South Salem High School - Sword and Shield Yearbook (Salem, OR)

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Keeping spirit alive was also Rally's goal. However, Rally burnout seemed more appar- ent. Practicing from 2:30 to 4:00, having a new advisor QMS. Hamiltonj, being present at every home game and the majority of away games, painting signs, along with a normal school load, led to BURNOUT! The obvious frustration was trying to fit everything into 24 hours. Despite the frustrations, girls still had positive things to say about being a member of the rally. Sara Benolken said, For all the frustrations and burnout it was still worth it for the fun experiences and the spirit at the games. Other groups of early risers and dedicated people were: jazz Ensemble, Marching Band, Concert Band, Orchestra, Jazz Etc., Souther- naires, Symphonic Choir, Chorale, and Con- cert Choir. j Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and a member of Iazz En- semble. jazz musicians are funny people, especially instrumental jazz musicians who voluntarily come to school one hour early every morning to practice. There is something sickeningly amusing about insanity. 7:00 a.m. was a beautiful time of day. The first rays of daylight streamed through the smooth green leaves of the apple trees as the sweetly singing robin spreads his goodwill to every happy soul in nature's fair realm. But the view from one's warm, cozy bed was usually a tad muddled. A more realistic view of 7:00 a.m. came from looking with sleepy eyes out of a bandroom window and seeing a single tree, some scraggly grass, and a Cherriot bus. All the members of jazz Ensemble usually managed to make it in by 7:10. Mr. Tim Siess, always Mr. Sunshine, led the band through a variety of diversified and onerous charts. QWARNING: Don't let this statement fool you. It is misleading. Diversified actually meant that no one had ever heard or played it, and those who had, wished they hadn't.j Although the songs were difficult, they played their way through many more than in past years. Road trips were also more fre- quent. The stages of Willamette, Western Or- egon State, and Mt. Hood Community Col- lege were all graced with the presence of the jazz band. Despite the tough charts, busy schedules, and frustration that accompanied improvis- ing, the Jazz Ensemble did have fun and im- proved, and that's the important thing. Ever wonder what it was like to get all dressed up in a uniform and tall hat, march in front of hundreds of screaming people and play an instrument all at the same time? That's exactly what the members of March- ing Band did at all the football games. Members followed the drum major around the football field before the game and at half- time, playing the music to charge up the au- dience. Patrons at the games supported the band well with yells'and cheers, especially when Lisa Neal did a flaming baton twirling sequence. The band took a few special trips to OSU, competitions, and of course, away games. Mr. Siess, advisor to the marching band, com- 8 School life mented that the band was exceptional, and achieved their success through a lot of hard work. Marching band was held first semester, with second semester turning into Wind En- semble. Wind Ensemble was composed of many very talented musicians, and their talent came through at the many competitions and festi- vals in which they performed. Much of their success can be attributed to their director, Mr. Siess. He built Concert Band and Wind En- semble to be two of the most successful bands we've had. The orchestra was composed of eighteen fine musicians who dedicated themselves to performing to the best of their capabilities. Although they were small in numbers, the quality was tremendous. Member Jason Stewart said, We take pride in having good performances and look forward to whatever the future may have in store for us. At 7:00 a.m. on any given weekday of the school year, most of Jazz Etc. could be found yawning and assembling themselves in the auditorium. Generally by 7:05 everyone had arrived and coherence was beginning to spread through the group. Being awake was important because much concentration was needed to make the music come alive. When a competition arrived, it would show the re- sults of all the time and energy given each morning by the choir and the director, Mrs. Becky Muir. Competitions such as the Optimist Festival and the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival were im- portant. These competitions were, however, far from the only performances given. In ad- dition to school concerts, the group also gave several community performances. People outside of school were able to enjoy the music of the group by attending performances such as those given at the Rotunda and the Bosses Breakfast. Someone will understand this. The members of Jazz Etc. had fun together, worked hard, and benefitted from a success- ful year. Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau twho?j was once quoted as saying, There are only two posi- tions for a singer, standing on a platform or lying in a bed sleeping. Dietrich was obvi- ously never acquainted with the Souther- naires. A combination of sleeping and stand- ing on a platform was the only practical method of dealing with rehearsal at 6:55 a.m. each morning! However, the early-morning rehearsals brought many rewards. Southernaires won their first festival, the Optimist Festival. The bonus was that Mike Smith won the Out- standing Instrumentalist award and jenny Chadburn was awarded Outstanding Soloist for the second consecutive year. Not a bad feeling! Spring brought Southernaires to the Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival, as well as to the goal of the year, the Mount Hood Jazz Festi- val. Other highlights included a Christmas concert sung in the midst of an on-stage bliz- zard and our own rhythm section's popular demand performances of Louie, Louie and Surf City. The annual trip to Edmond's in Seattle was mellow but fun. The Hi-Lo's pro- vided sensational entertainment, but were ri- valed by the senior guys' renditions