Jan. 31, 1974
BELLES OP ST. MARY'S
Page 3
Ford’s Smile Squelches Worries Future Appears Promising
by Greyson Gates
When a prospective St. Mary’s
student approaches the campus
for her interview, she not only
notices the “stately oak trees’’
scattered about, but also the
ominous administration building.
East Rock, with its foreboding
admissions director who lurks
inside waiting to impose all
kinds of unanswerable questions
upon the unsuspecting victim.
All too soon, however, she finds
herself stepping into the office
of Mrs. Alice Anne Horne Ford
and that her fears are most un
warranted. There are few smiles
as warm and as bright as Mrs.
Ford’s because there are few
people as genuinely in love with
their work as she is.
Mrs. Ford came to St. Mary’s
by “a stroke of luck’’ as she puts
it. Before coming here she was
a dedicated twelfth grade Eng
lish teacher who had to give up
her profession due to vocal
troubles. She was told if she
Wanted to teach, she would have
to do so under restrained condi
tions; therefore, she would not
be able to demonstrate her en
thusiasm for the course without
being able to project as she was
accustomed to doing. She then
enrolled at North Carolina State
University where she earned her
masters degree while also teach
ing emotionally disturbed chil
dren at Dorothea Dix Hospital.
Not long after she got her de
gree a vacancy appeared in the
admissions office here at St.
Mary’s in the fall of 1968. Ex
cept for a brief period last year,
Mrs. Ford has interviewed hun
dreds of St. Mary’s girls in the
Past six years.
Mrs. Ford says she enjoys her
job perhaps more than teaching
because there is more one to one
contact with young people. She
is able to meet and learn about
the prospective girl by her inter
view and application. Some of
the more important features
Mrs. Ford looks for in prospec
tive students are maturity, poise
Snd sincerity. She believes that
it is extremely important for
the girls to see the school and
to discover for themselves the
Unique combination of the social,
spiritual and academic union of
St. Mary’s blend with its own
important tradition.
The office of admissions is
referred to by Mrs. Ford as her
own “baby” because prior to her
coming, it was not an estab
lished office by itself as it was
a combination of the registrar
and the admissions director in
one. Due to the rapid growth of
the St. Mary’s community, both
positions became too great for
one person to fulfill and Mrs.
Ford took over the position of
admissions director. She also
serves on the Board of Admis
sions as a well qualified mem
ber.
Mrs. Ford sums up her life
here at St. Mary’s in the word
“love.” She feels that what she
has had to offer to St. Mary’s
has been repaid in the joy
she finds in meeting the girls
and their families and in being
able to play a part in each girl’s
opportunity to find her own
happiness here at St. Mary’s.
Mrs. Ford’s daughter, Bon
nie, is juinor class president at
St. Mary’s.
For Ambitious Seniors
by Kitty McKenzie
Many of the seniors have ex
citing plans for this summer
and the following year. Not only
will they be going to college and
studying but they will also be
traveling to various states and
countries.
Cathy Shaw, who is majoring
in art, plans to continue her
studies at the Art Academy in
Perugio, Italy. This summer she
will work in Raleigh and in the
Streisand, Trips Enhance Xmas
by Athalia Cooper
Christmas vacation is that
wonderful time of year when
everyone gets to go home to
their parents, sit back, relax,
play with their little brothers
and sisters, and, even better,
happily anticipate the arrival
of their grades.
Unfortunately, the old home
life was just a little too exciting
for many girls. Participating in
all of those neat family activi
ties was simply wearing them
out. So was all of that meticu
lous plotting and planning to
discover the best way to inter
cept (and, if possible, to defeat)
a certain piece of mail at the
post office. Many people had to
take a vacation from vacation.
One of these lucky girls was
Lisa Showell. She and her fami
ly went to Florida; from there
they cruised in the Caribbean,
visited the Bahamas, and con
tinued to South America. After
wards, they returned to Newark
on the Queen Elizabeth II.
Another person enjoying the
sun over Christmas was Buffy
Hazlehurst. She went to Miami
on Dec. 28 to see her fiance, a
musician aboard the Flavia. She
cruised to Nassau, back to Mi
ami, and then again to Freeport
on a special New Year’s cruise.
Some girls, however, chose the
snow and celebrities over sun
and sand. Ewing Schmidt and
Elise Shelton stayed for over a
week in Vail, Colorado, a fa
mous ski resort. Besides the
St. Mary’s girls, other re
nowned personalities included
Barbra Streisand (no, Robert
Redford wasn’t with her), Ger
ald Ford and his family, and
Andy Williams. Although it
would have been fun to sign
their casts, the girls are back
in one piece.
Two more skiiers from St.
Mary’s were Stacey Curran and
Jodee Sanders, who stayed for
a week in Vermont. They trav
elled throughout New England,
visiting every state except
Maine. These girls, though, al
most didn’t get back in one
piece. On Jan. 4, they had an
accident. Luckily, no one was
hurt except the car, which was
a little shaken up; they were
unable to start back until Mon
day. They drove for eleven
hours to Baltimore, Stacey’s
home, then continued to Raleigh
on Tuesday, anxious to get back
to their old Alma Mater. Now
that’s dedication for you.
Then too, there were some
people who just decided to “take
off” at the last minute, like
Sally Betts. She and four
friends, on an impulse, just flew
down to Disney World for a
few days. Although they felt
rather lost without the luxury
of chaperones, they still man
aged to have a great time. The
highlight of their trip was get
ting Mickey Mouse’s autograph.
