Venango Christian High School - Saga Yearbook (Oil City, PA)

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ONCE UPON A SCHOOL DAY By Stephen Szalewicz Life, even young life and new life, can become a rou- tine thing, a rhythmic thing whose beat is a steady ca- dence of similarities that focus and blur against a thou- sand pale dawns. But there is so much that should never be forgotten; so much that will pass too soon. You know: The big orange school bus with the dirty windows and the ‘‘Chris and Bill” signs on the Emergency door; the memorable occasions when we missed it and the equally unforgettable times we didn't... The noisy, crowded, coin-jangling cafeteria where we made dates and checked detention lists and dragged our aching heads through the homework we forgot the night before... The four foot lockers they gave you for seven feet of books... The classes. The work-work-work, listen-listen-work classes. About all you’ll ever forget about them was the stuff you were supposed to learn there... The library permits: Name, date, pupil, subject, room, signature, period, time. Rrrrrrrrring! 6

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s p o p T ■s COLOR IT BLACK AND BLUE Finally the black sheet of des- pair has been lifted from Venango’s short gridiron history. That once un- blemished cover was smudged with defeat after defeat after dreary de- f eat. But the very first cleaning agent has just arrived. After losing five straight con- tests, the Vikings came through with a surprising 33-6 win over Saint Mark’s. Dan Drozdo Provided the of f ensive punch with three touchdowns and an all-around fine performance. We had hoped, halved and honored our abundance of points with real vigor. Color them all bright so you can see them. In the season opener, the Vikings were tipped and trounced by the Devils of Cambridge, 28—6. The highlight of the fray was a Jez to Jablonski pass for our first score of the season. One more smudge; color it black. THE SECOND CONTEST, saw Randolph dissolve, dominate and defeat us in our own oval. Although Dan Drozdo managed some fine runs we found ourselves down by a 26-6 score. Add another smudge; color it blacker. Greenville! That one hurt. It was a case of pure strength against pure weakness. They murdered, mangled and mutilated us 65—0. Venango was moved, freshmen and all. Color it...on second thought, splatter it this time: find some invisible color. We did manage to hold North East to one touchdown after a somewhat spirited pep talk. But they fought, faked and flattened us, 7-6. What shade? A lighter black, naturally! WITH a revamped offensive to our credit we managed to score 6 points against Bradford. But they shifted around and scored 48 points to win rather easily. Color it, too; but don’t hurry. The Eagles of Kanty Prep dis- some excellent ability and the agil- ity to make use of it. We fought hard but fell short. They legged it over us 13-6 at the end. By all means don’t color this one black—at least not unless it’s gold-black. OUR LAST GAME came and went with another defeat to add to the list. The mammoth Townville team plagued our first Homecoming with a ghost called 32-13, them. Actually, we did very well at the beginning and the end of the game. Forget the middle. Finding something to wash off all those dark colors wasn’t easy for us but we managed. So color it whi- ter but not white; we still have a lot of looking to do yet. On second thought, why color at all. They seem to have more cray- ons than we do anyway. THE SIDES AREN'T MATCHED By Michael Yaeger What would you do if you for- got your gym suit for class? Would you take your punishment like a man? Or would you think up some sort of excuse like any average American Boy. In my three years of high school training, I’ve heard more reasons for forgetfulness than America has cars and, in many in- stances, I’ve used some dillies myself. Our educated gym instructor hears just about everything on a routine roll-call check. He lis- tens to the ABC’s of miscues from the alphabet of boys: Alter dropped his bag down the sewer; Baker lost his on the bus; and Carone left his at the bus stop. Drozdo left his at home to be washed; English’s was used to put out a brush fire and Faller’s was nowhere to be found. And this goes on past M,N,0,P, and Q to Zuilkowski who accuses someone of theft. By the time it’s all over, there’s not much time left for physical ex- ertion, and the Stallers win again. Game continued next gym class. Score: We-294, Coach-0. FOOTBALL: 1963 Cambridge Springs 28 VCIIS 6 Randolph 26 ” 6 Greenville 65 ” 0 St. Gregory, N.E. 1 ” 6 St. Marks Seminary 8 ” 33 Bradford 48 •• 6 Kanty Prep 13 •• 6 5 THE BLACK AND GOLD VIKINGS AND FRIENDS: That’s the way it was all season: their ball and their ball game. Some day we will get our own. Maybe..

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The lunch hours you spent or didn't spend... 2:05. The period when your eyes ached and your watch stopped and your head drooped in the heat and they said: Pay attention. Whatever that was. The locker lunge: Hey, hold the bus! Now what is that thing? Right 32, left 16, right 13. Left 32, right 16, left 13?.... The bus tokens. Bus tokens? Well, how about a bot- tle cap. A razor blade? All right then. A slightly used lunch ticket? 7