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Looking Back Over Records of Class of 1944
By Pearl Privette, Historian
As we are preparing ourselves to enter
a new phase of life with new responsibil
ities, let us—the members of the Class
of ’44—look back over our four years of
high school. We shall never forget these
wonderful days we have spent together,
and they will always be cherished in our
hearts.
Chapter I: 1940-1941
On September 9, 1940, we see 20G timid,
frightened boys and girls entering the
Class of ’44, willing to take advantage of
every opportunity that would lead to
wards making them better individuals.
Ves, we were those boys and girls. About
Tree or four weeks later, we entered the
^'iitorium for an assembly program,
hinking we were to hear a speech by
jperintendent Ray Armstrong, imagine
ir surprise, when we realized that this
the day we had been dreading ever
-;nce we had en' r-ed GHS—we were to
be initiated!! A nuni’oer of the most prom
inent members of the ciass were called
:n the stage by the Hi News Staff member
r charge of the initiation (the staff de
lights in worrying green freshmen each
-•■-ar). Not only were embarrassing ques
tions asked, but for the next two or three
days we had to wear green worms and
obey upper classmen.
After becoming accustomed to the rules
and regulations of the school, we elected
new officers: Ralph Bland, president;
Jack Cobb, vice president; Meredith Liles,
secretary; Hilda Blalock, treasurer; Betty
, Reaves and Mickey Heyward, cheerlead
ers. We were under the grand super
vision of Miss Ruby Barrett, now Mrs.
John Graham. Mr. J. .W. Gaddy was our
principal during this and the following
year.
In December at the Free Lunch Fund
Rally in the auditorium we had been
embarrassed when the other classes had
sung their class songs and we had none
to sing. This spurred on the Song Com
mittee, and after much consideration
(and a great deal of arguing) we chose
our class song from three submitted to
the committee. “The Class of ’44” to the
tune of “Maryland”, written by Lois
Tayior and Mickey Heyward, has ied us
on “in fair or stormy weather,”
As we got into the year’s work we felt
the need of a class historian to record
all of our class activities. As you can see,
that responsibility fell to me, appointed
by the President, and I have been busy
every since jotting down our different
experiences.
Speaking of class activities, we had
devotionals once a week with the devo
tional committee and the different home
rooms being in charge in rotating order.
Jack Cobb was chairman of the com
mittee.
Decl ication
We, the members of the Class of ’44,
wish to dedicate this Senior Supplement,
our last written record, to the memory of
three of our classmates who have died
during our four years in high school—
Nelson Edwards, Rose Mary Nassif, and
Joyce Turner.
We remember Nelson’s friendliness, his
mischievousness, and his delight in his
motor scooter during the last spring of his
life.
Rose Mary has been missed in every
class of which she was a member. She
always looked on the bright side when
the going was tough and niade her classes
a little jollier.
We remember Joyce’s friendliness to
everyone and her great delight in bowling.
We, the members of this class, consider
them still among us, and their memory
will always be with us.
In order to raise money for our class,
we decided to have a party and invite all
the students of GHS. At this party we had
a country store, local merchants donating
the articles, and a fun house. The main
attractions were dancing and a cake-walk.
We made $33 profit on this successful
party, and ever since that day the fund
in our Treasury has increased.
We didn’t lag behind in sports. In fact,
we had a large number of boys going out
for different sports and one lone girl on
the basketball squad. If you’ll look on
page 15 you’ll see just what we did in
sports throughout our high school career.
One event that we shall never forget
is the North-Eastern District meeting of
the NCSSCC held at the Goldsboro High
School on April 24, 1941. The freshmen
with eight members in SA Council work
ed hard for this convention, and the
Council elected Ralph Bland to attend
as an official delegate.
The Glee Club and Band were also a
part of-our freshmen activities. Eighteen
freshmen helped to swell the choruses
in the Glee Club: Norma Barbee, Evelyn
Crews, Ethel Davis, Tommy Davis, Mar
tha Belle Edgerton, Eula Hollowell, Mary
Frances Jones, Mary Frances Lewis,
Bruce Parrish, Nathalian Potter, Mary
Edna Potts, Grace Quinn, Elizabeth Rad
ford, Carolyn Robbins, Naomi Rose,
Mary Lamb Tucker, Jewel Sauls, and
Shirley Winders.
To keep us swinging were: Ed Best,
Billy Burwell, Sidney Gardner, Bruce
Parrish, Nellie Peele, and Eugene Rus
sell.
It was in December of this year, that
one of our greatly admired teachers, Mrs.
W. P. Middleton, died. We shall never
forget her; and her memory will accom
pany us through the years to come and
her influence will ever remain with us.
For the first time in GHS, elections
were held in the spring. Remember all
of those campaign speeches, campaign
managers, registrars, and poll holders?
At the polls we elected as our sophomore
leaders: Billy Smithdeal, president; Ila
Mae West, vice president; Pearl Privette,
secretary; A. W. Griffin, treasurer; and
Theresa Kannan and Donald Ward as
cheerleaders.
School was dismissed on June 4, 1941,
for a summer vacation, and it was on that
day that we became silly sophs! Our first
year of high school life had been an ex
citing one, and a year that will always
be- remembered by the Class of ’44.
Chapter II: 1941-1942
We returned to school in September
with approximately two hundred stu
dents in our class with whom to work
and play. As our officers had been elected
in the spring, we were ready for another
session with books, sports, socials, and
class meetings with the guidance of Miss
Mary Craig Suiter, now Mrs. Tom Mem
ory.
Remember all that noise in the halls
at lunch periods? Well, our class got right
down to work and tried to put a stop to
it. A committee headed by Sallie Lee
with Anne Bradshaw, Luther Britt, Mar
garet Ewing, Sarah Montague, Ben Wel-
lons, and Ray York, provided softballs,
baseballs, footballs, horse shoes, and
volley balls for recreation during lunch.
Remember December 7, 1941? That was
the day the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor.
That was the beginning of our Second
World War, and from the very beginning
we sophomores along with the rest of
GHS were alert to war activities that we
could participate in. The SA Council
formed a War Activities Board to super
vise all drives, and our class was right
in there taking part in the scrap paper
and scrap metal drives. Sophomore girls
in the Home Ec classes taught approxi
mately one hundred girls to knit. A
stamp booth was opened on February 2,
and sophomores did their part in buying
stamps. In four months time, sales total
ed $700.
Biology and Home Ec classes sponsor
ed a “Better Foods” program, present
ing a play telling boys and girls the
proper foods to eat and how to take care
of themselves. Yes, this Jap attack hit
us hard, but we didn’t complain about
not having enough of this and enough of
that. We continued to work enthusiastic
ally with what we had.
We didn’t want the upperclassmen to
have more fun than we did, so we sprung
a “Freshman-Sophomore Social” during
the month of March. Only freshmen and
sophomores were invited and in addition
to the fun we had, our class added $11.53
to its treasury.
(Continued on page 9)