The Park School - Spark Yearbook (Buffalo, NY)

Page 30 text:

Page Twrn fy-six The Spark On floor-Ruth Setel, Jo Truscott, Sally Pitcher, ,Jean Kimball. Sl,dffL1iHOW8fd Fer- now, Bobby Hoyt, Margaret Raymond, Cynthia Bissell, Sylvia Lyman, Mr. VanArsdale. Sicmdiug-Dave Guillaume, Art Meyer. Absenf-Jane Stryker, Eva Landsbergcr. Tenpushers, inc. HIS year, the Penpushers inaugurated the practice of initiations, a rather harrow- ing experience, as the new members found. It is surprising that such an effective form of mental cruelty was never before used by this club. The meetings, held at the homes of the various members, are always memorable oc- casions. With the arrival of the last mem- ber things get under way. Madame Presi- dent, commonly known as Margie Ray- mond, yodels for order and in the midst of a sudden lull, announces to all interested that the meeting will start. Each member then reads his paper after suitable remarks such as, I just dashed this off this after- noon on the bus, while everyone knows that he has slaved for hours on it. Gleeps often has an interesting short story, while Ruth Setel usually pops up with a very good article on refugees. Jean Kimball startles the club with her quick changes from the sublime to the ridiculous, and Jane Stryker produces a sensation with her love lingo. Another person to be relied on for some contribution is Bobby Hoyt, who always comes through with a stirring rendition of of the minutes. After the readings there are discussions of the compositions, and then comes the real reason for eVeryone's attendance-the food. The various members attack the vict- uals according to their individual tastes, and a lively discussion goes on for a while longer before the meeting finally breaks up and the members wend their weary ways to home and homework.

Page 29 text:

,0f'W 9 0' a 0-'MAI ,4 Ninefren Forty-one -AAT? u, Tw ly- vt' f Ol' Wig' Anne Tuttle, Mr. VanArsdale, jerry Lanz, Howard Fernow, Sandy Cordcs, Curt Dell. Abscnf-Ebie Jcwett. 'The Q9-lssembly Gommittee QROM a casual glance, the Assembly Committee would seem to be a relatively calm handful of students. In reality, how- ever, the group has been very active in ar- ranging a number of varied and interesting programs. A hilarious highlight of the Fall was the faculty-student quiz program in which Mr. Smith, Mr. Parsons, and Mr. Peterkin battled mentally with Spin Bissell, Margie Raymond, and Jo Truscott. In- cluded on other Fall programs were Miss Wiggin of the American Committee of Christian Refugees, Judge Yeager of the City Court, and Miss Tanner of the Inter- national Institute. One of the best programs of the year was the Christmas Carol Sing in which the en- tire Middle and Upper Schools took part together with all the parents. Old English customs were observed even to the bringing in of the boar's head and the wassail bowl. The Lower School play was a delightful fantasy including elves, fairies, Santa Claus and all the traditional Christmas pageantry. At the first of the new year, Mr. Samuel Pierce of the New York Theatre Guild lec- tured on William Saroyan's play, The Time of Your Life. A few weeks later he showed slides and spoke on Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Stimulated by Mr. Pierce,s talk and classroom study, many students of the Upper School attended the play when it was in Buffalo. The most memorable feature of this year's assembly program was the innovation of regular Monday morning programs in which members of the faculty gave short talks, and various students, in conjunction with the String Group, displayed their mu- sical talents.

Page 31 text:

Nineteen Forly-one Page Twen fy-seven On floor-Dave Guillaume, Doug Walter, Howard Fernow, Haines Danforth. Sz'ufm'- Pete Klaussen, Ed Strickland, Mr. Petcrkin, Pete Kranz, Curt Dell, Seymour Urban. Sfanding--Ed Kelly, Towney Wilson, Art Meyer. Abseuf-Bill Mowat. fDiscussion Club I-IE great success of having visiting speakers last year encouraged this year's Discussion Club to plan more meetings with guest lecturers. Many fine speakers were in- vited and the discussions became more inter- esting and lively. At one meeting, Mr. Cheek spoke on the European situationg at another, Dr. Pratt of The University of Buffalo discussed the Philippine Islands and the part they play in the affairs of today. Mrs. Cheek also spoke on current events outside the local interest circle, while other speakers ventured into fields of city planning and league athletics. Mr. Boehm's talk on Fairhaven Village aroused an active discussion on other city improvements and slum clearing measures. In line with their interest in city affairs, the Club invited District Attorney Hagerty, who spoke on county government and the duties of a District Attorney. A talk on scientific crime detection was given by Dr. Brown of the University of Buffalo. One of the liveliest meetings of the year featured a discussion of swing music with jazz records for illustration. After the meet- ing there was to be an orchestra audition for the Spark dance, so the members of the Spark Board were invited to attend the dis- cussion. Stimulated by the sweet swingi' and hot jazzv of the records and later of the orchestra, the students enjoyed one of the most successful social events of the year. Later in the year, the Club was led in a bull sessionv on athletics by Jim Wells, local sports announcer. At another meet- ing, our own Mr. Smith, by popular de- mand, was again invited to conduct a dis- cussion of religion.