Stratford High School - Mnemosyne Yearbook (Houston, TX)

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Displayinf her agility, Senior Terri Blu does a sp it in one of the many Sparta naire practices. In addition to split Spartanaires must show proficiency i high kicks and other exercises so a pei fect halftime show can become a rea ity. Demonstrating a block, Freshman Foo ball Coach Gary Koch instructs a grou of freshmen at summer practice. srfggi-Ltiifisu' imfbff V 'B . Wil-Sgiiv - F V 30 -fx was ,555-.4,. .7 , ,-1 A t . .N , F 4 , 1 1 ' 5 , t ,. ,A 1 izfgige ,-:LA s,-, ., . . ' -t ,- N' . '1 , is-MPL cs, U .5 ,Div .txt-4,5 'lift 3.M,vgL...-X'f.,3.-fl-,yes,mg1 U I ,.,sfg:53.3ti:IjQeff-fa,:xii v -...y :Q 1.1 Q -' ' ' At.. , ,1 5.--J' . . 2 I wigs- ,K 3 'Diffe rent practices by da gs, 9 t ?l57'Mz i 'W' ,L -1' 1 Mfg . Nw 5 ,gg '5' Q 3 During one of their two hour aftc if' Mil, ,' school practices, Senior Glenn Swish: ,ff Ki 3: K checks out his tuba. Freshman leff Ha Q A , 'L -X ter practices his step and Freshman Toi X 3 S 2 fd S Sisterson reads over his music. Y in With an uncertain expression on hi P , F face, Senior jeff Shaeffer tries to figui X i -jfs out what is happening at the toga part' 'F Tiftggs ' The toga party was a take-off from tl' P' , . M popular movie Animal House. l x JZ parties and practices

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nder a red spotlight, a Hickory band 'ember plays country music for those 'tending the junior Girls' Barn Dance. e group was selected through the ock Agency according to junior gela Scarborough. Watching the presentation of the senior Spartanaire members, Mark Gabrisch and Crystal jones enjoy the formal atlmtosphere of the River Oaks Country Cu . Fresh Flowers adorned Les Asel and Anne Westerlund's table at the Senior Girls Formal at the Sheraton. TSW Laughing with her date, Susan Paul sits out a dance at the Senior Girls' Formal. Susan commented, We really had a good time. I loved the excuse for get- ting dressed up. Going fora swing, junior Robin Welton smiles as she dances with her partner at the Barn Dance. The city cowboys danced past midnight at Valley Lodge in Simonton, raising S800 for junior Girls' Club. Arms wrapped around Mike jorgenson, Anne Henderson dances next to Horatio Fernandez and Robin Hazel at the Senior Girls' Formal jan. 26. We started our evening with dinner at Smug- gler's lnn, went to the dance and ended up the night with breakfast at Mike Swanson's house, said Anne. arer of the club Leslie Abramson xplained, A lot of people didn't o because the next morning tey had to take the SAT test at 8 im. She concluded, We really ad no advantage. This was a for- ial like any other formal, and -eople are tired of those. Planning it out required a lot f time, said Ellen. We had to et up committees to listen to ands and hire one, to pick out hvitations and to find a room to ave it in. Ellen described the costs as eing the usual amount for a for- ial,s S25OO for the room, S800 for te band, and S60 for the invita- ons. Senior Ann Westerlund exclaimed, lt was worth every- thing. l had a great time. My date, junior Les Asel, and I danced almost every dance. Senior Cindy Smith also said she had a good time, and added lt was fun to get all dressed up, but you had to be on your best behavior. junior Bruce jones related that he thought The best part about it was the band. They really made it something. Meanwhile, just two weeks later, Valley Lodge in Simonton, the traditional home of the jun- ior Girls' Barn Dance, created a completely different atmosphere junior Fred Billings explained, Everything is not so prim and proper. You can do what you want. You can let everything go. Held from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m. Sat- urday, Feb. TO, tickets cost S510 for junior Girls and S12 for the rest of the classes. Freshmen weren't allowed to go according to tradi- tion, stated junior Girls' Presi- dent Angela Scarborough. The girls' club ended up with S800 profit. Although scheduled on the same day as a drama production, Angela said it was still successful because it was so casual and relaxed. In the middle of prom season, it's good to get the chance to get away and relax. spiritdances 21 1

