Saint Marks School - Lion Yearbook (Southborough, MA)

Page 15 text:

And, of course, I can’t forget how big lovable Jeff Coolidge tried to put dorm feasts out of fashion. That was the time of tin cups, arrows, broken windows, and a soul-rendering meeting with Gac. If the boys were looking forward to their fourth- form year, it’s hard to tell why. If only they hadn’t found out about those twen- ty-one rules. JUNE 1951. Dear Diary, It’s just been one big race. They’ve tried to see who could be the first to break the school’s twenty-one written rules. Of course, to my credit there was ath- letic Randy, and Bennyboys Mike and Chas, but not much else except head librarian Jiggy Coe. And I’m not sure, either, if they actually did manage to erack all twenty-one rules, though it was a good try anyway. It all started with the friendliest little game of poker in club 171 you can ever imagine. The boys, though, did gain one thing from their trouble—a real buddy. I remember, too, the West 3 Coliseum’s fights with the record attendance of thirty-seven. It was this year that the climax of Dwight Davis’s career was reached. With master- mind William Peterson planning, the famed “Benny’s Car Episode” was exe- cuted. It was following this that Inspector Coker filed his brilliant report on 5.M. Sin and Immorality in Marlboro and vicinity. In the spring the hacking light- ened, and the form (now “the worst in school”) began to acquire that humorous and inevitable upper-school cynicism; and now for the first time in the spring their fancy turned to thoughts of — and -at Tenacre. They’re still growing, I can tell. in particular, their first “big dance” JUNE 1952. Dear Diary, The form was divided this year. There were those who played poker and there were those who campaigned. I suppose both groups had their good points. Only 11 at odd times did the groups overlap. For instance, there were the Roosevelt Grille celebration party, and the Sixth-Form Dance Birddog Club with the Bobsey Twins, and even the atrocious nodoz market at mid-year exams. Thus with one-half of the form played against the other, a few worries departed (just before the beginning of the term) and good deeds and teen-age problems increased which were to plague us throughout the term. But to mention a few of the good deeds, theatrical John Loudon has shone in the SMDC Inspector General, and the dance committee ran a successful barn dance. Tim slammed out four hits against Gro- ton after spending most of the season on Ulen’s maritime squad, and the important war scenes of the form movie were taken with the acting of “‘generalissimo” Has- kins. Everyone was so tense at the end of the spring term when staff, club, and school positions were announced. I saw a few who bitterly burnt old campaign posters and such, but no one committed suicide. I can hardly wait till next year. DECEMBER 1952. DEAR Diary, I read in the Bible once something about becoming a man and putting away

Page 14 text:

it had a tragic conclusion—twenty hours apiece for the infamous band. It has been the year of the Great Plague, the year of undefeated midget football (composite score: 147-6), the year of club baseball at its fighting best, the year of unparalleled dorm battles. There have been paddlings (the famous come-uppance of one “King Conceit,” or Bruce as he is less widely known), and amusing classes under the inimitable doctors, Schenck and Harrison. It has been a full year. The form is united and strong; the tarnished pebbles were discovered early—three down the hatch already. The little men of °53 are ready for anything. JUNE 1 949. Dear Diary, All that could come, came. And so many more too. They started off the year with a party. Some party, too. Party favors included a belt buckle for Big Ron Roth and a tennis ball for Rolly. Chas was a bystander at the whole affair while Bevo was proclaimed host, Randy the entertainer, and Bruce the instigator. Everything went on a formal basis. They rented the New Wing and paid the bill in Room Seven. When everyone finally set- tled down to a nice, hotly-contested league of card baseball, Diz gave all the facts (even on bee raids) in his Latest Lowdown. Cool, calm, collecting Jiggy led the league till he found that no one likes anyone who wins all the time. Then, of course, I can’t end this entry without a word about darling D.B., the man with the red-hot and very ready slate pad. I think my boys owe him something. If they can’t make a living as doctors or lawyers they can shovel coal — chain- gang style. JUNE 1950. Dear Diary, The same dreary bunch. I’ve really had my paws full. From the vicious Dorm D rumors that those southerners were spreading to that ““Casanova-on-wheels” —why I bet if the farcical Third Form Trumpet hadn’t appeared I would have broken down. The Trumpet, with its sole purpose of glorifying the third form and nothing else, was organized by budding journalists Bruce, Chas, and Bevo and was aided by temperamental Diz and his asinine and plagiaristic cartoon character, Superdroop Junior, no doubt the image of what everyone in the form wished to be. The boys were definitely in the writing stage this year. But it would have been better if boys like Willy and Ron Roth hadn’t insisted that their readers auto- graph and comment on their stories, e.g., the Latin novel, Siz. But Pizzi never minded being a scapegoat anyway. The boys ate well, too. Brantwood President Chas and Tenacious Sherwood doled out the holidays —to Nip, who always got them. This was the year that the form first realized that there were twenty-one writ- ten rules to break. The first tussles with the nightwatchman began, and Dizzy and equally careless Story Musgrave started roaming the corridors and the Worcester turnpike in search of nothing to do. There were huge water-bottle fights on the New Dorm roof, too, and Worthy always lost out.

Page 16 text:

childish things. I guess these boys just don’t read the Bible. Although that say- ing should be quite familiar anyway. I suspect they'll end the year the same way they started it. With a wham. Naturally I was pleased with the way Randy and a few of the big boys—hefty John Shaw, slender Tim Sherwood, lanky Gordon Douglas, and racy Andy Rankin —led the football team to a snowy 27-12 smear over Groton. And likewise with Denny’s footsters, including massive Boomy, rapid Tim, speedy Ave, fleet Morrell, and ah-Lee in the goal. But there was also the Wheeler dance discus- sions. Here’s what happened: The day before the dance somebody got the idea that it would be nice if we all staved cn the dance floor during the dance. This immediately brought up the question, “Why?” Just before the big de- bate an exhibition of Indian warfare was put up in the sixth-form room to give everyone some background data on the cease. Actually the discussion got no re- sults and most of the boys came away with the idea that it would be even neces- sary to show a draft card to get punch at the dance. Of course, to the few who had shown foresight two years previously, the draft ecard was no worry. And speaking of girls, there was the time when Nip enticed Richie and Van to seek relief in rural affairs. Luckily Badge stopped these gentlemen before anything had a chance to develop; nevertheless it didn’t help their discipline records, and when the firebug (“‘Let’s toss matches at each other’) episode exploded, I thought I had seen the last of at least one of them. However, the final outcome of this was only that the smoking team had to cancel the rest of its games. Meanwhile Lion Films, Inec., was busy shooting the final scenes of its movie The Sheik of Apocalyse starring Valentino Berthelsen, directed by Buzzooks, and Alex, and produced by J. P. Scudder. The rest of the boys were either munching cheese, working out crossword puzzles, or studying history problems. When the term finally ended with the usual dorm feasts, one extended vacation, and a discriminating Brucemas party (next one in 1957), almost everyone ran to New York and grew a year older. I thought I had best follow. Marcu 1953. Dear Dtary, Vacations can even be more fun than the school terms. After a 2-1 victory over Ronnie’s Lawrenceville team everyone began to celebrate the New Year at Randy’s. S. Woods was there with every- one and everything, and L. Jackson was there with herself and Shaw. No need in saying what Bevo was there with, though he wasn’t the only one. When I got back to school, I knew I was in for a very spe- cial term. The first event was getting a Walnut Hill concert called off, which was —too bad. Then for a change, Mr. Barber made the form think a little of college and he asked an admissions director of one of the east’s discriminating metropolitan colleges to visit. Parlor was no longer a smoker now because of the sports season.