Springfield Trade High School - Beaver Yearbook (Springfield, MA)

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THE TRADE BEAVER Mr. George A. Burridge We affectionately dedicate this book to Mr. George A. Burridge, our director, who has worked with us diligently and with integrity. His clear understanding of our many problems has eased the way for us during our stay at Trade. The results of his influence will ever remain an asset to us through the years to come. We congratulate you and salute you, Mr. Burridge, on your twenty-fifth anniversary as an educator and helper of young people.

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THE TRADE BEAVER THE CITY LIBRARY SPRINGFIELD Mage DESIGN AND COMPOSITION BY THE STUDENTS OF THE SPRINGFIELD TRADE SCHOOL SPRINGFIELD, MASS.

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IEE ERAS Drea he Aaa MR. GEORGE A. BURRIDGE It is not only pleasant, but gratifying and inspiring, to speak of Mr. Burridge on his completion of a quarter of a century’s service to vocational education in America. It is always pleasant to greet an old friend on any anniversary; but te contemplate a notable career so firmly built on the foundations of true character can only evoke the deeper emotions of solace and joy. Men of his kind—would that they numbered millions !— refusing to seek the acclaim of national notice, enter far more valuably into the fabric of the nation's life and ultimate glory than is ever known during their own generation. Of the highest integrity of purpose, of the sincerest and most unselfish ideal of service, of the most sterling qualities of manhood, men like him are a benediction on their friends and a godsend to their times. Can you imagine a youth who had once come genuinely under Mr. Burridge’s influence ever developing into a dictator? Can you imagine him as a violator of pledges, or a persecutor of underprivileged minorities? Could he possibly grow to be an unscrupulous practitioner of greed? If his later life showed anything but wholesome, decent, useful, generous activity, then his soul must have been most wretchedly warped. And even some oddly twisted characters, as I happen to know, have been happily straightened under the intelligent and faithful ministra- tions of Mr. Burridge. These statements will shock their subject, because he doesn’t even suspect such things about himself. And he will be embar- rassed and saddened at the thought that an old friend has wandered from the ways of truth. But I am willing to uphold my appraisal against his denial of it before any jury of my peers. They will have to be my peers, because his peers could not be found. Ya” LIBRARIAN-—-HOLY CROSS COLLEGE