Many teachers, too, had the
urge to get away from it all.
One of these was Ms. Dianne
Ricks; she traveled to Vene
zuela with Dr. Meyars Powell,
who has relatives there. Conse
quently, she was able to stay
with the family during Christ
mas. Commented Ms. Ricks: “It
was very unusual, but very
beautiful. It was completely un
touched by America.” There
were nine children in the fam
ily; each child received one
present. Christmas dinner was
at 12:00 on Christmas Eve,
with an all-night celebration fol
lowing.
In addition to her stay with
the family, Ms. Ricks spent
three days in the Andes Moun
tains and two days on the coast
of the Caribbean. “The weather
was great. It was about ,85 de
grees the whole time, and it
never rained.”
While visiting Valencia, Ms.
Ricks had quite an unusual ex
perience. The people were ac
tually burning the brush on the
side of the mountain to keep
the wild animals from coming
down to the village. “That’s
when I realized I was really in
the jungle.” She returned to
the Raleigh jungle Dec. 31.
St. Mary’s had a lot of repre
sentatives in a lot of places dur
ing Christmas. Who knows
what will happen over Spring
Break?
latter part of the summer she
will travel through Europe.
In June and July Denise How
ell and Fairlie Haynes are tak
ing a Mediterranean cruise and
touring through many countries
in Europe. Denise will then be
attending the University of
South Carolina where she will
be majoring in pre-medicine.
Fairlie plans to attend the Uni
versity of Alabama and major
in botany.
Jodee Sanders plans to go to
San Diego, California with Nan
cy Culpepper in May. Jodee also
has made plans to become an
apprentice to a leather crafter
in Chapel Hill from June to
August. After that she will at
tend Florida State University
and study in Europe the fol
lowing spring.
Susan Howland has made ar
rangements to live in Raleigh
this summer and keep her job
pumping gas at Exxon.
Day Students Join
In Boarder Antics
by Mimi Railey
Chaos prevailed as day stu
dents invaded Smedes Jan. 11'
to celebrate Freshman Weekend.
The purpose was to increase
the spirit of the Freshman
Class, and to get everyone ready
to work for the Freshman-
Sophomore Dance.
The highlight of the evening
was a skit performed by board
ers depicting the dormitory
life. The skit was narrated by
Ann Isenhower, and starred
Betsy Bullington, Lisa Norwood,
Ellyn Faircloth, Katie Cole,
Holly Knagey, and Ann Wood
ruff. The grand climax was
reached when class president
Ann Woodruff led the supposed
ly unsuspecting day students
outside behind Smedes where
they were bombarded with wa
ter buckets. The day students
managed to remain in good spir
its, borrowing dry nightgowns
from their boarder friends.
With Love Come Lavaliers, Pins, Diamonds
by Nanci Kerr
There are few girls at St.
Gary’s that have not exper-
'enced the trials and tribula
tions of love. It is that “hard
to live with feeling” that ac
companies dating. It has its
Cowards but alas, its disappoint-
*^onts come also. Since most of
**0 know all too well the sadder
^^Pect, we will discuss the
'•■ighter side. That brings us
'town to the subject of lavaliers,
i*ios, and finally engagement
^hgs.
For the uneducated segment
the SMC society, the meaning
''t these will be explained. Ev-
Ip’one is familiar with fra-
1^^‘nitles. They have them at
^rolina, at State, and probably
|*sewhere in the world. These
allows have a universal symbol
signify their affection for us,
^0 lowly female. Their first
is to present the lavalier.
K^ddy Frat really likes Susie
^iety. They have been dating
enough for things to be
^>te serious. So, Christmas
^.“8 around and he gpves her
A lavalier. (This is also a way
get out of buying an expen-
Christmas present.) This
means that he really “cares
something about ‘ole Susie.’ ” It
is also a public confession of his
intentions with the girl.
Then time passes and' Susie
and Freddy get more serious. It
is time now for the big step.
The next holiday that rolls
around (and Freddy franti
cally searches for a present for
“his woman”), Freddy gives
Susie his fraternity pin. They
are now officially “pinned.”
Susie proudly wears his pin on
her . . . shirt. This means that
little Susie and Freddy are get
ting real serious. Some people
even consider it being almost
engaged. (It also gives the fra
ternity a good reason to tease
Freddy—’cause he is hooked.)
Well, what follows the pin?
. . . the engagement ring, of
course. This takes a lot more
thought than did the pin or the
lavalier. (It also takes more
cash! ! ! ) Freddy talks to his
parents and his buddies. He
then makes the big purchase!
You can’t be too careful about
this kind of thing. The occasion
arises and he asks Susie to mar
ry him. This can be a romantic
event or not—depending on the
'^1
m
foTcS JfSer^whJe^K^h^ V ^heir betrothal
Lnt ani Phillips display their engage
ment diamonds and Laura Grimes shows her pre-engagement ring.
couple. Then ... we all know
what follows that—the wedding
and the babies.
It seems as though the love
bug has hit around St. Mary’s
over the holidays. He has scat
tered pins, lavaliers, and rings
in his wake. The showers have
been busy dunking the lucky
girls. However, don’t give up
hope if you didn’t get a pin,
lavalier, or ring for Christmas.
Just remember that it happens
to the best of us ... so be
patient!
- . -Hj