Union Endicott High School - Thesaurus Yearbook (Endicott, NY)

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Five The Union-Endicott Tiger Music Head Leaves U.-E. Mr. Thomas L. Gillespie leaves the Endicott school system this year after twenty-five years of loyal service. His position as head of the local music depart ment will be filled by Mr. Acton Ostling. who has worked with Mr. Gillespie dur ing the past eighteen years. In the early nineteen hundreds, when fewer than one thousand pupils were en- rolled in the Endicott system, one teacher taught both the art and music. Later the departments were divided and two teachers employed. Four violin players and a pianist comprised the orchestra and each year the best singers presented an operetta. When Mr. Crumb heard of the fine work done in music in Liverpool. Fayette- ville. and Manlius, he became interested and the result was that Mr. Thomas Gil- lespie came to the town where he has made his home for the past quarter of a cen- tury. He concentrated on vocal work at first and soon instituted a “voice culture class'' which developed into an a cappella choir. This choir has won first national honors in contests held in Albany. Atlantic City, and New York. Under his direction and instruction, the high school orchestra has been much enlarged and improved. Seven years after Mr. Gillespie’s arrival. Mr. Ostling. also a graduate of Ithaca College, entered the department and organized a band. Mr. Gillespie has raised the a cappella choir to top honors in the national field. The orchestra has won state awards, and the band has become one of the best in the state. The youngest member of the group, the fife and drum corps, under Mr. THOMAS I.. GILLESPIE Ostling’s direct supervision, has brought back an enviable number of trophies from state meets in Mt. Vernon, where it com- peted with corps from several states. In Endicott. musical education begins in the lowest grades and offers every stu- dent an opportunity for instruction. Largely due to Mr. Gillespie’s influence, the village has become widely known as one that has and appreciates good music. Alumni frequently visit rehearsals of the a cappella choir to express publicly their appreciation of the leader’s abilities and accomplishments. Although we shall look forward to seeing Mr. Gillespie around the town and to following his work with other groups, we shall not be able to find him here when we return to U.-E. So we take this opportunity to say. “Thank you. Mr. Gillespie, and good luck!’’

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Four The Union-Endicott Tiger al memorial of the Divinity of Christ. Every loyal Christian, through his actions and beliefs, is a monument to God and His divine principles. Next to God, probably the most potent individual instigator of memorials is the arch-enemy of humanity. War. Man does not erect monuments to War itself. The memorials are erected in honor of the men who fight the wars in behalf of certain civilized principles, and to men who die nobly so that the principles of decency and democracy shall not be denied to posterity. Thus a free and independent United States is a monument to the sacri fice of the courageous pioneers of 1775. A nation united in action, principles and be- lief, is a monument to the staunch men of the North and their immortal leader, Abraham Lincoln. A quarter of a century ago in a war to end war the peace-loving people of the world rose in formidable defiance of a tyrant nation. When it ended, innumer- able monuments were raised in honor of the fallen heroes. Each allied nation dedi- cated a tomb to its Unknown Soldier. In France, cemeteries, crowded with white crosses, were consecrated in memory of the dead interred there. All over the world free men commemorated those who made their freedom possible. In 1939, from the same nation that dis- rupted the tranquillity of the world in 1914. emanated ominoqs roars of thunder followed rapidly by a deluge of blood. Thus the nativity of World War II ridi- culed the aims of its predecessor. By De- cember 1941, most of the civilized world was blanketed by a deathly pall, as Ger- many was abetted in her conflict against humanity by Italy and Japan. The significance of the earlier monu- ments has been to some degree shattered by this atrocious struggle. The principles for which men fought and died were again brought under scrutiny. Even the war- riors’ graves were descrated from the effects of modern warfare. To the men of 1918, man built ma terial monuments, lifeless memorials of marble and granite. He consecrated inno- cent white crosses, row after row. in their honor. Yet. he failed to build the only significant monument to their glory, the one tribute worthy of their sacrifice.—a world of peace and brotherhood. Following this catastrophe, men will undertake once more the task of rearing monuments to the men who fought in World War II. There will be many more Unknown Soldiers from whose swollen ranks they may choose. There will be many more names to be engraved. Each history book will be a monument to the dead for each will extol their irre- vocable right to glory. But we must not allow these to be the significant monu- ments. There can be but one of intrinsic value—a lasting peace. It would be sacri- legious. in the most keenly defined sense of the word, if this world were ever plunged again into another mortal conflict. It would mock the sacrifices of our present heroes as those of their fathers were mocked. A lasting peace can be achieved only by propagating the principles of brother- hood, freedom, democracy, and the divine teachings of God to every inhabitant of the globe. As our late beloved president, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, whose accomplishments themselves are monuments dedicated to the betterment of humanity, said. The struc- ture of world peace can not be the work of one man, or one party, or one nation: (Continued on Page 20)

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Six The Union-Endicott Tiger Looking Back In the U.-E. Tiger Ten years ago the graduation issue of the U.-E. Tiger carried a picture of Miss Gladys Mersereau who was retiring as a joint advisor of the magazine. On the same page appeared a poem by Dr. Frank Tymeson. now a local dentist but a senior in U.-E. at that time. A large crossword puzzle by David Lewis '38. a captain in the air force when reported missing in ac- tion last fall, started with a six letter word meaning the name of the high school prin- cipal. The sports page carried a story abou: spring football practice with names that became famous in school history. Glenn Tymeson. brother of Gale and cousin of Frank, was among the thirty-nine who put in an appearance on the field. The girls rated nearly a column with baseball and hockey activities. The junior class had organized for the first time and had purchased their rings. Crawford Stahl, who is now on leave of absence from the Endicott music depart ment for the duration, was named presi- dent. An article by Naomi Lachman’36 traced the growth of the school system from 1915 when there were thirty-nine teach- ers and only two schools. The high school met in what is now the George Washing- ton Junior High. Miss Lachman went out on a limb to predict that the population of Endicott might well double during the next ten years and she foretold the start of a college here. Since that time Syracuse University has offered two years of college training to local graduates. Channing Pollock's The Fool was the senior play under the direction of Mrs. (Continued on Page 22) When Years Roll By When years roll by And some of us are here. And life Has changed our ways, We shall no longer find The joy and care-free atmosphere Of these and other well-lived days. You and I can never share again In the same way The simple things that veiled our sweet society. Each heart holds its memories. And, as they lose themselves in folds of time, May we meet again. • E. M. 'S. '45 Class History With the advent of June. wre find our- selves reviewing the memories of our high school years. We are the only class whose entire four years has been spent under the shadow of the war. Often, in the whirl of our own activities, we could almost for- get it, but it was always there underneath. In some respects, our activities were limited by it. Our school career, however, opened with the usual fury. For the first day or so, in true U.-E. fashion, we managed to be lost innumer- able times in the swarming mass of human- ity. This phase did not last long and. by January we were able to show the proper amount of superiority to the incoming vic- tims. As Juniors we experienced a thrill when we came back in the fall and saw our friends again. Time was passing swiftly and we were rushed along. (Continued on Page 18)