. Volume XXXIX
Salem College, Winston-Salem, N. C., Friday, December 12, 1958
Number 1 1
Seniors Plan
Traditional
jCaroling
Traditional Christmas caroling by
■ the seniors will take place imme-
. diately following the Christmas
Banquet on Thursday, December 18.
Margaret Fletcher, who is in charge
of the caroling, will lead the seniors
in a variety of Christmas music. An
added feature will be a sextet, com
posed of Martha Goddard, Frankie
Cuningham, Jane Leighton Bailey,
Margaret Fletcher, Jean Smither-
man, and Mary Thaeler, who will
present special numbers.
Some of the places the carolers
plan to sing are: the area behind
South dormitory, the area between
Babcock and Clewell dormitories,
the homes of Rev. J. C. Hughes,
.the Pfohl’s and the C. S. Starbuck’s
on Church Street, the Belo and
Brothers’ Houses. They will also j
serenade at the Salem Home on
Sguth Main Street, the infirmary,;
Dr. Gramley’s home, and the
‘Square.
After the caroling the seniors
will be entertained at the Gram-
i ley’s.
A Study In Lines
Dansalems To Present
"Evening Of The Dance”
Appearing in the Dansalemi
Townes, Sara Lou Richardson,
recital on December 17 are Alta Lu
and Marjorie Foyles. (Photo by Grigg)
The Dansalems’ much anticipated
“Evening of the Dance” will be
presented on Wednesday, December
IRC Hears
Major Party
Views, Plans
On Wednesday, December 17, at
6:30, the International Relations
Club will hold its regular monthly
meeting. This particular meeting
promises to be one of the best of
the year, especially for those in
terested in learning more about
politics.
In preparation for voting in the
1960 presidential election, the club
is presenting the platform of the
two major parties. The Republican
viewpoint will be presented by Mrs.
Ann Hickman, a townswoman very
interested in the Young Republi
cans Club. For the Democrats, a
member of the Wake Forest Young
Democrats Club will speak. There
will be an open discussion period.
In order to supply ample room, the
meeting will be held informally in
the Friendship Rooms of Strong
Dormitory.
17 at 8:30 in Memorial Hall.
In keeping with the season,
Christmas is the theme of many of
the numbers. Such numbers as:
“The Twelve Days of Christmas”,
“We Three Kings”, “Fantasy of
Sleigh Bells”, “The First Noel”,
“Carol of the Bells”, and “Joy to
the World” are designed to put
the audience in a festive mood.
“Ferdinand the Bull” and “Bach
Prelude” are two other numbers
which will give variety to the de
lightful program. The two soloists
will be Henrietta Jennings in “Swiit
Things Are Beautiful”, and Agnes
Sende in “Saraband”.
Variety is the keynote of this
year’s program. Some of the num
bers will be done to music and
others to a speaking chorus. Some
will convey and idea and others
will convey an idea and others will
be done according to strict form.
Me/uU Beaucoup, ZtAu fleaac^ /I PoaM>-Nou4> Uo-hA.
FF
By Mary Jo Wynne
Coming through the archway,
S Ruth and I commented on the cold
^jwind that seeped through our coats,
p just beyond the archway we saw
S three small boys dressed in gray
S overcoats. With them was a little,
M'girl, a man, and a woman. As we
neared the group, we heard them
» talking to Marilyn Shull and Cath
ie erine Recamier, but walking by
I them we realized that they weren’t
speaking English.
Marilyn told us the family had
come from Mexico where the father
had been, playing the accordian with
Sp a band for two years. They were
^ Parisians and were on their way
back to France. She had also
learned that the six, Madame and
Monsieur Vignes, Dominique, 12,
Bernard, 11, Etienne, 9, and Fran
cois, 8, had been traveling by bus
for three days.
After learning their names, they
no longer were strangers. Through
series of sign language conversa
tions, we actually understood each
other. 'Catherine’s French gave her
the advantage in conversation.
Finally we, interrupted, out of na
tural feminine curiosity, to find out
just what was being discussed.
Catherine explained that she and
Madame Vignes were reminiscing
about Paris. The father turned to
us and smiled, saying, “Les fillies
parlent beaucoup de Paris!” We
then realized that women’s “tete a
tete” was universal and laughed
with the monsieur.
They declined our invitation to
dinner, saying they had to go back
to the bus station. Catherine and
I drove them to the station, where
they all “merci beaucoup-ed” me
and Monsieur-Vignes told Catherine
that I drove very well. “Ah-ha,”
I thought, “Frenchmen don’t trust
women drivers, either!”
■y In the dining hall back at Salem
■' * I mentioned to Catherine how sorry
I was that the family had to leave
before dinner. She then informed
me that their bus did not leave
until 9:00. Thinking of this family
sitting in the bus station, filled
with ■ people speaking a language
unknown to them, I decided that
our living room in Bitting was a
more comfortable place —■ and we
could talk to them there. Catherine
agreed.
