Saint Marks School - Lion Yearbook (Southborough, MA)

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New York and didn't show up again for two years. Springtime saw numerous recruits for a summer at Brantwood, and a thirteen- inning defeat at the hands of Groton, a procedure that was beginning to become boring. Ribald songs echoing from North 3 were heard by a sixth former, enjoying the spring evening on the far side of Belmont Field for some unexplained reason, and once again discipline closed in on us. Soon it was Prize Day and we left in a flurry of suitcases and laundry bags for a summer of Brantwood, blissful loaiing, or eight weeks at St. Mark's for the aged members of the form. September, 1944, found us all present and accounted for in New Corridor, North Q, and overflowing down West. The group was augmented by Hands', Brainerd, a blond lad from the Corn Belt, and Nat from Hawaii, who, al- though right-handed, was promptly lab- eled I,efty.,' Christopher, the flying tackle, was with us once more, and we became a form outstanding in number, if not in naughtiness. However, the Butt Squad began to shape up suspiciously as George, Scotty, Clarkie of course, and some thought, Cyno. CEd. note: how absurdfj. Stevie refrained from naive excursions to the woods and partook quietly in his own room. We were never much of a group for wine, women, and nicotine though, and it wasn't long before three members of the squad repented their ways, to the tune of two proba- tions and one permanent retirement. The retired member was last heard from when he requested Mr. Brewster for a recom- mendation to Yale in 1946. As far as we know he failed to obtain it. The Form was the mainstay of all the teams, although we lost the football encounter with Groton again. History class became diverting to the point of bcdlam, and never really did quiet down, despite entreaties from numerous faculty members. Pete the Snerd would bang upon the radiator in Room H violently and then the entire class would troop down to find Mr. Deer to fix it,'y reeessing class for the day. On Sundays the Form found they could concentrate on evangelical matters while playing checkers and reading at the same time, and the bass section came through on the chants so strongly that the tunes were later changed to ones that nobody could follow. Other members of l

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ings became more and more clandestine and infrequent. Christopher and fluttcry Sandy Jack- son had fallen by the Wayside, but our number was enhanced by nine char- acters Who abode in Dorm E and re- mained Well behaved for a very brief period. They included Stevie, Bruce, Secant, Pat, Albie, and Bill the Phin. Then there was Silent Ken, Equot a Beak Cas yet unchristenedl, and a gang- ling redhead travelling under the name of Dick Clark, who brought a carton of chcroots with him just to get off to the right start. Equot immediately spread a series of insidious rumors about his roommate, and Albie commenced his school career by yelling Woof Woof out of his window at Yak,who was playing tennis right underneath just to see what would happenf' Woofie came panting right up to Dorm E, and A.B., aghast at his sin, bellowed excuses in the style that later became characteristic. The dreams of military glory in the S.M.T.C. that we had nurtured for three years were shattered as soon as we be- came members of the Southboro Army. Cflarkie paraded for a while in unpolished sneakers, but finding that this only netted him marks, decided not to appear at all and refused to attend maneuvers for the rest of the year. Junior Goad, struggling under a huge rifle, was admonished by his ofhcers to stand up straight until it became evident that Benjie just couldn't stand up any straighter. In fact, the only conscientious member of the military was Gordon, who already pic- tured himself in the role of colonel. After a disappointing loss to Groton and the interminable weeks of soccer and boredom, We departed to enjoy the Yule season and discover the questionable joys of Larut. That winter was memorable for the pilgrimage which Bud and Stevie made to Marlboro during the sixth form dance, and for Clarkie's nicotine habits, which reached nearly a pack a day. No sense of responsibility yet lay heavy upon us and the roughhousing became intolerable to prefects and masters alike. Someone thought it would be exciting to hang people out of Windows by their feet, until the sport was curtailed one day by the sixth form just as Brockie,s toes were dis- appearing over the window sill. It looks bad from the quadranglef' they said, by Way of explanation. Jonesie, who was rumored to be of voting age, forsook us for the Merchant Marine, and Willie Beehan took one last dentist trip', to

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the '46 congregation were alleged to have hissed the name of our late departed President in the sermon, but Mr. Brew- ster delivered a sharp lecture in Sacred Studies class which brought us once more into the fold. In the middle of the year a large drum- mer boy from Detroit appeared and made himself at home promptly. He was viewed with suspicion for a few weeks because of a flurry of weird nocturnal scares.,' However, that matter was all cleared up and St. Mark's evenings were once again unsullied. Jealous of the sixth form quad- rangle playground, we conceived of our own blanket parties and bounced the Buglemouse high into the ether every Sunday morning. VVith the advent of warm weather comes baseball, and Pete, Philbur, and Mickey starred that year. Politics never really reared its ugly head, but sixth form positions were not wholly dismissed from mind, and Chris made his last des- perate bid for Head Mo. It came as no surprise when Hunk Qwho was football cap by the wayj finally snatched the position, supported by a tremendous group of mo,s, including Gorgeous Georgeous, who was still on probation, so far as he remembered. Secant was broom and dustpan tzarg Toyt was given dining room control, and there was much jockey- ing for soft jobs and comfortable prefect- ships in the coming year. At Commencement in May, the Form suffered a serious injury with the loss of Philbur, Bruce, Mickey, and Stevie, all good athletes and even better compan- ions. It was then that we began to feel, as wartime forms ahead of us had felt, more and more like 'Klittle Injuns settin' on a fence, being picked off by draft boards. That summer saw the termination of hostilities in August and we returned to school for the final chapter, refreshed from peacetime celebration. Salty, who had been with us only a year, apparently fell in love with a hula dancer, for he remained in Hawaii. A new addition was Wecgee, known to all but the summer school veterans as merely someone who spelt his name with a 'z,. The sixth form year is commonly known as the most enjoyable, and ours has been no exception. We felt seriously hampered at first by a new set of rules, devised expressly for us it seemed, re- gardingMarlboro and downtown,',but as time went by we found other means of recreation, nearly all of them legitimate- - which is exceptional for a sixth form. All but the Vicky Squad were engaged on the gridiron, although Captain Doug suf- fered a broken ankle in the Noble's game and Dred Scott sacrificed his spleen for the alma mater. Fred the Fifi held down the captaincy of the Jayvees, while Ashby Qviee-president of the V. Squadj, picked apples, raked leaves, and dreamt of the baseball season. Things were humming in West Corri- dor, where thirty stoves and radios popped fuses thick and fast, putting Mr.