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

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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.

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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 Everyone knew when our girls were having a basketball game by their attendance at morning Mass. They had quite a successful season under the captaincy of Ann Butler. It seemed Helen Pappas was the only lucky one when Mid-Year examinations rolled around. Who will ever forget our successful Barn Dance, the Mission Tree, talk about taking physicals and the Bunker Hill Orations? Two popular boys of our class left us for higher education. We surely were proud of our college boys, Francis Smith and Francis Barrett. After his first day at Boston College Francis Barrett learned when and when not to wear his hat. Remember To Be or Not To Be , Chris's fuschia sweater, Mary Rooney's calahoogies and parachutes, Claire's eagerly awaited letters, and Nancy Peters' never ending scoldings. Only a few of the Seniors received money from the Juniors for cleaning typewriters. Maybe we should have it done in the beginning of the week. Then the Year Book Staff began its long hard work. Francis Smith Was elected Editor-in-Chief, Anna Drudy and Nancy Peters, Assistant Editors. They certainly did a wonderful job with the full cooperation of all the other members. About the same time Miss McCarthy started play practice. Several Seniors were chosen for prominent roles. Among the leading characters, were Marie MacKay, Helen Pappas, Nancy Peters and Francis Phillips. Other parts were taken by Claire Hayden, Peg Mahoney, Ruth Gildea, Ann Butler, Dorothy Grubaugh, and Mary Rooney. The play was The Charm School . Everybody settled down to hard work to make it a success. The college course having only four in the class during play practice were always a little on the lonely side. Remember those chemistry experiments, letter writing during Study, and also that Phillips' gang? With class Night and all other duties of a Senior year over, we were graduated with grateful hearts toward all those who made our education possible. May all the coming years be as happily spent.