of Pen- nies from Heaven and Wipe Out. jo learned to recognize a mountain and Joel managed to escape swimming in the unheat- ed pool, and everyone returned home more or less intact. Despite the sleep lost due to rehearsals, everyone gained in one way or another from being a member of the group. And looking back it was easy to see that the group unity stressed by the leader and director, Mr. Wenz, was painless. Symphonic Choir, under the direction of Mr. Wenz, was a select group of singers with almost eighty singers, it was much larger than in the past. Despite the size of the group they still maintained their excellence. The choir performed not only at school concerts but also at the all-city choral festival and the Best of the Northwest competition. Joyce Stern said of Symphonic Choir, It's an edu- cational experience. Some people may think we don't learn anything in choir, but it is a real challenge. Also a learning experience was Chorale. Not quite fifty members strong, Chorale isn't a competing choir. They perform at school activities and at the Rotunda at Christmas time. The main focus was on giving individuals the experience of being more independent on their parts. This learning experience will help them in competing in other choirs. When freshmen with a desire to sing en- tered the music department, they had to be- gin at the bottom of the musical ladder. As their years in Choir progressed, so would the student's climb up the musical ladder. Concert Choir was the first rung on the ladder. This choir was composed of all fresh- men who had the willingness and desire to sing. It was for building experience for the next steps on the ladder. Robyn Woodward summed up her feelings about being in the choir: Everyone in choir worked hard and didn't mess around all the time. We estab- lished a good name for freshmen, and took pride and pleasure in singing and having great concerts. Anyone who attended their concerts appre- ciated the decication that these students dis- played in their performances. Probably the most dedicated group of stu- dents who helped the student body get orga- nized and plan activities were the ASB and Class Committees. If it had not been for the many members of each committee, the school year would have been disorganized, confused, and worst of all . . . BORING! Although it may have seemed as if the committees did nothing but socialize and get their pictures in the yearbook, they were ac- tually responsible for many of the happen- ings that we took for granted and merely expected to take place. Who planned spirit week and made it one of the most successful weeks the school has known? Who organized the dances and persuaded the administration to allow use of the main gym for the dances during the football sea- son? fCont'd on p. 9j

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QCont'd from p. 81 Who kept up the school grounds to keep open lunch? Who chose student-of-the-month and Ro- tarian nominees? And who organized and ran all student elections? Without the dedication of the committee members who often worked above and be- yond the call of duty, school life would not have contained many of the little things that make it interesting, let alone the major items. So let's hear it for the committees! Who was it that said, There is nothing new under the sun ? The class committees were faced with the ever-pressing burden of fundraising. They tried new twists to the pro- cess and tried to make it anything but boring. The Senior Class Committee was the epit- ome of what an active, efficient, and success- ful class committee should be, or so the com- mittee members said. Under the scrupulous pilotage of Romy Mortensen the committee cruised to the accumulation of around 4,000 desperately needed dollars. The crew of this avatar of genius consisted of Bridget Bakken, Michelle Cary, john Dou- gherty, Derek Graham, jim Litchfield, Kate Stevens, and Dennis Taggart, with Romy Mortensen at the helm. A few of the major undertakings of the committee were the homecoming dance, the senior gift to the school, the senior-faculty basketball game and dance, and financing the color senior pic- tures in this beauteous book of memories. The benevolent members of the committee also wished to aid in the cost of the senior banquet. However, jim Litchfield strongly objected to this proposal, for it would have depleted the committee's pizza and popcorn fund. The memories of their excursion to Black Butte Ranch will everlastingly remain in the Caverns of their minds. It is here that the Underoos track team strutted their stuff after a defeat in a friendly game of Trivial Pursuit. lt was also here that Derek QMichelangeloJ Graham unveiled his talent as a sculptor by carving Romy a masterpiece affectionately re- ferred to as Richard. When asked what she thought of Derek's gift she replied, I abso- lutely worship it! I take it with me every- where I go. The success of the senior committee paral- leled the high level of achievement and excel- lence of the class it represented. If the econo- my picks up the committee may be able to afford the doors for the guys' bathroom stalls that they so deeply desired for their senior gift. junior Committee-john Peterson, Leslie Prichard, Paul Caldarrazzo, Mark Gibson, Dave Jensen, and Gary Schwartz-not only successfully maintained the pioneered new ideas for the planning of the Prom. fAngela couldn't explain that sentence, either.l Be- cause most of the committee members were involved with spring sports it became neces- sary to plan the prom in a different way. A separate Prom committee was formed, thus involving more people and as john Peterson so aptly put it, spreading the burden. They also played a large part in the fantastic junior fCont'd on p. 10j i. mug ABOVE Chorale tries to perfect one of the many songs they performed. Although not a big choir, they still gave good performances. Photo: Dionne Alvord. LEFT joel Stembridge makes a funny face, while trying to cover up a mistake. joel was not only involved in Orchestra, but was also on the Varsity Soccer team. Photo: Matt Ardaiz. School life 9