Sparks College - Yearbook (Shelbyville, IL)

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The shadow of Sparks College in this community and in the state and nation has been the Christian Shadow that expressed God ' s love as one individual to another. The Business College in the Community, as expressedby Mr. V. G. Musselman of Gem City Business College of Quincy, Illinois, provides clear, definite, constructive teaching of business facts in a usable way. There is probably no more distinguished name in the private school field than Musselman. Mr. Musselman said, The fact that Henry Sparks has maintained a successful school for fifty years is an indication in itself that it has been well managed, and that he has handled the proposition in a first- class manner. Mr. Brown built a ch.Mn of thirty to forty Business Schools. My father and Henry Sparks and two or three others felt that if they had one school under their direct supervision they cou J give personal attention and do a greater job in developing their young people. In my opinion, that is the way it has worked out. Mr. Roger R. Sparks was then introduced by Mr. Boling. Roger promised very definitely that he would try to preserve the good things about the tradition of the school in the future. Mr. Boling spoke of a visit Mr. Sparks had with him and his father several years ago. Said Mr. Boling, I dreamed that I would go to Sparks and then to the city, Chicago perhaps, and come back, visit, and buy land around my old home. He did just that. Mr. Boling then introduced Mr. Henry Sparks. Mr. Sparks said, At times like this, it is hard to find words that adequately express what one has in mind. So many kind words have been said about me that I am reminded of the old story of the colored man named Elias, who was dead and lay in a casket just before the pulpit. His wife and son were sitting nearby. The wife heard the minister make such complimentary remarks about her husband that she said, ' Son, please go and look into that casket and see whether it is your father who is in there. ' Thank you, all of you. Words cannot express my feeling of appreciation for the hundreds of graduates who have gone out into the world. It is over. Thank you. I am asking that Roger R. Sparks, who carries on from here, may have your full confidence that under his leadership he will have greater success for this school than ever before. May God bless you and keep you, my friends. Reverend Walter Mehl, Minister of the Presbyterian Church, pronounced the benediction right on time. Mr. Boling gave a few instructions on how to enter the south pavilion, where the sumptuous dinner was ready. Sparks students, graduates, and the many visitors ate heartily of this fine dinner. The Chamber of Commerce furnished the beef, which was barbecued by Theta Pi Gamma Sorority. There was a bountiful supply of this wonderful meat. Thank you folks, thank you. Everyone said, It was really wonderful. It just couldn ' t have been better. With the co-operation oftheChamber of Commerce, the committee worked everything out in a wonderful way. The Golden Anniversary Celebration Committee: Mr. Ross Beube, Chairman Miss Dolores Baptist Mrs. Vera Rice Cook Miss Margaret Fox Mr. Carl Herten Mrs. Edna Herron Merrell Miss Geneva Stewardson Mr. Clyde Warren

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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.

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Married Couples During the fifty years, there have been more than one hundred married couples of whom both were Sparks students or faculty members. In case of death, an precedes the name. They are as follows: Donald Ambuehl Sylvia Spangler Charles T. Blancett Betty Gillmore Ralph Parks Gwendolyn Ball Gerald Blankenship Joyce Graham Howard Wilson Vera Barnett James J. Boaz Violet Blankenship Burnell Runkel Iwana Bartholomew Glen Stewardson Frances Bode 11 William Schaffer Florence Bartscht Charles Thomas Bolds Lulu Miles Russell Younger Gladys Becker Roy E. Burke Irene Fetters Andrew Beckett Berniece Taylor Floyd Carroll Lulu McCormick Dwight Beem Shirley Poe Richard ' C ar ruthers Rosalind Blankenship Bruce Turney Elizabeth Boys Harry Courtright Ruby Champe Richard Gillespie Marjorie Branyan Roy Furr Carmel Clifton Lawson Killam Josephine Broverman Joe Reynolds Lois Conrad DeWitt Brown Helen Taylor Herschel Cordray Kathr Ti Cordray Lane Walker Gertrude Bube Fred Walker Estilene Cowim Jerry Lee Bumgardner Margaret Whittington James Guyon Phyllis Cox Herman Beetle Helen Randall R„ A. C res well Nellie Tinsman Ross Beube Emogene Weakley John Newlin Mary Cribbet F. W. Claar Jette Bigler Gene Stiarwalt Audrey CuUumber