We pushed back our chairs,
rushed over to another table, and
persuaded Corky Scruggs to go get
them while we arranged supper for
them. We immediately went to the
dorm, called the bus station, had
them paged, and Catherine and
Corky left as I went into the Bit
ting living room, now filled with
seniors, to tell them about our com
ing visitors.
Rushing to the dining room, Bet
sey Gilmour, Miss Sampson and I
met the maids at the door of the
kitchen and retrieved what food we
could from their carts. The maids,
just as excited as we were, helped
us prepare one end of the table
which had been used by the Phi
Alpha Theta’s for dinner. Place
cards, with Santa Claus seals on
them, which Phi Alpha Theta had
used, were still on the table. We
tore off the names of the members
and replaced them with the names
of the French family.
Just as we finished, Catherine
entered with the family. We grab
bed the hands of the children and
showed them their cards at the
appointed places, watching their
surprise when they saw their names
on the cards. The father remarked
that they were “invitations,” and
since we couldn’t explain what they
were, we agreed that they were
“souvenirs.”
When Monsieur Vignes learned
that Margaret Fletcher could play
the piano, he insisted on a perform
ance. Margaret began a series of
Christmas carols, then the father
requested “Jingle Bells”—he could
hum it but did not know the name
of it. We sang the song for him;
and followed it with “Adeste Fide-
lis”—^which we all sang, in Latin.
The father, after the mother’s
suggestion, announced that he had
written parts for “O, Tannenbaum”
for his boys to sing. We watched
with interest as the father hummed
the parts for the boys, gave them
the beat, and led them as they sang,
with sounds only heard when boys’
voices have not grown deeper. We
could hardly remember to raise our
hands and clap when they finished.
Back in Bitting dorm, various
Salemites greeted us and introduc
tions were made by the gross.
Someone snapped on the TV set,
and just as if we had brought in
a giant cake or unveiled some long-
awaited gift, the children ran over
and plopped down on the floor in
front of the set. The children were
especially excited because a cowboy
program was on. All of them wore
cowboy boots, and the mother told
us they had been acquired when
they first got to Mexico. The child
ren had worn them continually
since then.
Pictures were soon taken, two
more, performances of “O, Tannen
baum” were given (the father
apologizing for the boys’ “fatigue”
—accent on the first syllable) and
we all sat around sometimes just
looking from one face to another
and sometimes trying to talk to
them.
Marilyn suggested that we take
them to the Moravian Candle Tea
and Putz. The parents happily ac
cepted, but declined for the child
ren. When we inquired about the
children, Catherine explained that
the mother just plain wanted to get
away from them for awhile. Re
membering what a glorious day
Saturday was for my mother when
I was very young and stayed in
the movie all day, I knowingly re
plied with a nod, “Je comprends,”
and she threw back her head, the
two of us grabbing each other’s
arms and laughing.
The Vignes were very impressed
with the candle-making (Marilyn
bought them a Moravian candle),
sweetcakes, the Old Salem scene
and especially the Nativity. Be
cause of lack of tirne, one of the
Moravian women asked for every
one’s co-operation ih letting us get
through the line quickly.
Back on campus near 9:00, we
scattered the six Parisian's among
three cars of Salemites, so that
they could be shared among us, and
drove to the bus station.
We entered the station like a
group of mass migrants and after
settling down, the father played
his accordian for us. As he played
our requests, “Hi-Lilli, Hi-Lo,” “La
Mer,” and others (we sang—all of
us), he seemed to be saying, “Play
ing this accordian for you is telling
you what we have meant to one
another tonight.” Later we sang
“Alloette,” “Frere Jacques,” and
any French song that came to mind.
We also slipped in a song of our
own—^“Auld Lang Syne.”
When the time came for them
to board the bus, we gave them a
bag of cakes, rolls and apples
(which Marilyn had calletf potatoes
in French) to eat on the remainder
of their trip. Just before they got
on, the mother hugged each of us,
the father shook each girl’s hand
saying, “Merci, merci beaucoup et
au revoir a Paris,” and we found
the still uncertain children and
hugged them as we told them good
bye.
We stood by the bus and they
waved to us through the windows
as we sang to them in French—
something we wanted to say that
Catherine had taught us — “Nous
vous aimons.” They replied, “Nous,
aussi.”
On Christmas day they will burn
their Moravian candle on their table
for us. We will remember and say
“Merry Christmas” to others with
the glow of the Vignes’ candle shin--
ing on our faces.
They were speaking in French, hut the Vignes
children communicated the fact that they too played
cowboys.
The Vignes Family: Dominique, Bernard, Francoise,
and Etienne, with Monsieur and Madame Vignes.