Wells High School - Crimson and Gray Yearbook (Southbridge, MA)

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THE CRIMSON AND GRAY Editorial The Unsung Hero RONALD SHERIFFS, JR. ' 48 I feel I make no mistake in calling this man a hero. To many people he is a traffic policeman; in my eyes he ' s a hero. Oh! I don ' t mean that he ' s done a spectacular feat. He just does h ' s daily job efficiently, and has done it for twelve years. I suppose that everyone is wondering whom I ' m talking about. I know the older students must have guessed by now. I mean, the one and only Mr. L ' Homme. To 1735 small children who go his way to attend Marcy Street and Notre Dame he ' s their hero. Sure, I admit he bawls them out a lot, and yet, they still like him. They know that he is doing it for their own good and take good care of them. In addition to the grade school children are the 543 high school pupils. Those who have been at Wells for a year or two know him for what he does. So this article is written for the new students, and to remind the old ones. After the new ones go on up the school ladder to graduation, they will grow to like him. He is always on the job, rain, sleet, or snow. Mr. L ' Homme has piled up a good record. There has ne,ver been an accident at his post. That is really good, considering his post is at the intersection of Main, South, and Marcy Streets where both foot and road traffice is especially heavy at noon. A cheery greeting to Mr. L ' Homme is the least a person can do in recognition of the fine service tihs man is giving the town. An Appreciation Of The Art Class DON CRENIER ' 48 The bunny, the North Star and the wise men, papier mache figures of graduates of 1946 — every- one looks forward to seeing these in the window of the Art Class at Mary E. Wells High School. Every year about ten days before Christmas, and again be- fore Easter, our class, directed by Miss Claire Birtz, sets up their items of seriousness and fantasy. As our school days fly by, people our ages and older ask the familiar question, When will the picture win- dow be ready? True, the figures aren ' t being created by experts but by kids who think and act like us. They first gather a great quantity of brown paper of a certain degree of thickness which is soaked in tubs of water. Then a skeleton form of wood is made to form the basis of the figure. The pupils apply the wet paper to the skeleton, layer after layer, each covered with paste. This gradually hardens. While it is still malleable, the artists smooth and work the paper into shape. After many painstaking, precau- tionary measures, they smooth and work the paper into shape. Noses, eyebrows, hands, lips — all have to be coaxed into being. .The final O.K. is given by Miss Birtz. Next the students paint the figure. This process, to obtain artistic perfection, takes two or three weeks. Indeed a lot of skill, as well as work, is required to complete this task. For everyone who is looking forward to a joyful Christmas and the old familiar decorated window, let me wish Miss Birtz and her art classes a happy Christmas. Ah! To Be Teacher ANNE MALONEY ' 50 Students, have you ever thought what you would do if you were teachers for one day and had all the teachers for pupils? I think I would take over this job with sadistic glee — not that I don ' t think teachers are the greatest people in the world, don ' t misunder- stand me! To reverse our situations would be my idea of heaven. Teachers seem to take a great deal of interest in giving you a large amount of homework every night — not that I mind homework. Oh no! Homework doesn ' t bother me a bit. It does seem that every time one teacher gives me a lot of homework they all do. Then when the teachers have given us practically the whole book to learn and I stay up half the night studying, do you think the teachers call on me? Ah no! My hand is up in the air the whole period, but she calls on everyone around me. The next night I feel it hardly worth while studying so I go to bed nice and early and get up chipper and gay. When I get to school, horror of horrors, who does the teacher call on first but me! A few minutes later I begin my long solitary walk to the office and come back with an hour ' s detention ahead of me. The time I have an engagement on a school night it always seems that I have more homework than ever before in my life. For these obvious reasons I would like to be teacher for just one day. Words HELEN BOUCHER ' 48 The dictionary definition of word is a single articu- late sound, or a combination of articulate sounds or syllables, uttered by the human voice, and by custom expressing an idea or ideas. The dictionary, as usual, is accurate; but it does

