Even More Than Just A Club

 

WHAT A LIFE. The Newbury High class of 1958 presented this 1938 Broadway play by Clifford Goldsmith as its senior play. Senior plays were a traditional class activity in most of the local high schools until 1971. The activity helped to solidify class spirit and enrich its treasury. (Tenney Memorial Library)

FIRE AND ICE. In February, 1970, the students and staff of Bradford Academy continued the winter carnival tradition first established in 1928. Complete with interclass competitions, snow sculptures, and a winter carnival ball highlighting the fire and ice theme, it was held just before winter vacation. (Bradford Historical Society)

This column is the second in a series on non-athletic extracurricular activities in local high schools to about 1971. The first article in Oct 2024 described the history of career groups such as the Future Farmers of America and the Future Homemakers of America.

The material is taken from local newspapers, school yearbooks, and alum memories. I have selected enough examples to create an understanding of the importance of these activities to student life. The 1971 date is chosen because a number of smaller local high schools closed around then.

From the early 1900s, local high school classes elected officers to organize their participation in school activities.

The officers were president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer, although a class student council representative might also be included in the executive committee. Officers were elected annually, with or without campaigns. Popularity played a role in initial elections, but effective leadership often determined re-election.  

The duties of these officers were generally the functions associated with the offices in local groups. Class presidents presided over meetings to plan major events such as class trips, winter carnivals, dances, fund- raising events, Halloween parties, and graduation. They also spoke to the school administration about class concerns.

One local class president recalled standing up for class members who were caught smoking by reminding the principal that the faculty had a smoking room. 

Orford historian Art Pease served as president of Orford High’s class of 1964 for two years and recalls the “challenge of trying to corral some of his buddies when trying to run a class meeting.”

Mike Ackerman of Haverhill, reflecting on his decades as a class advisor at Woodsville High, said that “good class officers kept a class focused and organized, and without them, there would be chaos.”

Class officers were often members of the high school student council government.

Student councils began to appear in Vermont high schools in the early 1920s and locally in the 1930s. The earliest was at Groton High, where a council was organized in 1929. Others included Haverhill Academy (1934), McIndoes Academy (1939), Woodsville High (1940), Wells River High (by 1944), and Orford High (by 1949). 

In Dec 1937, The United Opinion reported: “Bradford Academy took an unprecedented step last week by putting an important school question in the hands of students. This, in some measure, resembles what is known in other schools as ‘student council.’” The questions passed to this group included noon-hour recreation and furniture for the hot lunch room. 

Elections for student council president resembled political campaigns, complete with posters and speeches. One noticeable one was the close contest in 1942 between two Bradford Academy students from Piermont. In the election, Marion Gould beat Freeman Robie.

Student council activities ranged from organizing assemblies and dances to representing student concerns before the administration. Sometimes, they were allowed to actually legislate policies. In 1963, Orford’s council legislated, “no slacks are to be worn after March 1.”  In 1969, the Bradford council organized a student town meeting that debated articles suggested by the student body.

Magazine drives, dances, and other fundraising activities gave the councils funds to purchase needed school equipment, ranging from electronic equipment to a piano or a ski tow rope.  

 The focus of class activities varied from year to year. During the first decade of the 20th century, Vermont high school senior classes began to present class plays. These productions were usually three-act comedies, light mysteries, or operettas that could be practiced and performed in a few weeks.

 Presentations were often scheduled between athletic seasons to allow for the greatest inclusion. At some high schools, they were part of graduation activities.

 Members of the class filled all of the roles, from actors to production crew. These plays were often more inclusive than other dramatic productions, thus opening opportunities for those who had never been on stage.

Kathryn Kidder of Bradford recalled that her BA Class of 1968 class play included “a cross-section of students and a chance to work together beyond normal groups.”

The director was usually a faculty member. The plays were selected either by the director or students’ vote. Performances were in local halls for large and enthusiastic audiences.   

The following are samples of the plays performed by local high school senior classes. It is difficult to determine if plays were held annually as there are often spaces between newspaper coverage. 

Bradford Academy seniors presented plays as early as 1906. Performances were held in the Village Hall until the new auditorium was dedicated in 1936. Reserved seats tickets for performances could be obtained from Gove and Bancroft Pharmacy. 

As a young faculty member, I directed two senior plays. In 1967, it was “The Mouse That Roared” followed by “January Thaw” the next year. That play set a record for attendance at 696. At that time, classes realized about $700 for their treasuries.

The earliest mention of a play at Newbury High School to benefit the graduating class was in 1912. There is then no mention of plays until 1930 and 1931 and then there was a break to 1946. In 1948, the production of “The Adorable Imp” featured Beatrice Putnam in the leading role.

The first newspaper reference to a senior play at Thetford Academy was in 1922 for the production of “The Poor Married Man.” Senior plays continued more or less annually until the late 1960s, with early performances in the Village Hall. 

One way in which these productions differed was being taken on the road to villages from which Thetford Academy students came. Those include Post Mills, South Strafford, and Lyme.

