SUPPORT
YOliR SCHOOL
THE BLACKBIRD
BE
COURTEOUS
Published by .Tournalism Cfass of "ocky Mount High' School
VOLUME XXII
nOCKY MOUNT, N. C., TUESDAY, XOVEMBLK 14, 1»50
NUMBER *
r^ewsees
R. >1. Baseball Team In Film
North Carolina, a Tar Hesl
farm, and the Rocky 'Mount
Baseball club will be part of the
new Burt Lancaster picture,
^‘Jini Thorpe, All American.”
This is a true story of an In
dian boy who won fame in track,
baseball, and football.
Thorpe actually spent some
time in North Carolina. He play -
ed two summers, 1909 and 191C,
playing pro baseball with the
Rocky Mount club. (Not for mon
ey but to keen in condition.)
Burt Lanca.'^ter uses no stunt
man in the picture. He does
broadjumps and high,1ump•^,
Tuns, sprints, and throws the
javelin and discus. The time por
trayed is around 1912.
Studio officials considered
coming here for location scenes
but decided to hold expenses
down by shooting most of it at
an Indian school in Okla.
R. L. Sides Speaks To Seniors
Mr. R. L. Sides, judge of the
;;uvfcnj!e courts in Rocky Mount,
g^ave the senior class a most.
Ihoupht provoking talk dealin":
with the subject of harmful
thought!e?sne.«s in the high
.Tchool auditorium.
He pointed out to them several
examples of how little pranks
had resulted in serious mishans
bringina: sorrow to the offended
and the jDffender. He also re
minded tlie seniors of their re
sponsibilities as leaders of the
students. ^
This was the first of a series of
programs , planned for the sen
iors during the part of the activi
ty period set aside for class
meetingrs. These programs will
be both educational and enter
taining.
Tw'irp Dance Given
Twirp season is on! What kind
of season is that? Well, that’s
+he one time of the year when
the girls pay and the boys sit
back and take it easy.
Rocky Mount as a rule does
not usually enter into this festi
vity, but on t’ne night of Nov^m
tier 4. a twiro dance was held at
the Masonic Temple.
Thic; dance was sponsored bv
the Senior Girls Tri-Hi-Y. The
music -was furnished by the play-
3n? of records. For refresh
ments, fudge, sea foam candy,
and sandwiches were sold by
members of the club.
ilnnual Contest For
'Miss Print' Held
For the fourth annual “Misu
Priiic” contest some thirty girlt;
were nominated and voted on by
the student body. Of these th;
ten top girls were selected and
are the candidates foi' the titl">
■‘Miss Print of 1950.”
This campaign is sponsored by
the Blackbird in ordtr to raise
money ior ihe school paper.
The ten contestants and their
campaign managers ire Blanche
Wilkins with Albert Rabil; Fay
Reynolds with Joim Page: Am
Bulluck with Whee.s Gupton;
Bruce Carr v'ith Jtnmy Rich
ardson; Lillie Parkei with Gene
Williams; Nell Harris with James
Livsay; Ann Bailey with Bo
Thorpe; Nancy Bartholomew with
Tommy Bass ; and Jsyce Proctor
with Donald Bryan,
Four years ago, tie Blackbird
started the "Miss Print” con-
teiSt. Norma Hunley vas the first
“Miss Print”. Since :hen Donn.)
Jean Cap.os and Narcy Williams
■-lave held the honor.
Only one penny quilifies a per
son to vote. At tlu end of the
campaign the candidate with the
most money r'ountec in pennies
is winner. The winntr will be an
nounced in the Blackbird on De
cember 5. Hei pictire will ap
pear in the Blackhrd, the Hi-
Noc-Ar,and the Sving Tele
gram. • Mrs. Younf, adviser of
the Blackbird has s surprise i'l
store for the winneVthis year.
The campaign stirted on Nov
ember 10th and wil’continue un.
til November IT at 1:00 o’clock.
State Group Picks Gene Wiiliams
1
V
Allen BrownEiected
State D. E. Resident
At the district nueting of the
Distributive Eduation Clubs,
Allen Brown, was dected presi
dent of the convent on.