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DECEMBER, 1947 The Gulliverettes and the World Series ANN MARIE FLYNN ' 49 Now you may ask what the freshmen or Gulliver- ettes, as we shall call them, have to do with the World Series? That is exactly what I asked myself when given this assignment and here is my answer: — Nothing, absolutely nothing, unless you take into consideration the fact that here in school, Seniors, luniors, Sophomores, or Freshmen, we all have some- thing in common, we are all Americans. And what is baseball? It is sportsmanship, the will to win, loyalty and spirit. It stands for all the things we hold dear and for what we have fought many wars and given up many lives to defend. In a sense, baseball is America. We are all baseball fans, from the proudest senior down to the lowest freshman, whether we realize it or not. We root for our team, the American way of life, everyday in some way. Then there is the World Series. We know that it is a series of games played between the best two teams in the majors, who have proved their worth in one hundred and fifty-four games, to decide which one will be crowned the World ' s Champions. So too, in America each man is given his chance and plenty of opportunity to prove his supremacy in some walk of life. This is evident, even in high school, where a boy or girl can strive to be the best, regardless of his or her place in the school — his ability alone decides the question. The freshmen, just entering high school, are truly the lucky ones, for they are only starting to play the first game of the Championship series, while the sen- iors will soon be playing the much more difficult last game of the series — the series whose victor will have achieved success. A Freshmen Adventure NORMAN CLOUTIER ' 51 Gulliver and Gulliverette were twins who went through grammar school together. After grammar school, they decided to go to high school. When they first entered the school, all went well. Three weeks after they entered, they were called to the auditorium. This was a great big hall that seemed like a strange land. As usual the principal made a short speech. When he finished his speech, he introduced a boy whom he called the president of the school. After being introduced, this boy took a list from his back pocket and started to read the things that the fresh- men had to do during freshmen week. Then things started to happen. First Gulliver and Gulliverette heard loud laughter and screams like those of witches. Then someone started to sneer at them and fiery red eyes stared at them. Ivory teeth and venomous fangs snapped at their heads as they growled. The terrible creatures who did all these things were great big giants and their victims were the tiniest of tiny people. This all happened while the giant on the stage read on. The more he read, the more the other giants snapped, laughed, growled, sneered, and stared at poor Gulliver and Gulliverette and the rest of the tiny people. Although this last- ed for only a few minutes by the clock; to Gulliver and Gulliverette, it seemed hours. When their vision cleared, the tiny people realized that they were freshmen in the school and the giants and witches were all upper classmen. If you were ever thrown into a cage with a lion (a senior), a panther (a junior), and a tiger (a sophomore), so that you thought you were doomed, and then all of a sudden a door opened and you escaped, you would then, and then only, realize how glad the freshmen were to get out of that auditorium. The Gulliverettes Come To M. E. W. H. S. STUART BARR ' 49 ' Twas the middle of October in ' 47 And we were in English ' bout half past eleven, When a shout from the back of the room broke out And Del Vecchio and Varnum started runnin ' about — My eyes, my eyes, what does this mean; Surely, it must be only a dream. Two little midgets suddenly popped into sight; Wow, they surely gave us a fright. I see them now, Steve Pappas cried. DON ' T YOU DARE TOUCH A HAIR ON OUR HIDES. They spoke, gosh, t his was too much for me. WE ARRIVED ON A FLYING DISC, YOU SEE WE WERE PASSING THROUGH TOWN AND DECIDED TO STOP AT THIS DARK AND QUIET, SECLUDED SPOT. AFTER CRAWLING UNDER THE GREAT FRONT DOOR AND SOMEHOW LANDING IN 104, WE CURLED UP IN THE INKWELLS OF THESE TWO BOYS AND THEN, NOT HEARING ANOTHER NOISE, WE DROPPED OFF INTO A HEAVY SLEEP THEN WERE AWAKENED BY THE PATTER OF FEET. THE PERIODS DRACGED ON VERY BORING AND CRAY ALL THROUGH OTHER NOISIER CLASSES WE LAY. THEN FINDING THIS THE QUIETEST CLASS— WE DECIDED TO MAKE OUR APPEARANCE, AT LAST. WE ' RE THE GULLIVERETTES FROM A LAND NO ONE KNOWS WELL, THERE IS OUR STORY AND NOW WE MUST CO. They mounted their disc and then flew away. That ' s why we ' re writing for the Crimson and Cray. If you don ' t believe this, just go and ask — Anyone from the 4th period class.

