Sparks College - Yearbook (Shelbyville, IL)

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SITTBJGf Mrs. Earle B. Fox, Mrs. H. H. Head, Mrs. William Bethke, Miss Mary Gallagher, Mr. Henry D. Sparks, Miss Madge Sparks, Mrs. E. A. Colbert, Mrs. Clem Boling, Mrs. H. M. Owen SECOND ROW: Mr. L. C. Doak, Mrs. L. C. Doak, Mrs. Robert B. Eadle, Mrs. Jean Mayhew Moser.Mrs. Lois .Atkinson, Miss Darlene Heller, Mrs. Frances Sanders, Mrs. Treasie Newlin, Mr. Garland Strohl, Mr. H. O. Janes, Mr. Roger R. Sparks THIRD ROW: Mr. Earle B. Fox, Mr. Jack Ellis, Mr. Robert B. Eadie, Mr. William Bethke, Mr. H. H. Head, Mr. H. M. Owen, Senator Clarence Sprinkle, Mr. Eugene .Alexander, Mr. Robert Alexander, Representative E. C. Eberspacher, Mr, Paul M. Pair, Mr. O. H. McKnelly FOURTH ROW: Mr. V. G. Musselman, Mr. E. A. Colbert, Mr. D. F. Colbert, Mr. Clem Boling, Reverend Robert Litteral Mrs. Elsie P. and Associates Wright

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Birthday Dinner The high lights of the fiftieth year of Sparks College, in addition to the publication of this book, were the birthday dinner and the Golden Jubilee. Sparks College Birthday Dinner was held Saturday night, June 21, 1958, in the Christian Church in Shelbj ' ille, Illinois. The dining room of the church had been tastily decorated by the committee in charge. More than one hundred sat down to the fine dinner served by the ladies of the church. Mr. Noble Corley, Vice Presidentof the Alumni Association, was the chairman of the meeting. Reverend Robert Litteral, Minister of the Christian Church, offered the Invocation. Mr. Clyde Warren introduced Mr. Roger R. Sparks, whose birthday was June 21. Roger responded, then cut the birthday cake. Roger ' s birthday and that of the school are the same. Classes were called by years, those in different classes giving name and year. Some classes were represented by as many as four present. Classes having three or four members present were recognized. Years having four representatives present were: 1936 Mrs. Vura Taylor Abernathy Mr. Jerome Anderson Mr. L. L. Doyle Mrs. Velma Jones Kerr 1948 Mr. Gerald Began Mr. Joseph Began Miss Betty Jones Mr. Lewis Locke Years having three representatives present were: 1917 Miss Geneva Stewardson Mr. Clyde Warren Mr. Virl Welch 1920 Mr. Roy Bare Miss Margaret Fox Mrs. Lulu McCormick Carroll 1923 Mr. George Monger Mr. Lloyd Carroll Miss Daisy Reynolds Failed to get in picture. 1925 Mr. Ralph Cox Mrs. Frances Koeberlein Klitzing Mrs. Lucille Warren Springer 1927 Mr. Roger R. Sparks Mr. Merle Stewardson Mrs. Loraine Runkel Stewardson 1929 Mrs. Mabel Bare Kircher Mr. Robert Wagaman Mrs. Pearl Jackson Welch 1940 Mr. Keith Corley Mr. Robert Watson Mrs. June Ogden Watson Mr. Keith Corley, as editor of the Golden Anniversary History, explained the progress being made on it. He radiated much enthusiasm. Mr. Logan Fern, Superintendent of Schools in Litchfield, Illinois, husband of Wilna Yakey, was introduced. Mr. Ralph Cox, Principal of Shelbyville, Illinois. Grade Schools and Junior High School, was introduced. Reverend Robert Litteral was introduced and spoke briefly of the place in the community of Sparks College. .After some general remarks, Toastmaster Keith Corley asked Mr. H. D. Sparks for a few closing words. .Among the things he said was: This is my last year. Roger will carry on. Mr. Sparks pronounced the benediction. The following committees organized and carried out the birthday dinner: MENU PROGRAM Mrs. Velma Jones Kerr Mrs. Dorothy Cordray Barden Mrs. Olga Downs Hayward DECORATIONS Mr. and Mrs. (Pearl Jackson) Welch Mr. Roy Bare Mrs. Corrinne DeWitt Igo Miss Mamie Kircher Mrs. Kathryn Mahan Lloyd Mrs. Elizabeth Stewardson Rominger Mrs. Loraine Runkel Stewardson Mr. F. A. Pundt Mrs. Beatrice Hook Conn Mr. Ralph Cox Mrs. Edna Herron Merrell Mr. Howard Wilson TOASTMASTER Mr. Keith Corley TICKETS Mr. Russell Younger Mr. Jerome Anderson

