Oh, well, it's said that confession is good
for the soul. I now acknowledge being responsible for the
conflagration.
Well, we survived the WW II years.
TO Top
DO YOU REMEMBER
..........buying WAS bonds and Stamps?
..........ration books for sugar, gasoline and even SHOES?
..........blackout drills?
..........the fish pond in front of our school reflecting this massive
hall of learning?
..........the marble interior just inside the front doors?
..........trying to get by the "hall monitors?" Why were they there,
anyway?
..........Miss Mary Piercey gazing out the windows of her 14th
Street classroom overlooking the tennis courts quoting ODE
TO A GRECIAN URN?
..........Our class picnic at FAIR PARK?
..........how BIG the stage was?
..........Mr. Tanner's greenhouse?
..........the REAL cog responsible for turning the wheels of LRHS?
It was none other than the formidable yet soft-hearted OPIE
.
..........guys who delighted in pulling the trolley off the electrical
lines at the rear of the street cars?
..........transportation tokens? One for regular passengers and
a different school token?
..........those street cars that didn't turn around, but merely went
the opposite direction by simply moving the controls to the other
end and reversing the seat backs?
..........our competition against each other in grade school and
junior high track meets?
..........the pimiento cheese sandwiches in our cafeteria?
..........trying to beat the TARDY BELL?
..........the traditional Thanksgiving Day rivalry with our neighbor
to the north whose pseudonym was equated with a member
of the four- legged genus of the canine variety?
.........."The square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the
squares of the two sides?" Thus spake NOT Zarathustra, but
Mr. W. P. Ivey, our Geometry guru.
..........the CAMPUS INN?
..........the daily flag ceremonies?
..........the fabulous art work of Dick Keck?
..........our LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT and CLASS PROPHECY?
..........assemblies in the auditorium?
TO Top
DON'T EVER FORGET
..........that we received an education that cannot be measured
in dollars and cents.
..........our graduation at Quigley Field.
..........the diversity of our class.
..........the refinement of our school administrators and teachers,
their dignity, integrity, and dedication to education as a
profession while actually sacrificing a more lavish lifestyle
for a career of nurturing hundreds of future citizens.
..........that Little Rock Senior High School was built in 1927 at
a cost of $1.5 million, a grand sum in those days.
..........the NEW YORK TIMES wrote that it was the most expensive
school building ever constructed in the United States and
remained so until after OUR golden era.
..........The National Association of Architects named our alma
mater "the most beautiful high school building in America" and
it is the only school to ever hold that title from the NAA.
..........in 1977, or alma mater's main building was accepted by
the United States Department of the Interior and listed on the
National Register of Historic Places.
..........in 1982, the Department of the Interior designated the
building as a National Historic Landmark.
..........Miss Flora Armitage's message to us in our class annual. It
goes like this and I quote while paraphrasing: Ever vigilant at the
portals of "the Most Beautiful High School in America", those
four statuesque symbols of AMBITION, PERSONALITY,
OPPORTUNITY, and PREPARATION stand guard over a
community of some 2,000 people. These carved figures remain
prominent on the front of our Park Street home away from home.
Each day they usher our young citizens into various avenues of
instruction arranged best to meet life's needs. For these and
other words of wisdom, we, the class of 1948, remain grateful.
..........the dedication of our classmates who worked unselfishly
to make this reunion a reality for us to enjoy.
..........HAIL TO THE OLD GOLD! And now, with apologies to the
person responsible for composing this musical tribute, longtime
Director of Bands at LRHS Mr. L. Bruce Jones and his protege
and successor, Mr. A. F. Lape, let's join together in singing this
salute to the school we herald "as good as the best and BETTER
than the rest." The nearest I could get to producing a symphonic
band sound was to play and record this music on the mighty
Reuter pipe organ in the McBeth Recital Hall of my college
alma mater, Ouachita Baptist University, where my husband, Ike,
and I serve as Dorm Parents after retiring from public school
administration. The tempo is not the military staccato-like
version we were accustomed to, but this somewhat slower
rendition now more suits the relaxed gait in which we now
move.
.
Ike and Billie Sharp
OUACHITA BAPTIST UNIVERSITY
Daniel Dorm for Men
Box 3750
Arkadelphia, Ar 71998-0001
870-245-4160
FAX 870-245-5598
sharpb@alpha.obu.edu
"WHEN YOU'RE THROUGH LEARNING, YOU'RE THROUGH"
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