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DECEMBER, 1947 not mention the great power words have, or the effect different words have on people. To a beggar, a kind word is like bread in his mouth and an insult is like a knife in his heart. Both words, as defined by the dictionary, are a combina- tion of articulate sounds, but each has a dfferent ■effect. Can you imagine what effect a statement like, I ' m sorry your son is dead, would have on an anxious mother and father? It certainly wouldn ' t be a joyous one, would it? A man is recognized as either a scholar or just a workman through his choice of words. As soon as ■a man speaks, his character is revealed, and the effect his choice of words has on people determine their opinions, which control his success. The memory of men like Caesar, Lincoln, and An- thony lives on through their great speeches. They soon would have been forgotten had their choice of words not been effective. The power of words has not often been empha- sized. Have you ever realized that words have the power to declare war or establish peace. Without words, we probably would have to use the sign language. Can you imagine the difficulty we would have expressing our exact ideas? We would not be able to enjoy entertainment such as radios, books, and plays, if there were no words. I have learned that words have a great deal of power and effect, have you? Boys ' State HAROLD PETERSON ' 48 Town meetings, Senate, House of Representatives, District, Superior, and Supreme courts — what do they mean to you? Do you know the procedure and duties of these branches of the government along with other offices and officials? To teach high school boys a bet- ter understanding of the Constitution and what is ex- pected of those who make the laws and also what those who obey the laws should do is the object of the American Legion ' s annual Boys ' State. For the third consecutive year this event was held on the beautiful and extensive campus of the Univer- sity of Massachusetts at Amherst. On )une 22 over 450 boys from the farthest tip of Cape Cod to the northernmost town of the state congregated at the Athletic Field House of the University to register for a full nine day program of education and enjoyment. The registration separated the boys into two par- ties, Nationalist and Federalist, and also put the boys from towns and those from cities into separate sec- tions. Each floor of the dormitories and the barracks was seperated into different towns and cities named after famous places of both World Wars, such as Marne, Normandy, and Okinawa. These three and nine others made up the four cities and eight towns that were organized. After a period of getting acquainted with boys and lodgings, the first meal was served in the Uni- versity mess hall, followed by the regular nightly as- sembly in the Auditorium. Taps ended the first day at ten o ' clock with still just a vauge idea of what the next few days were to bring. For the next nine days, with the exception of Sunday, reveille sounded at 6:15, followed by break- fast from seven until eight, then an assembly where the orders for the day were given. On the first day caucuses and conventions were held and candidates for the various offices of Boys ' State were nominated. The offices were the same as in any state: governor, lieutenant-governor, down to the least important of- fice of a town. The following days, after the officials had been elected, this period, beginning at ten o ' clock, was used for classes, discussions, and demonstrations of procedure from an obscure town meeting, right up through the Senate, House, and Supreme Court. At 2:30, after the afternoon classes, came the most important part of the day for most of us. This was the athletic period held on the spacious athletic field in the very adequately equipped Field House. Many less important events and places made the stay pleasant and humorous, such as the college can- teen, the summer school co-eds, and the rolling of a shot-put ball at night on our fourth floor at Thatch- er Hall. Most of the boys wlil agree, however, that the best part of it all is just being able to get together with all the other fellows from the state and to have a swell time for nine short days. Girls ' State SHIRLEY CIRARD ' 48 Every year the American Legion Auxiliary sends a girl to attend Massachusetts Girls ' State. Girls ' State was started three years ago to teach the young peo- ple of America all about Gover nment, its functions, and its powers. Everyone arrived at Girls ' State June 21, at State Teacher ' s College in Bridgewater. Approximately 250 girls took over the college. After we were registered, we were taken to our rooms in the dormitory. Here, we got acquainted with our roommates, and then we went down to the mess hall for dinner. We were introduced to our counselors and the director gave us our instructions for the day. Our registration cards informed us which party we belonged to, either the Federals or the Nationals. The group was separated into towns and cities which operated as such. The citizens of each town elected their own of- ficials, and nominated people for the higher offices such as Governor, and Lieutenant Governor. We took part in political campaigns, caucuses, and then final elections, three days later. That night we had the inaugural ball and we were allowed to stay up later than the usual ten o ' clock. The governor conducted all the meetings from here- on. We held a court scene with a jury, lawyers, and witnesses who were Girl-Staters. Everything we learned was essential and it taught us, as no other method could, just how government affects our life, liberty, and happiness. % Cht s