Waltham High School - Mirror Yearbook (Waltham, MA)

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THE THIRROR 11 Class Historu Ruth Storer In the corner of a spacious library in a magnificent old building rests a dusty old volume, unread and unsought-yet containing on its yellowed pages, inci- dents both trivial and momentous, com- monplace, indeed it may seem to a cas- ual reader-but to the llvaltham High Scl1ool graduates of l925 this dusty little book represents a collection of cherished memories-pleasant recollections of their high school days. This history I shall read to you. I am sure that the majority will be delighted' to listen to this echo of school days more than fifty years past. This is what I found between the aged covers of that beloved volume! - Can it be possible that three years have passed since we first graduated from that worldly institute of learning called junior High and embarked on the good ship Sophomore to search for the isle of knowledge in the academic sea? 'Tis true, however. Our journey is nearly completed, we are now learned Seniors: and soon we will pass from our dear High School and enter upon the great sea of life. Some of us will pursue learning in higher institutionsg others will join the ranks of toilers who are seeking practical experience. To refreshen the minds of those who may have forgotten the yearly events I will endeavor to picture for you the three years as I have remembered them. Of course everyone recalls the first exciting, puzzling, day when we were christened green sophomores by the groups of carefree and laughing upper class mates who -actually appeared to make merry with our much-to-be-feared instructors. lVe were just groups of stumbling dumb -looking children, much too insignificant to be noticed by our no- ble elders. However, we did not expect to be treated differently, we were wise enough to realize that it meant a whole year of careful study of human nature to emulate that appearance of superiority. W'hen the first bell rang, we discovered that by following the crowd without mak- ing any noise and by keeping humbly in the rear, we would arrive at the assembly hall where we had to take a back seat until we were distributed. Perhaps we would arrive nearer to the front as the years rolled by. It was great fun study- ing the funny looking freizes around the ceiling and admiring the tall white stat- ues. Finally we were allotted room num- bers and with a few vague directions in our minds departed from the hall in search of a parking place. Those of us who chatted and made merry in the long, door-bounded corridors were promptly squelched. thereby receiving our first les- son in school etiquette. Oh! there were so many rules to learn and sometimes to forget. The first day, in spite of its new- ness, passed slowly, and without the mad stampede at lunch time to which we had been accustomed. Instead we sipped milk and partook of calories in pursuit of good health. Does anyone remember that sec- ond day when the rains descended and class ranking was abandoned while lucky Sophomores with rain sticks were al- lowed to shelter the less fortunate Sen- iors? XYe were soon accustomed to the rout- ine of high school life, and it was not long before we became wise to the tricks and turns of a sage student. XVe also be- came familiar with the recess boundar- ies, to be cr not to be, respected accord- ing to disposition. Cool autumn breezes and the spirit of our sport loving youths heralded the ar- rival of one of our most successful foot- ball seasons. Our boys sailed through a series of victories with only one set-back, that being Fitchburg 7-6. The score tells the tale. The fact that we had won so many games keyed the whole city up to a high pitch for the annual Newton con- test. Two gay bands added much to the enthusiasm of the gathering and our cheer leaders outdid themselves. For once in the history of the high school football the boys condescended to assist the girls in their cheers. All this and the brilliant generalship of our star, Lonnie Lowry helped to defeat our bitter rivals. No one who witnessed that struggle will ever forget the run our Lonnie made in the third quarter, much to the chagrin of the Newton boys. The disappearance of any semblance of orange and black after the

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THE THIRROR RUTH STORER, Class Hislorian

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1 '2 THE UURROR game did not disturb lYaltham's enthus- iasm and we came home excited and tired, but glad all over. XVith the cold weather we settled down to a life of routine and hard studying. Many of us took our assignments ser- iously and many did not, as our first re- port cards showed. After the Christmas vacation we were introduced into the in- tricacies of holding a class meeting. Curiosity being the main reason for a large attendance, Mr. Goodrich patiently presided and helped us to organize with the following officers elected: President, Arthur Read: Vice-Presi- dent, Helen Hardy: Sec.-Treas., Emily County: Auditor, Edwin Rowell: Ath- letic Rep., XYalter Purinn: Alternative, Edwin Moran: Library Rep., Philip lYar- ren, Evelyn Goodale. Later in the year the death of one of our sunniest members, Jennie Douglas. occurred. Her loss was indeed a shock as she had been most active in school life and was greatly beloved by everyone. The North Junior High School gym- nasium was utilized for our basket-ball games and both boys and girls staged their contests there. By this time -we were all keen to at- tend our first class social so a meeting was held to discuss it, and Edwin Moran was chosen as chairman. Even tho the traditional line up of boys and girls was staged at thesfirst of the evening, the ice was soon broken by the appearance of Mr. Burke-and then the fun began. VVe were entertained by Clarissa Nordykes and Catherine Bigham, two talented members of our class. It was a revela- tion to some of us to see our supposedly enter into the spirit dances. The gay fes- close much too early dignified teachers of the gamessand tivities came to a for at ten o'clock a vote of thanks was given to Eddie for his successful party. Wie now turn our attention to base- ball. Although the luck didrft seem to come our way in the scores, Capt. Kelley and his team played steadily and hard. XYith baseball and spring and the feeling of wanderlust in our systems, the final months of school seemed to drag. At last, after much cleaning and scrubbing of desks and books, and lingering fare- wells, we were set free. How strange it is that our summer months of leisure seem to fly by and here we are back again prisoners of learn- ing but in a fresher atmosphere, where we' seem to have acquired a sense of cwnership and a feeling of freedom about the old school!-XVe hardly notice the poor things who enter as we did a year ago and we mingle intimately with the Seniors and teachers as did our pre- decessors. Football came in with a rush of Red 81 lYhite and glorious anticipations. The games were well attended and although we were unlucky in the contests with Haverhill and Newton, our spirit was un- broken and the team had our enthusiastic backing, as ever. The Newton game was surely a wet affair but the loyal stud- ents turned out one hundred per cent to encourage the battle of pigskin, beef, and mud. As Juniors we were confronted with such serious problems as the selection of class colors, a motto and new officers. Arthur Read was re-elected' President and Margaret Curry became Vice-Presi- dent. Emily County Treas. and Sec. Ed- ward Collins, Auditor, Edwin Moran, Athletic Representative and lValter Brinn, Athletic Alternate were also chos- en. Our Class motto, Honesta Quam Splendide fHonesty rather than splen- dorb was voted upon as being a suitable sentiment, representative of the class. American Beauty and Grey were chosen as our class colors. The business of the class having been disposed of we devoted our surplus ener- gy to basket-ball and indoor sports to while away the dull winter months. Of course our studies received some little attention but I dare say, we did not bur- den ourselves with many more books tlian we did in our first year, XVe also had our little troubles. live just couldn't seem to reconcile Miss Rigby to the fact that envelopes did sell for 34.35 each. And it was almost impossible to make her believe that there were two Johnsons in the class who habitually chewed gum. live girls discovered during this year that Room 14 was a much to be desired room to hold forth in, during our Senior year. Basket-ball became more of an event during our junior year and the North