Villanova Preparatory School - Villanovan Yearbook (Ojai, CA)

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Glass ibisturp There was a time way back in the Fall of nineteen-hundred and forty-three when a group of bewildered homesick boys first saw the place they were to call home for the next few years, a group of terra cotta colored buildings hidden behind a stately grove of eucalyptus trees. 'T he first few weeks, and in fact the first several months, were a trying and never-to- be-forgotten experience. In the beginning the class numbered twenty-three. Of this original number twelve are of the group graduating. The class is the largest in the history of the school and contains the largest number of students who have spent four years at Villanova. As things began to settle down the class elected officers and with the establishment of leadership immediately set out on a programme of activities that showed unity and enthusiasm that has never flagged. This same spirit accounts for the genuine prominence that the class has enjoyed in all school affairs from the beginning. It might be remarked here that the wisdom of the selection of officers originally has paid off and some of the original group of selectees are still enjoying the esteem of their fellow-students and the faculty by guiding the destinies of the Class of J47 in their last year at Villanova. Dick Hamilton was the first president of the class, Don Jacobs the first viceepresidcnt and, Jim Tarpey the first secretary-treasurer. As is usually the case much of the hidden talent in the class put in its appearance as the various seasons for different sports came round. The class was revealed to have a generous supply of fine potential athletes. We found Dick Hamilton, Marcus Crahan, Jim Tarpey, John Chapek, Don Jacobs, in football and basketball. To add to the general excitement we even had a HD team in the field of basketball. Such minims as Ferreira, Rodriguez, Purpus, Troeger, Barnard and Cucalon added more thrills and laughs to a game than the Varsity. They were in dead earnest and never so entertaining as when they were giving their all. lbarra in track, and Specht in baseball were real finds. Our first year came to a close and left us much wiser. As vacation went by we began to look forward to another year when the whole cycle of events would be open to us. ln fact our second September at Villanova found us so full of energy and ambition that it became a recognized fact that the Sophomore Class was showing the way to the rest of the School. As is ordinarily the case a few of the old faces were missing, but new ones had come E143

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to take their place, and we seemed none the worse for our losses. We now numbered twenty-six. The first thing we did was to elect officers. The results of the balloting came out something like this: Jim Tarpey became president, Mike Noonan was chosen vice- president, while Neil Dorward and Don Jacobs were elected secretary and treasurer respectively. About the first month back the class undertook something that first showed their organizing ability. Football rallies had been for the most part whimsical and wild displays of enthusiasm previously, but now they became planned and well organized affairs. For a lot of inexperienced greenies the sophomores did all right. This display of group effort has been a characteristic of the Class ever since. The football team of '45 on its record turned out to be the greatest in the history of the School, and it had on its roster no less than six sophomores: Tarpey, Crahan, Ibarra, Noonan, Hamilton, and Ludwig. And these men occupying regular berths were only too happy to acknowledge that their ability to stay in there and give of their best was possible only because they had with them such stalwarts as Dorward, Specht, Chapek, Jacobs, and Taix eager and willing to take over and keep up the pressure. And did this bring us together! In basketball, much to our joy, we placed Chapek, Tarpey, and Specht on the B team. George Ludwig was picked on the All-Tournament team in Los Angeles. Andy Collins paced the C team from the start. In tennis Tarpey and Jacobs made the School team. We felt now that we were not doing too badly. When baseball came up Marcus Crahan got a place on the Varsity and the Junior Varsity boasted of such sophomores as C. Arosemena, Chapek, Specht, and Sims. There are other auxiliary activities or sports besides the main branches that bring the School before the public. The Lariat Club did not lack sophomore representation. In addition to these sports sidelines, there were a number of organizations that have been traditional at the Prep, and they, too, felt the impact of the enthusiasm of those sopho- mores who were numbered among their members. The Annual Staff, the Prep Times Staff, the Eucharistic League, and the Lettermen's Club, all benefited as a result. ln all the foregoing list there have been members of the Class of ,47 in responsible positions from the start. As might be expected our social life took on greater proportions as sophomores. The Christmas Ball sponsored by the Sophomore Class for this year was admittedly one of the highlights of the school year. This served to do something for the Class, because from the close of this our second year at Villanova we looked always forward. We now knew that no form of scholastic activity was beyond our capacity, whether it be something pertain- ing to the classroom or something distinctively on the extracurricular side. E153