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fs ifter a crashing fall to the cement, Sen- mr David Sobosinski finds Senior Shelly hipman unharmed and finally drags er into the pool. Originally only peo- le without togas were to be thrown in : midnight, but I had a toga on and got rown in anyway, said Shelly. Clad in the fashions of ancient Greece, Seniors Elaine Divita and Margot Higgs take a break from the toga party held at Senior Laurie Robertson's house. Later Margot was thrown into the pool twice. I got all cold and wet, said Margot. . .and night lFor fifteen weeks, the football team, nd, Spartanaires, and cheerleaders t in four to five afternoon practices a geek in preparation for those two hours t community entertainment known as gh school football. ln addition to daily afternoon prac- Ces the football team, band, Sparta- ires, and cheerleaders spent several urs the afternoon of a game prepar- ig for that night's performance. According to Senior Varsity football layer Greg McFarland, the football ayers met in the locker room about 00 to think about the game. We were lpposed to be quiet and stay off our et, said Greg. Then they packed and ft about an hour before the kick-off. nce at the field the team did exercises lstretch out and loosen up and every-- Pdy started to get up for the game. iThe band usually arrived at school W2 lurs before the game to run through ie halftime show and sometimes to ive a uniform inspection. After arriv- g at the stadium, the band played a w warm-up scales and sometimes ayed for the small audience who rived early to get the best seats. The Spartanaires usually spent about hour at home, putting on their field ake-up, fixing their wigs, and putting i their uniforms. An hour or more 'fore game time, they arrived at school practice. We needed that practice to ally get it, and to get our nerves lmed down, explained Senior Cindy Simmons. Then they packed their pom poms, blankets, gloves, capes and hats and left in time to march in behind the band. The cheerleaders met at the field about an W1 early to put up posters and set up their equipment, according to Senior Cyrene Bouchard. About forty five minutes before the game began, stretching out and practicing double stunts could be observed. Out-of-town and Astrodome games meant that the whole process had to be started much earlier. The cheerleaders went to the school first to load the equipment for an away game and then went to the stadium. For the dome games, We got there really early, about 3:30 or 4:00, because there was so much more space to put up pos- ters, said Cyrene. Not only was there preparation for football games, but the other sports had their ways of preparing for their specific meets and tournaments. lunior Gabrielle Giovaninni said that preparing for a track meet took both mental and physical preparation. You had to get lots of rest and eat a lot of carbohydrates. Also, you had to think through the race and think positive and that you can win. Mrs. Becky Ryder, girls track coach, commented, The team always gets a pep talk and gets their positions before they go into the meet. Senior Stanley Bould commented, ln tennis, l try not to think about the tour- nament because l get too nervous. It's best to really stretch out and stay in shape to play your very best. Even parents of students had their own activities that centered around school events. Mrs. Vickers, Craig lames' mother commented, We usually had dinner at the Touch Center for the school kids and football players. They were usually too tired mentally and physically after the game, so they would come to the Center to eat and relax. Mrs. Adams, Kevin Adams' mother, said, About ten mothers decided on a menu for the Tully games at the Touch Center. At about 5:00 Friday, we would set it up and then go to the school and 'ooh and ah' for the football players. Only after the tired football players showered, the Spartanaires pulled out the coldcrearn, the band members hung up their wool uniforms and the specta- tors battled through the traffic did the celebrations begin. The celebrations were usually in the form of parties, however, they differed from group to group. The Stratford Party Team, a non- school sponsored group, hosted parties almost every weekend during football season including a Toga Party after the Spring Woods game. Everyone was supposed to wear togas, but l didn't think they would. But they did! When we were cleaning up, we found togas all over. exclaimed Lori Robertson, senior. At the same time band parties were going on. These were different from regular parties because Regular,parties have regular people. But band parties have band people. explained Senior lay Thompson. Another memorable party was held at Leslie Abramson's house. Besides cele- brating her birthday, its purpose was to celebrate winning the state title and the birthdays of Andy Paffet and Cindy Manicomf' said Leslie. Alter partying was over, people went their separate ways, only to meet back again the very next week to practice and party. parties and practices 23