An estimated 150 students from
Durham, Wilmingtoi. New Bern
and Rocky Mount met in tho
Greenville City Hdl last Wed
nesday.
The meeting begai at 8:32 in
the morning and lased till 4:30
event on the morniig program
in the afternoon, "he feature
was a discussion on How D. E.
Club Members Help ’'Jieir Com
munities.”
Major W. H. Stadey of the
Greenville Salvation \rmy pro
vided entertainment for the
group, after which tby retired
'to the Respesc, - Jams Restaur
ant for luncheon.
V
Gene Williaimii, RMIIS junior, .wmm juesidency of State -SliMlent Cou-
gress Convention. by Barringer)
Community Chest
Drive To Begin
Tomorrow
Tomorrow under the direc
tion of Mr. Jack Bennett, Jr,
president of the drive, and Mr.
Norman Gold, general com
mittee chairman, the Rocky
Mount Community Chest opens
its fund raising drive for the
year with the gold set for $44,-
540. The campaign will close on
December 7, at a Victory Din
ner in the Ball Room of the
Hotel Ricks.
The goal of $44,540 is approx
imately 19 per cent greater than
Continued on Page Three
D. E. Club Hears Speaker
The D. E. Club was honored
recently by having Mr. Herbert
Knight from Belt-Tylers as a
guest speaker.
The topic of his talk was “Op
portunities Opened To Students
In Retailing ” one of the import
ant things he brought out was
the importance of character and
discipline, self - control, and do
ing the job rif?ht. Requirements
of an employee were also dis
cussed.
iMr. Knight is a former student
of Rocky Moiait high. He gradu-
pted from about 15 months
ago and is the Junior comptrol
ler for Belk Tylers.
Choir Entertains Association
The Rocky Mount High School
Choir entertained the North Car
olina State Christian Association
on the night of November 1 in the
high school auditorium. The
eongs sung were “Ave Maria”
by Arcedelt, “Carol of the Bells”
by Wilhousky and “Evening Pas
torale” by Shaw.
The choir is under the direc
tion of Har«ld T. Parry.
GOOD WLL DELEGATES SPEAK
As the students filed into the
auditorium for the annal Good
Will Assemble, Novembr 2, the
first thing noticed was he Shel
ton Looms Trophy paced in
clear view. This is th trophy
which is given to the araaal win
ner of the Wilson-Rocky Mount
football giame.
The trO'Phy was placecion a ta
ble covered in a strikijg piece
of gold velvet and besi«e it stood
a football helmet filled with fall
flowers. The delegates ?r»m. Roc
ky Mount and Wilson we'e seat
ed in front of a miniaurt goal
post decorated in the coUrs of
the two schools
Guest speaker forthe assem
bly was Mr Suessnan, "epre-
sentative of Caramount ilills,
who spoke on the resson forhav-
ing the trophy. Mi. Cy Elson,
principal of Rocky Mount Hgh
school and Mr. G S. Willa-d,
principal, of Wilsoi High Schiol
gave short speechis on the pn-
motion of good wU between thv
two schools
Other iparticifBhts in the as
sembly were Skp Horton, presi
dent of the Wils>n student body;
Dick GregO'ry, president of Roc
ky Mount sfudent 'body; Prances
Dunn, president of Good Sports
Club; Hank Madden, Wilson
high school coach and E. E. Ad
kins, Rocky Mount high school
coach
The secretary of Wilson’s stu
dent body gave a short talk on
good sportsmanship. Dick Gre
gory introduced the sponsors for
the game Friday night, Frances
Dunn and Nancy Bartholomew
from Rocky Mount and Suzanne
Gill and Blair Alston from Wil
son.
After introduction of the Wil
son oheer-leaders several cheers
were given by the cheerleaders
from both schools.
This assemibly was a repeti
tion of one given earlier that day
in Wilson.
After the program all those
participating in the assembly
were entertained at a luncheon
given iby the Good Sports Cluto at
the Teenage Club. Lunch was
served buffet from a long table
arranged at one end of the club-
room. The decorations emphas-
jized the two schools’ colors and
Several football helmets were
llled with fall flow'ers Minia
ture goalposts flanked each end
o,the table
'Seek And Find Out/
Says World Traveler
“Seek and find out; look and
leam” iwas the advice given a
group of high school students by
Mr. Sydney R Montague,
brought to Rocky Mount by the
Executive Club. Mr. c W. Park
er arranged for him to speak to
the students on Noverntber 8 dur
ing fourth period.
