Page 79 - 1931 Hartridge

X X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
Planting, 1 9 3 0
F you had l)een at Oakwood the Sunday evening- before commencement last year, X you would have seen a procession of white-clad figures, followed by other darker
ones and preceded by rays of light from flashlights, marching slowl3' across the hockev^ field. Tlie Seniors, at the head, were dressed in peculiar costumes, made of anything white: sheets, pillowcases, white ducks. With them thev led Aliss Hartridge and Aliss Mapelsden, and they were followed by the admiring Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen, who were merely the onlookers and singers on this occasion.
The ghosts of nineteen thirty (for one suspected from their sepulchral raiment that these were what the Seniors meant to represent), were about to dedicate a juniper tree which they were leaving as a parting gift to Aiiss Hartridge. When the\}^ reached the stage, they gathered around Pan, and Alary Crapo, the chief ghost and president of the class, made the dedication speech :
X
X
“Though nncloserved your words. Beloved, Because of that they arc* inorc^ prc'cious As are the gifts that come as Inmuty
From tile hearts of those we love. And now T make a prayer For you, and us. and Ban.
O Pan, the guardian of this place, Which we have dedicated to the Muses
And the use of these fair children, Whatever be the season or the liour— Through winter when the snow tails. Mantling all that grows, and
Icicles hang fj’om thy tortured chin. Through summer wlum thy trees give Happy shade, and thrushes* joyous calls
“Dear Aims Hartridce and Aims AIaielsden.
We, the Seniors of Oakwood, ask permission to plant here tonight juniper, a living ghost,—a reminder to >"ou of our loyal spirit.
X an eerie sort of
X X
as her branches glisten in the moonlight of many Junes, she will so flaunt her glowing personality^ that
We christen the little spectre as our representative and hope that,
you cannot remain wholly unmindful of her presence and of our continued interest in all that takes place on this charmed spot.
We want you to feel our haunting presence. And will you try to believe, as_ this
little spectre takes root and becomes more stalwart and upstanding, that we, the living-
ghosts of nineteen thirty, are growing too, wherever we may have taken root, and are X being sustained and are reaching upward l)ecause of your inspiring and ever-active in­
X
fluence. For as wisdom ripens in us, we know that we shall more and more be able to
appreciate what a privilege it was to be a part of Oakwood.
A/liss Hartridge and A/Iiss Mapelsden, for one moment during the course of the en­
chanted June playm, will you look at our little ghost and be with us in spirit?
When she had spoken, Alartin, ai)pearing magically with a watering-pot and spade, planted the cypress beside Pan, while the schocd sang “O Little 1 ree,” a song composed for the occasion by a few enterprising Seniors. After the planting was over. Miss Hart­
X X
X X
X X
X X
ridge spoke:
>5K
XK XK
XK
XK XX
XK XK
XK
Page Seventy-five
X
X X