St Patrick High School - Emerald Yearbook (Roxbury, MA)

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HISTORY - fContinuedJ Asylum '? We didn't either until Francis Phillips told us. We also learned then, that the shortest thing in shortages was Hank Welsh's hair. We were waiting all that year for the Red-Headed Bombshell to explode. However, the explosion didn't occur until the next year. The big question of the year was, I wonder if my father will let me take the car to the Prom. His tires are pretty thin, and he only has a few gas coupons. Eileen O'Connell came back to school, recuperated from an operation to help us fully across the Rubicon, and we closed a very placid year with a gala event at Norumbega Park. This was a perfect ending for a perfect year. We, the Class of '45, had always been clairvoyant, but we believe that our Junior year had more laughs and frolic than any other. First of all, we elected our class officers. Francis Barrett, presidentg Claire Hayden. Vice-president, Catherine Murrin, secretary, and Francis McDermott, treasurer. Once the wheels were set, we functioned with unrepelled accel- eration-this phrasing being the result of a brand new course in the high school. We shall always be grateful to Monsignor Riordan for intro- ducing the Physics Course which a few Juniors were privileged to pursue. Because we were Juniors, we set our minds from the very iirst to tender the best Senior Prom, and to do this we had urgent need of funds. This gave us an incentive and from thence onward we were swept into a social whirl. We had our dances, we especially enjoyed the delight of roller-skating parties, we served more luncheons and most important of all was our hayride. Not one of us shall ever forget the jaunt to Newton, on busses to Natick and finally the crisp, cold ride on the hay wagon climaxing with a stop at a luncheon bar. Many of us walked and ran part of the way and, of course, we brushed hay from our clothes for the next week. Julia Flanagan became a member of our class that year. We recall with glee the History classes and Sister trying in vain to discover what was so funny. The commercial division suffered with the scribbling they called Shorthand but insisted that it was easier than the college course and Mathematics. After two months, a few lucky students were ready to start on the second finger in typing. The college course had its own suffering too-especially Cicero- without a trot - or with it. To make matters a little jovial we did get a kick out of Cicero! Remember the look on the faces of everyone when the I. Q. marks were learned and we realized how smart we weren't'? Then our class began to be torn asunder. Joseph Blackburn was a full-fledged member of the Navy when we started school in September and later Donald MacNeil left us for the Navy too. Peggy Mahoney held a going-away party for him and we don't believe anyone will ever forget it, especially Pauline Alarie. To show how much we missed Don, we hung a service Hag in the classroom window. Ann Butler was always her own comic strip when she recited. Remember those contortions? That year our homeroom teacher would never mark Henry Welsh or Mary Rooney absent because nine times out of ten, they both would come running in before the slips were passed in. The girls, who stayed for lunch that year certainly got caught in the most obvious places. We were proud of Anna Drudy, Henry Welsh, Francis Barrett, Francis Phillips and Dorothv Bone who all received parts in the school play. They all did remarkably well and maintained the honor of the class by their performances. We are all sure of the success of the play and much of the credit goes to Henry Welsh's characterization. The most memorable occasion of our Junior Class was Peggy Ma- honey's donation to defense. Remember the government's message to the nation about the transformation of hair into war material? Well, shortly afterward Peggy turned up minus a few feet of her hair. And while