In 1955, the three-act comedy “Beauty and the Beef” was held in the new gym auditorium at the Academy. Later plays ranged from “Our Miss Brooks” in 1964 to George Bernard Shaw’s satire “Arms and the Man” in 1968. This annual tradition lapsed for several years, but was “resurrected” in 1991 in the Grange Hall. That was the last one mentioned.

Some smaller high schools held senior plays, but newspaper coverage may not have been complete. The first mention of a production at Groton High was during graduation week in 1926. Productions continued through the late 1920s and early 1930s with shows at the Groton Opera House and South Ryegate. The play given in 1940 was the last mentioned.

The coverage of performances at Haverhill Academy is very spotty. The first mention is in 1926 and 1928, with not another one mentioned until 1963. Performances of these plays were held in Alumni Hall.

As Wells River High had a small student population, productions included students from other classes. The first mention was in 1925, followed by an operetta in 1926 and a farce in 1927. Other plays that received local newspaper coverage were in 1929, 1944, and 1964 with performances in the Village Hall. The school closed in 1967. 

The annual winter carnival was one of the most important activities for student leaders to organize. In the 1880s, communities and colleges began organizing winter carnivals fashioned after those held in Canada.

Dartmouth and Middlebury colleges were among the first to hold winter carnivals. Early winter festivals also were held in Burlington and Stowe, Vermont and Concord and Newport, New Hampshire.

In 1930, 30 winter carnivals were reported in northern New England. An example was the one organized by the Silver Fox Outing Club of Woodsville/Wells River.

Their first one, which was held in 1927, was expanded over the next several years to include a two-day community-wide festival of skating and skiing competitions. Later, a street parade, hockey competition, street parade, toboggan chute, horse and auto racing were added.  Students from area schools were invited to participate.

Membership fees financed this festival. Businesses in both towns became involved in awarding Queen competition ballots in exchange for cash purchases. The last mention of this carnival was in 1942. 

The American Legion Post hosted a Woodsville carnival in 1948. There was not another mention of a Woodsville High carnival until about 1960 when the tradition was renewed.

Local high school students were drawn to the thrill of winter carnival activities. The first mention of a winter carnival at Bradford Academy was in 1928. It was an invitational event including 70 senior and junior high students from 12 schools. 

Events such as skiing and three-legged races and nail driving contests set the pattern for later carnivals.

In 1930, the students from participating schools competed for the honor of winning the Opinion Cup. In 1931, the carnival broadened to include a parade and other activities around the village, topped off with a carnival ball. Local businesses gave financial support.

Following a break, a carnival was held in 1937, and thereafter, if the weather permitted. Some years, the lack of snow meant that the carnival was largely a basketball game and dance. The practice of inviting other schools to participate gradually evolved into a carnival for Academy students alone.   

Snow sculptures, skating parties, and indoor contests such as volleyball were added to the traditional events.

Except in 1968, when the death of a classmate caused it to be cancelled, a semi-formal carnival ball with royalty and a grand march was a major part of the yearly activities. The last BA carnival was held in 1971.

In addition to the Academy carnival, the regional Future Farmers of America held its own winter competition. From 1950 to 1970, local chapters met to compete in events ranging from winter sports to speaking and cross-cutting competitions. The event was usually held at Bradford Academy.

For decades the Thetford Academy community celebrated Founders Day. It was an opportunity to review the school’s history and anticipate its future. In 1947, a winter carnival, complete with games and ski and sack races, was added to the traditional day.

On the designated day, the morning was spent in sports with the afternoon devoted to class skits, songs, and other competitions as well as an all-school luncheon and speakers.

In the years that followed, the events varied from intermural basketball to class song and table-decorating competitions. A King and Queen were crowned and new facilities were dedicated. A trophy was awarded to the class with the highest points and a dance became part of the celebration.

Bradford’s Randy Odell recalls that Founders Day was one of the Academy’s most significant student events. In 1968, Odell was president of the senior class. His job as president “was to round up as many classmates as I could to complete in the various winter sports events, as well as help design and build our snow sculpture.”

Orford High also had the tradition of a winter carnival. The first one mentioned was held at Lake Morey in 1932. The 1936 carnival included students from other schools topped off by a ball at the Fairlee Town Hall.

Outdoor activities were held on the school lawns and in the field north of the school. There may have been some controversy over the method of selecting the Queen in the early 1950s, but in 1956 she was chosen by an “unadorned student vote.” The annual ball was soon relocated to the newly dedicated Memorial Hall.

 Haverhill Academy came late to holding its own carnival. In 1965, the first in “a good many years” was held. After that, carnivals were held until the school closed in 1969. Small schools such as McIndoes, Wells River, and Groton may have held several carnivals, but often their students accepted participation in area invitationals.  

As with the organizations mentioned in the first column in this series, the activities mentioned above gave students leadership and organizing lessons. A number of the students mentioned in the newspaper coverage of these activities went on to contribute to the area in significant ways.

A future column will continue the theme of student activities prior to 1971.  It will cover topics such as school clubs, publications, fund- raising, freshman initiation, and class trips.  Those with interesting stories may contact me at larrylcoffin@gmail.com.