Windsor Locks High School - Herald Yearbook (Windsor Locks, CT)

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CLASS ODE (Tune: Orange and the Blue) The years have come and passed away Since we as classmates met, Delightful years of work and play That we cannot forget. We’ll always think of pleasant days Spent at Windsor Locks High, Now we must go our separate paths Where’er our duties lie. ’Tis hard to say the parting word, That little word, farewell; The heartfelt sorrow that it brings, None but ourselves can tell. Farewell, our Alma Mater dear We ' ll cherish mem’ries sweet, Thy doors shall close behind us soon, Our life tasks then we meet. But courage! though the waves dash high For the world’s a stormy sea, Our Father ' s hand shall guide at last Into eternity. There, through the gathering ages, In that day’s unfading light Our songs we’ll sing to merrier words, Than the sweetly sad, “Good Night.” Margaret Root, W. L. H. S., ’20. hkhkhkh hkhkwj h hkhch $ h jchkh hkhwshkhh

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4 THE HIGH SCHOOL HERALD. WELCOME AND CLASS ORATION Parents, instructors, members of the School Board, superintendent and friends, it is with great pleasure that I in behalf of the Class of 1920 greet you this evening. Parents, you who have made it possible for us to obtain a high school education; in¬ structors, whose patience and untiring in¬ terest we sincerely appreciate; superin¬ tendent and gentlemen of the School Board, who have always stood ready to give us your time and good council; friends who have taken such an interest in our school and its activities; I wish to extend to you all a most hearty welcome. “Build for Character, Not for Fame” This year we, the Class of 1920, have chosen a motto written in English rather than Latin or some other foreign language, because we think that good as other tongues may be, the people of this country should do their thinking, writing and speaking in good plain United States. So we have chosen these words written in a language that everyone here tonight can read and under¬ stand. Never has it been so necessary that in America we have unity of ideas—of purpose —and of language as a means to that end. And never before in the history of the Unit¬ ed States has there been such need of co¬ operation in the support of our government. Many foreigners have been entering our country in recent years, not for the purpose of becoming good loyal citizens, making permanent homes here and supporting our government, but for the purpose of obtain¬ ing wealth—and these men are continually instigating underhanded and base schemes to further their selfish ends. This has been proven during the past three or four years by the acts of alien radicals who have tried their best to overthrow our government. Thanks to our officials in charge, this disas¬ ter has been prevented. What we need, now, is a second Abraham Lincoln, to set the example for the whole country, a man who “builds for character and not for fame.” Let me explain here ex¬ actly what is meant by our motto. Character and fame are quite often asso¬ ciated in our thoughts, but there is really a vast difference in the meaning of these two words. One may often deservedly gain fame by working hard to build a good up¬ right character, but it is very seldom that a person can build a character who has gained fame without the foundation of char¬ acter. I have spoken before of the matchless ex¬ ample offered us by one man who all his life built for character and not for fame— Abraham Lincoln—one of the greatest Americans. It would be a waste of time for me to review tonight the numberless events of his life, because we are all fa¬ miliar with his career—how he strove on, regardless of the dark clouds which con¬ stantly lowered over his path. He could not be influenced by any human agency to deviate from the course which his conscience told him was right. He just pressed for¬ ward with a grim determination, to see his duty and to do it, as he himself expressed it, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right.” In direct contrast to Abraham Lincoln stands a man who worked for fame alone— and who has gained infamy. In August, 1914, this man started out to conquer the world. For what purpose? To show that he was a mortal man with a character of great strength and moral justice—or was it to win fame, for himself and himself alone? All humanity can answer this question to¬ day, and all humanity knows the deserved result of his acts. His selfish greed drove him to think he could conquer the entire world. He did not realize that it takes a man with a charac¬ ter to gain fame such as he desired, and he did not possess such character. You will find many in this country with as little character as that of the kaiser, though their greedy ambition may be on a smaller scale. Now is the time when we must weed out these individuals and either cure them of their pernicious ideas or send them away from America. In other words, we must make this a model progressive country instead of one which is sliding backward. Are we sliding back¬ ward? We are in danger of it. Why? The answer is our thoughts, our ambitions and our interests are entirely centered about ourselves and our own fame. That is where our grave mistake lies, and this mistake must be overcome; we must climb out of this rut and each of us feel an interest in our nation as a whole, in its character and in its true worth. In school we can see danger signs if we only look for them, for there are individuals of that “I don’t care” spirit even in school. Many come here, not for the purpose of studying and trying to make something of