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HISTORY - fContinuedJ We were always adept in explaining but Francis Smith outdid us all when he explained that the top of the ginger ale bottle exploded, and exited, via his throat. The boys outstunted us when they turned out with ribboned bow ties. That year we really noticed Hank Welsh and his different coiffures! Then the finals: Oh, how we wished we had studied harder, and how we envied those who did. Exams over, we were one year nearer our Senior year. And so after passing a very happy and carefree summer, we returned in a unit to the Sophomore class,-a year older and, as we believed, so much the Wiser. However, once again, everyone believed we still had a great deal to learn, and as we look back now, we know it. We had a new member of the class that year and we welcomed her from Rhode Island. Muriel Gravel was more than appreciated when French class rolled around. After a joyous reunion of classmates, we settled down to the election of class oflicers once again. Henry Welsh received the presidencyg Evelyn MacDonald became vice-presidentg Ann Delaney, secretary, and Edward Lindahl, treasurer. . As Sophomores, we were introduced to three new subjects, French, Biology and Geometry. Oh how we used to get all those biological terms. definitions and names mixed up and we had such fun during those experi- ments. It was then that we knew who would follow the medical profession, and who would take a different road. We became very mercenary that year and ran our first financial affair. And because our minds usually centered on our stomachs, we held a luncheon, and goodness how we ate! It seemed that everyone was always substituting French in Latin class and Latin in French class. Seemed a shame our marks coudn't be substituted also. The general run of affairs was interrupted, momentarily, when we welcomed a bit of Pennsylvania State to our midst. Ann Butler joined our basketball group and became an ardent fan. By degrees, too great and devious to note, we Were bidding farewells to many of our friends and graduates. as they left for parts unknown. Remember Don MacNeil's sketches and cartoons, and our French songs that never ceased to cause comment? Pauline Alarie's greatest comment that year was, Sister, the door refuses to close. The entire Sophomore class was proud of the cheerleaders, especially since four of them were from our class. No one could cheer like our own Anna, Peggy, Claire and Ruthie. Remember Sister speculating and commenting on the choice odors of our very select perfumes? And the time Nancy Peters fell out of her seat in the Senior classroom? The hours of 9-1? And the day Francis Barrett was manipulated by those long pencils? ? ? Who will ever forget Lorraine Mann and her infinite supply of candies and food-stuffs? It was during this semester that Kay Murrin and Allena MacDonald decided that they had 'need of a vacation. And they took a long one, didn't they? We were all disappointed when it was decided that the school play that year would not be a musical, but we really enjoyed Don't Take My Penny. l l Remember Sister's careful distinction between Nancy Peter's ren- dition of Amapola and the song-writer's meaning of it. Sister claimed that any resemblance was purely coincidental! ! ! During our Sophomore year we had brainstorms really! Our greatest accomplishments were sprained wrists and rolls of bandage. The only trouble was that sometimes the farce didn't Work! The West End Weasel was forth-coming again this year with another world-wide definition. Did you know that sanitation meant an Insane

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HISTORY - fCont1l'nuedJ speaking of coiffures for the first and probably the last time, Hank Welsh surprised us all when he came into class with a path in his hair -it didn't last long. Such a memorable year! Remember when Frank Sinatra was in town! Those were the days when so many were absent. Swooners were everywhere and those of us who were ever faithful to Crosby the King were disgusted. But we all were absolutely appalled when we discovered that Tennyson was a swoon fan too! We had many laughs in French trying to interpret a spoonful of tea. Or was it a teaspoon? Oh, well, we were sure of the spoon! And here at last came the most-awaited event of the year. How we prepared for it. We had a wonderful time cutting out birds, fiowers, palm trees, and tropical moons. We really did have fun, didn't we? How we cleaned the hall and then decorated it, under orders of our class president, who enjoyed himself immensely, however we appreciated the results. Remember the palm trees, especially Ruth's. And class, remember that we had the hall for cleaning purposes during Prom time from 7 to 9. Oh brother! Finally the big night was here and we were all so proud of our decorating and planning. Before the night was over, Francis Smith dis- covered that he could make an A-1 cobbler. It was a perfect evening, wasn't it? Usually college and commercial divisions have petty quarrels but we never did. You see, we the Class of '45 are the most compatible. That was another happy year taking us nearer to our goal, graduation. Then in September we entered our Senior year. Now we were to be the leaders. Hank Welsh was heard many times referring to us, the Seniors, as what were called big -operators. We were sorry to have Sister Annette and Sister Benedict leave us in our last year, but Sister Rose Vincent and Sister Paracleta filled in the vacancies nicely. Our Senior Class Officers were Francis Barrett, president, Henry Welsh, vice-president, Ann Delaney, secretary, and Francis McDermott, treasurer. We started early to make money by running dances every Friday night possible. The Juniors gave us a very enjoyable jaunt on a hayride. Mary Rooney really caught us off guard on the way home. We became veritable big operators the day we all trudged down to the polls for the presidential election. Surprising how Hank and Weasel always find themselves the easiest jobs. Ask Termite about the exasper- ating time he had trying to spell the names from his end of the town. Will anyone ever forget Sid's humming or Allena MacDonald's ink bottle. We all missed Loretta Frissora's smiling face and ready answers this year. The new Detention Class, commonly called the jug , was the dreaded thought of Seniors. The fun usually associated with graduation began with the measur- ing for caps, gowns and class rings. Soon a bevy of smiling faces in delightful poses began to appear on every desk. We thank graciously the Tuesday Morning Musicians for their concerts. They were very helpful to our studies! The night we attended Murder in the Nunnery everyone was thor- oughly shakeng so shaken that no one ventured to walk home alone. On February 22nd, Hank Welsh left us for the United States Marines. Bv entering on that day he hoped his military career would be as success- ful as the person whose birthday falls on that day. Hank sure made the biestkovf this last day with us. What ever did you do with that blotter, an . The commercial course struggled over bookkeeping and we really do mean struggled.