The Class of 1961 - Freshman History - Brattleboro Union High School

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Just like Alice when she fell into her looking glass world, we entered wide-eyed and wondering into the realm of high school. Needing the strongest and the bravest (?) of our own kind to guide us through this new adventure, we chose Knute Westerlund to be our leader, and Leo Barile to boost his ego, Barb Edwards was delighted to keep records of our strange experiences and Bill Bedard to carry the (they're little, but heavy) money bags. Almost immediately, however, we realized we would also need the help of one of the creatures familiar to the domain, and we, not yet knowing of his "3 O'clock Club," ventured to put faith in "Colonel" Holmes.

Trying to keep peace with the natives we forced Marilyn Foote, Ted Gale, and Leo Barile to speak our piece at their High Council meetings. However, their small voices of protest could not be heard over the rantings of the senior inhabitants, and we were soon forced to submit to the horrible experience of being transformed into mice for a day. Chanting a song of tribute to our leader Mickey, we rallied to withstand the cruelties of our oppressors. However, seeing our dauntless courage, they attempted a reconciliation by staging a gala dance and entertainment (which really opened our eyes!) in our honor that evening.

Emerging from this experience much more worn, but certainly wiser, we now knew we could never know what to expect next.

It was shortly after this that some of our group, mainly the girls, discovered to their surprise (and that of the boys!) just how friendly the senior citizens, mainly the males, could be.

In an effort to cement this relationship, the girls worked tirelessly on our contribution to the social life of this looking glass world in form of an "April Showers" dance. Understanding Mr. Holmes graciously accepted the substitution of tinsel raindrops for protons and neutrons, but the less cooperative boys just sat around and grunted their disapproval, saying the whole thing was "all wet." The weatherman seemed to agree and sent us the proper atmosphere for our evening.

Nevertheless, many couples, seeking entertainment, fulfillment for their curiosity, or just a place to get in out of the rain, ventured into our affair and danced to the soggy- no-misty music of the Four Professors. The girls, getting into the swing of things, decided to out-whack the wacky upperclassmen by showing up in the then popular fad, chemises, more accurately described in this case as "sacks."

Although our treasury tally didn't agree with us, we considered the event a success. Thus poor but happy we looked forward to our journey through summer.

Pat Jones