Springfield College - Massasoit Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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to Wilbraham. The next year our rendezvous was on Mount Tom. Was it a mere coincidence or by careful pre- arrangement that Mount Holyoke hunted chestnuts that same day ? Last year we again went to Wilbraham and found the chestnuts quite as scarce as ever, but apples were abundant and we brought away in our pockets five barrelfuls, so ’tis said. Woods Hall and Massasoit Lake have been the scenes of many other jolly social hours. We early appreciated the social opportunities of the lake and provided ourselves in our junior year with a class canoe that each might make the most of every opportunity for social culture. The success of the venture can never be measured, even by matrimonial statistics, but evidence of its value is suggested by the action of succeeding classes in promptly follow- ing our example, l he night we launched the canoe we had a camp fire supper up the lake, which cemented the bonds of class brotherhood, and we have always looked upon that night as the real genesis of our class life. A fireside social in Woods Hall in our Middler year, and the pleasant hours spent in the homes of the faculty fostered the strong spirit of fellowship which we have ever enjoyed and brought us into intimate social relations with our instruc- tors, some of whom we are proud to claim as honorary members. We have had many good times on the athletic field in friendly competition with the other classes. Sometimes we won; sometimes we lost. When our teams failed we cheered them with sincere and whole-hearted sympathy. When they won we rejoiced in the success of their efforts. Three times our teams have ranked champions of the school. In our Junior year we trimmed all comers in football and baseball, and the next year our best men were in demand for the varsity teams. In our Middler year we captured the track championship. And last fall it was largely our men, led by one of our own classmates, who demonstrated the possibilities of the mooted forward pass and made the football team of 1907 to be ranked as one of the three most celebrated teams which ever wore Training School colors on the gridiron. But sometimes as we recall the past, the actual classroom work — the academic activities, as it might be termed — forces itself into our minds and we are bound to give it consideration. Some of these activities are still so fresh in our minds that they assume undue proportions. We are still inclined to think that we have digested the whole library, historical and all. It has even been claimed that some of our digests were so uneconomical as to give one professor indigestion and appendicitis, but no amount of studential physical diagnosis or physiology of peristaltic exercise has ever proved the truth of the allegation. And then, too, some of us wrote theses; but no extent of historical recog- nition can ever adequately present the pangs of thesisitis. Before the disease attacked us even, we were forced to sit through seminar-clinics and be involuntary witnesses of its dire effects. It was then we learned to sing the seminar hymn, “Art thou weary, art thou languid.” There has been one beneficial result, however, from our experience with thesisitis for which all succeeding classes will rise up and call us blessed. It is the production of a new beatitude, “ Blessed is the man who writes his thesis in his Middler year.” So much talent was demonstrated by the members of our class at sundry times and in divers places that it seemed good for us to organize the first Senior dramatic club. Elaborate plans grew rapidly and we might today be

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Fred L. Honhart Russell S Flower J. Blaine Miller ice-President President Secretary Senior Class History F ELLOW classmates, we gather today for the last time as students at “Old T. S.,” for “when the sun goes down tonight we’re going to say good-by.” Today we have arrived. That day toward which we set our faces three years ago is now with us. But ere we receive our diplomas and turn to leave old Massasoit, it is both fitting and proper that we should meditate for a few moments on the events of the past three years. Most of you can look back with me to the fall of 1905 when we gathered here from many states and from many lands. We came for reasons and from circumstances very diverse, but with a common objective which was the foundation of a fellowship which has grown with the years and is the dominant characteristic of our class. Some have joined us since that time and some have slipped from our ranks. We miss those who have gone, but we are justly proud of the work they are now doing in different fields. Events of many kinds checker the three years of our history. The first which made a deep impression — soaked into our minds so to speak — was our reception at the court rf Massasoit. We swore allegiance as readily as we were welcomed and have since been loyal subjects of the king, feeling each year that it was our bounden duty to cordially receive the tyros, gently ( ?) lead them to the throne of Massasoit and help them swear eternal fealty. We have enjoyed three happy mountain days, by some mischance called “chestnut hunts.” The first was out

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presenting to you some great English classic but for that which one member ably described as unnecessary diplo- matic censorial procrastination. Time and space will permit only the casual mention of the Senior trip, so fresh in the minds of us all, and of the recent resurrection, in a somewhat different form, of the fire department which for various reasons was dis- continued in our Junior year. All these events have been a part of our life, but we are preparing for a religious profession and some mention should be made of such training. The curriculum provides no course in dogmatics, yet I venture to state that there are few points in the vast realm of dogmatic theology which we have not at some time learnedly discussed. A few of us have attempted pulpit oratory and many have taught Bible classes. If sometimes these classes were of the opposite sex, it but augurs well for the future. We have had our weekly prayer meetings where for a few minutes each week we have paused to consider some serious problem of life’s experience. These with the personal discussions of two or three together have assisted the efforts of the faculty to build in us an earnest, sincere, practical religious life. A few of the events of our history have been narrated. If I should attempt to describe the lives of the men who have figured in our history, it would necessitate a biography of every man who today receives a diploma, and more than a brief mention of many who have passed out into the world, and of many whom we leave behind in the other classes. Of the forces which have helped to mold our lives, I must say a word. First, of the spirit of the School, early manifested to us by the Junior reception. The spirit of “Old T. S.” has entered our lives and warmed our hearts. I he personal fellowship with the various members of the faculty and the power cf their lives over ours is a fcrce ever present in our minds. We can never too highly estimate the self-forgetful efforts they have made in our behalf, or the care with which they have guided us through the intricacies of difficult subjects. The influence of our natural environment, the campus, the buildings, the ever-changing vista of the lake, the tall green pines, the beautiful winter mornings, and the glorious autumn sunsets, — their subtle influence has entered our lives and has given us a keener appreciation of the presence of God. The School traditions, the stories of men who passed our way in years gone by and who are now doing a man’s work in the world, the stories of the lives of Henry S. Lee, of Mrs. Woods, and of Dr. Durgin, who gave of themselves that we might be abler men, — these have stirred in us yet nobler ambi- tions. And I recall that the Class of 1908 is the last which ever sat at Thanksgiving dinner with Mrs. Woods; we have the choice privilege of saying, “ I remember her.” Dr. Durgin we knew better. For more than a year we enjoyed his presence, his kindly advice and wise sayings. We loved him because he loved us; and the memory of him is to us a constant inspiration. We stand now at the parting of the ways; we are to leave each other; we are to leave those happy, serious, helpful experiences which stand today so vividly before us. But the future is bright: we go to prove our souls. For us a new day is dawning. The east is all aglow. And ere the light of that great day shall fade, may it be said of each of us, “He has fought a good fight, he has kept the faith, he has been true to his calling, to the traditions of the Training School, and to the ideals of the Class of 1908.”