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Golden Jubilee On August 2, 1958, the college building was open all day to graduates and friends. Many of both were present, including practically all the members of the Illinois Private Business Schools State Board and representatives of most of the business colleges in Illinois. At four o ' clock in the afternoon, a caravan of cars proceeded from the college bxiilding to the Forest Park auditorium for the Golden Jubilee program. The meeting was called to order by Mr. Garland Strohl, president of the Alumni Association. The Reverend E. B. Blankenship gave the invocation. Mr. Clem Boling, Master of Ceremonies, was then introduced. He in turn introduced the various guests who appeared, but were not to speak. They included Mr. and Mrs. H. H. Head of Brown ' s Business College, Galesburg, Illinois; Mr. Robert Alexander and Mr. Eugene Alexander of Utterback ' s Business College of Mattoon, Illinois; Mr. Robert D. Eadie of the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Illinois and Mrs. Eadie; Mr. Paul Pair of the Pair School in Chicago; Miss Darlene Heller of the Rockford School of Business, Rockford, Illinois, and of Brown ' s Peoria School of Business; Mr. and Mrs. E. A, Colbert of Illinois Commercial College, Champaign, Illinois; Mr. Dana Colbert of the same school, and president of the Illinois Business Schools Association; Representative E. C. Eberspacher of Shelbyville; Senator Clarence Sprinkle of Assumption; Mr. L. C. Doak, educational director of Bryant Stratton College in Chicago, and also of LaSalle Extension University, and Mrs. Doak; Mr. and Mrs. Earl B. Fox of Fox College in Chicago; Miss Mary Gallagher, founder of the Gallagher School in Kankakee; Mrs. Paul Moser of the Moser School of Chicago; Mrs. Roger Sparks of Sparks College; Mrs. H, M. Owen of Brown ' s Business College, Decatur; Mrs. Clem Boling of Cincinnati; Mrs. Elsie P. Wright of Stenographic Machines, Inc., Chicago; Mrs. Lois Atkinson of Sparks College; and Mr. Jack Ellis, reporting the meeting. Mr. Herman Janes, Shelbyville, paid a touching tribute to those graduates who have passed away. He spoke particularly of Mrs. Sparks and unveiled a large photograph of her in the early years of her marriage. Mr. William Bethke, chairman of the Illinois Private Business Schools State Board, spoke on the organization and work of that Board, He said of it, We on the Illinois State Board, I am speaking for all my colleagues on that Board, feel a very keen sense of responsibility that we are setting a pattern of regulation here that will serve the schools for generations perhaps, but, at any rate, we are trying to get these fundamentals recognized in our nation. Mr. H. M. Owen, president of Brown ' s Business College, Decatur, Illinois, represented competitive schools. Said Mr. Owen, If the few words that I have to say could he dignified by a subject, that subject would be ' Our Good Neighbor Policy. ' Now I don ' t know what you think of our national Good Neighbor Policy, but the Brown ' s Business College, Decatur-Sparks College, Shelbyville, Good Neighbor Policy has been in effect and very effective for the past fifty years. Mr. O. H. McKnelly, Superintendent of Shelbyville Public Schools, spoke on public-school relations. He made the following observation: Another thing that I noticed when I came to Shelbyville some seven years ago that is entirely different from the other four communities in which I have spent my life is the intellectual background that exists in this community. fter being here some time, 1 began to wonder why this is true of Shelbyville. I certainly didn ' t bring it here. It was here before I came. But why? And then 1 began to realize, after talkingto some people and doing a little research and reading, that this community was one of the few and first communities to have an academy, that is an institution that was comparable to our secondary school, or the high school. Shortly after the life span of the academy - some of you people here remember the academy, or know of it as it was in Shelbyville - Sparks Business College took over in this community and carried on the tradition, that intellectual tradition that Shelbyville has. During the twenty-five years I have known about Mr. Sparks and Sparks College, I have never heard one word said derogatory to Sparks College, but much commendation. On the other hand, neither Mr. Sparks nor those representing iiim have been heard by public-school people to say anything derogatory to any other school. The Shadow as depicted by Reverend Robert Litteral, Minister of the Christian Church, showed the all-prevailing image of Mr. 5 parks as the leader and guide of young people seeking the truth. The influence of the school has touched Shelbyville for good through many young people.