Zion Benton Township High School - Nor Easter Yearbook (Zion, IL)

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Drmm! Drmm! Drmm! That was the drums calling everyone to the Zion' Benton High School's Fifth Annual Gym Circus! And everyone came!!! They thrilled to the marvelous and dar' ing stunts performed by the talented students of all four classes. Of course, the highlight of the cirf cus was the crowning of the Queen, Miss Billie De Young. She was crowned by Miss Carol jean Ingram, last year's retiring Queen and attended by seven of her classmates, Marilyn Fossland, Kathryn Erickson, Laurel Craig, Shirley Shanyfelt, Roberta Enloe, Betty Sieloff, and Jeanne Knight. Now! On with the show!! The boy's Commando Relay was won all three nights by Wes Colwell's blue team but the other teams offered stiff com' petition. Swing and sway, Both up and down With our slack wire artist, Bertie Brown. ln this manner, Bill Blonn, our great M. C., introduced Bert Brown, who gave everyone a thrill at the deadly, precisionflike way, he kept his balance in such a precarious position. Adele Ditzig and joan Rewey per' formed many stunts with grace and ease with their cofworkers, those two musclemen of ZfB. T., Paul LaBelle and Dennis Burgan. Zoom! Now overhead flew six daring girls in an aerial ballet. Many of the parents in the audience had heart I PAGE FORTY-EIGHT 1 ircbw failure as these daredevils swung from hanging by their knees to hanging by their ankles. Virgil Ford would have succeeded in sitting on his stool on the tight wire but for that mean clown, Corwin Ringling Gustafson, Lester Koetz Hnally accomplished the feat with no interruptions from the funny one. Ladies and Gentlemen! The Great Murriano!! He will turn a complete somersault in the air and land in a chair on the shoulders of an assistant. .lim Murrie accomplished this stupendous feat, which was much enjoyed by the patrons. Hark! What's that? What hapf pened to the lights? Is it a hurricane? Keep your seats, folks! It's only Mr. Sanford with his band and three top cornetists, Clifton Capp, james Booth, and Edson Light, playing a unique arrangement of Stormy Weather. 27, 28, 29, 30 - The crowd anxiously counts the number of times the Human Pinwheel, Don Pierson, goes around on the trapeze. The six other Stalwarts preceded him by such acts of strength as hanging by their heels and toes and chinning themselves with one hand. Marilyn Fossland, Florene Rooks, Genevra Rooks, and Joan Solberg demonstrated frontward and backward flips, yogi tricks, and twists on the trampoline. The Clown's ballet showed the grace and good figures of some of ZfB's more

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renned lads. Wonder if Jim Murrie can finish his backbend yet? Boy's and girl's Tumbling Teams were at perfection as they somersaulted many human bodies without a mishap. Squeek! Went the springs of the trampoline as the boy's enacted face' flaps, frontward and backward flips, and other combinations of tramp stunts but the springs were unnoticed because of the boy's excellent showmanship. Many in the audience would have liked to try out the trampoline themselves. Last of all were the girl's beautiful pyramids of symmetry and design and the boy's pyramids of dizzying height and massive strength. They introduced a new kind of pyramid, the walking pyramid. The circus ended with a song by our soprano soloist, Audrey Bourdeau! The crowd has broken up and are LlAGlllII'Y1 ircud moving outside. Praise and comments fill the air. Best circus I've ever seen. Didn't know the kids could do it. Wonderful spirit, must have taken a lot of work. Yes, it did take a lot of work. To have a circus, there must be some inf dividuals who have the mind of a genius, the initiative of a Wall Street bigwig and the persistence, determination, and tenacity of an octopus. We have some of these people right here and to them goes the credit for that irresistible charm of arena performance and mag' nificent pageantry. ' Miss Victorik, Mr. Miller, and Mr. Sanford get the credit for backing, devising, and staging the Big Show. We thank them and wish them luck in 'their future circus productions.