindest regards and our sincere gratitude for his helpfulness, To the entire faculty, we bequeath our valuable sense of humor, without which we should have found school life painful indeed and which will do much to make it endurable for them, To our dear old school building itself, we leave the peaceful quiet caused by our absence and any apple cores, wads of gtun, or crumpled notes we may have left about, To the rising Seniors we leave all our privileges and rights in classroom and chapel, aswell as any note- books, fountain pens, unfinished lollypops, or unfinished business includingdebts contracted while en- gaged in the business of being a Senior, also any boys or girls whom we may have left behind i.n our haste, In addition, we make the following bequests: Stanley Hill leaves his desire to sleep in Geometry to Paul Joyce. David Riggs leaves, and if he leaves anything worthwhile it is to be divided among the Juniors. To Jackie Hawkins, we leave the Sophomore girls, compliments of Ted Spencer and Taylor Bottoms, Curtis Beasley leaves his ability to drive without wrecking to Kenneth Martin, Wilbur Hall leaves his ability to disturb class to Dean Ward and Franklin Griffin, Audrey Brown and Marquita Robertson leave their New Edition, 'Audrey and Greta Face Life' fa book of their boy friend troublesj to Bessie Lee Moore and Rebecca Hill, Annie Mae Bowman leaves her ability to drive carefully to Gloria Shaffer, 1Those fenders sure do cost money,j Winnie Gunter leaves her collection of Air Mail Envelopes to Mary Betty Hopkins, Virginia Steele leaves her ability to fry eggs to Orell Shelton, Barbara Ayers and Betty Jean Steele leave their jobs as Mr, Gibson's Official Money Counters to Annie Ruth Amos and Norma Jean Tucker, Sylvia Nelson leaves Bobby to anyone who thinks she can get him, Peggy Bullins leaves her ability to find excuses to get out of class to Patsy Shelton, Doris Smith leaves the price tag from her diamond to Juanita Nelson, Synthia Nelson leaves her recipe for holding a man to Leeo Mitchell, Lillie Mae Lawson leaves her ability to go to class late and get out early to Ray Corns, Artie Mae Dodson leaves her 'giggles' to Shirley Beasley, Shelby Jean Nelson leaves her ability to ask unanswerable questions to Jean Oakley, Libby Little from Nutting, New Jersey QPeggy Hennisj leaves her pistol to Nancy Knight, J, E, Fulcher fthe wisecrack of all wisecracksj leaves his wise cracks to Keith Dodson, Ruth Ellen Amos leaves her Bookkeeping equipment to Jody Belton. Donnie Priddy leaves his ability to get up at 8:30 and get to school at 8:40 to Denzil Knight, Nancy Siske leaves her ability to rob the cafeteria of edibles each noon to Margaret Smith, Russell Martin leaves his ability to get along with the female population of this institution to Henry Ayers, Elsie Belton and Geneva Williams leave all the slightly used gum under seats no. 5 and 6 of the library to Betty Nelson and Nancy Steele, Bonnell Smith and Betty Lou Robertson leave their excuse blanks and absence privileges to any Junior for the asking, To Betty Jo Ferguson we leave Mary Jane Nelson's love for 10:30 shows. To Norman Steele and Lloyd Martin, J, C, Hutchens and Ray Snyder leave their membership in the 'Loyal Cats Club, Harold Amos and Jack Hill just want to leave and leave fast, MARQUITA ROBERTSON Testatrix

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jlffsfofy The history of the Class of 1955 is so dramatic and colorful that it resembles a play. With your kind permission, I, as a drama critic of the Oak Leaves, will review the play called 'The Class of 1955' in an absolutely tuibiased manner, This is a play in four acts, with three all too brief intermissions, The play was written by the actors as they played their parts, under the direction of Mr, Gibson, the principal, and a band of capable assistants, the faculty, - The scenes all take place in the high school building, in corridors, classrooms and gymnasium, Act I shows the arrival of the class in the halls of learning in September, 1951, The faculty of the Sandy Ridge High School are strolling aimlessly through the corridors, when they catch a glimpse of something new and strange, Just inside the front door, huddled together in mute embarrassment and anxiety, are the members of what became the Class of 1955. The faculty bade them enter and spent the next few weeks attempting to gain their confidence and friendship, Under the leadership of their teachers they are permitted to form an organization of their own, They elected the follow- ing officers: Shelby Jean Nelson, Stanley Hill, Geneva Smith and J, E, Fulcher, The freshmen be- come interested in basketball, football and baseball, Several of the students attained a slight degree of prowess in each, The marshals for graduation this year areg Geneva Smith and J, E, Fulcher, They suffer much agony and despair during this period because of the initiations into the different clubs, especially FHA and FFA, At the end of Act I a terrible disaster befalls the freshmen, Several, permanently disabled by this, leave the class forever, This disaster is called Final Examinations, Act II shows the same people in the same place, but they are now known as sophomores, owing to an advance in rank, There are pleasant diversions in the shape of a weiner roast at Guilford Battleground, club parties and being assistants in the Junior-Senior Banquet, Officers for this year are Donnie Priddy, Mary Jane Nelson, Audrey Brown and J, E, Fulcher, Another twelve weeks' intermission and we stagger in for Act III, In this act owing to an old educational custom, the sophomores become juniors, This is a year of hard work, but there are many delightful interludes to make this a cheerful act, Among these are the Junior-Senior Banquet, class parties and a trip to Raleigh, where we learned more about the history and affairs of our State. Donnie Priddy, Harold Amos, Doris Smith and Betty Jean Steele were elected officers for this act, Barbara Ayers, Virginia Ami Steele and Ted Spencer were appointed as marshals. Act IV arrives at last and is warmly received, By this time, the actors are so matured, so at ease, so changed for the better that they are difficult to recognize. We seem to view with rose- colored spectacles the scene that so soon will vanish, The action is more rapid and more compli- cated than in preceding acts, They elect as their officers, Barbara Ayers, Taylor Bottoms, Betty Jean Steele ind Russell Martin, There is more comedy than before and there are delightful inter- polations, the Senior Play, class parties, a day spent in the Planetarium, at Chapel Hill, and at Duke University, a tour of Winston Salem, and the delightful banquet given us by the juniors, As the act nears its close, white faces and brows drawn with worry are noticed, For this is the final struggle, Victory now means freedom from the dreaded study and his examinations, At last the fatal hour arrives. The attack of the Seniorsis brave and well organized, To a man--and a woman--the seniors emerge victorious, The strenuous preparation for battle made our cast more and more familiar with study, which was a blessing in disguise and everybody is happy. The play ends in a burst of glory, with flowers, music, and congratualtions--in short, graduation exercises, and we have the well-known and ever-popular, happy ending. Virginia Ann Steele Historian