The well known world traveler,
writer, and lecturer held the at
tention of the audience by
thought provoking statements
and humor. Mr. Montague told
the students he wanted to talk
to them because he liked to have
an ‘‘intelligent audience.” He re
minded them that they go to
school, not to learn how to make
a living, but to leam to live.
’To the young ladies he said
that true glamour was on the in
side He reminded the boys that
a gentleman is first gentle A for
mer Royal Canadian Mountie,
Mr. Montague said that one thing
Mountie training teaches is that
one must have a sense of humor.
“A sense of humor will get you
much,” he said
This Moment Is My Life
Mr. Montague is a distinguish
ed author whose philosophy is
similar to that of the Eskimo —
that philosophy is expressed In
one of his poems, “This Moment
Is My Life.” He stressed the im
portance of living this moment
and doing the things that should
toe done now, — not putting them
off until the future. The future
is only a hope — 'The past is only
a memory, so today is life.
He is married andlives in Hol
lywood. Every year he makes a
trip into Canada and Alaska and
carries some college boys with
him. He has a very bright out
look for the vast regions of the
north. Doincr away with the idea
of a war being fought there, he
believes that this land will be
opened up and the resources
brought to light.
Barrett Retires
From Presidency
Gene Williams, an outstanding
svuueiii, in xviViUo, urougnc honor
K) the school wy oeiiig elected
presiaent of the State Scudeai
council Congress at a convention,
meeting in cnarlotte on Novem
ber 7-.JS
Gene succeeds Mack Barrett of
Canto.n as president. He has held
various oltices in school such as
president or freshman and jun
ior cia$s, president ol Junior
Boys Hi-Y lor two years. Vice
Presiaent of Senior Hi-Y, dele
gate to Hi-Y conference in
Charleston, S. C., candidate for
Vice President of Student Organ-
iz.ation ana various other offices.
Other representatives aittend-
ing the meeting froon RMHS
were Dick Gregory, who was
Vice President of Student
council Congress this year; Jim
my Thornton; John Page and
Miss Kitchin, adviser.
This twenty - fourth annual
meeting oi ihe North Carolina
Council Congress was held in the
Alexander Graham high school,
the hosts being the Charlotte
schools.
The theme of this year’s talks
and discussions was “The Stu
dent Council; a Laboratoi-y in
Democracy”. The guest speakers
were Mr Van Pool, who gave
the keynote address Monday aft
ernoon and Mr. Paul Lucas of
Charlotte Duke Power Company
who spoke Monday night at the
banquet.
Oene as president will receive
invitations from schools bidding
for the next meeting. He will
make all arrangements for the
council meeting next year and
he will be the host and preside
over the next meeting. Gene also
plans to attend the Nation®! Con
vention in Boston on Ji,\ne 18-21.
Deep River Quartet
Sing For Students
Returning by popular demand
the Deep River Quartet of In
dianapolis, Indiana, known as
“The Fonr Men of Harmony,”
gave the student body of RMHS
another assembly
This quarter presented a pro
gram with at high degree of taste,
talent. and showmanship. In
their program last Friday morn
ing, their songs ranged from the
humorous, and the religion spir
ituals, to the modern songs of to
day.
Some of the spirituals sung
were “Bound To Leave This
World”, and “Ain’t It A Shame”
Those of the more hunio'rous
were “Dry Bones”, and'“Old
MacDonald Had a Farm” The
guartet also sang popular tunes
like “Night and Day”, and “I’ll
Never Be Free”.
It has often been said that the
Negro’s greatest contributions to
American culture lies in the field
of music
Since one of our students.
George Newhy, missed this as
sembly, the school had the en
tire program wire recorded to
send to him.
WHAT THANKSGITING
MEANS
T urkey
H 'am
Apple pie.
Noodle soup
K Pumpkin pie
S tuffing
G ravy
I - pickles.
V egetables
I Hot biscuits
N Cranberrie sauce
G inger bread
(