To Our Alma Mater

Alma Mater:

1) A school, college or university one has attended or from which one has graduated
2) The song or hymn of a school, college or university
3) Latin:  bounteous or fostering mother

I visited our old school not long ago, not knowing what to expect, and was surprised at what I found.  At the time it was an alternative high school and the grass areas had been mowed and trimmed.  I only looked through the windows of the 100 building, the cafeteria, and the entrance to the gym, but, for a campus that had been in such limbo since it closed in 1980, it looked pretty good!

Recent photos posted on the GHS alum Facebook site show the sum of its years on other parts of campus with broken and boarded up windows and other signs of decline.  I felt an affinity with our old campus clearly showing its age after 53 years. But the old buildings are still standing (except for the 200 building demolished because of mold).  Our school may not have been a "bounteous or fostering mother" to many of us but the buildings served our needs and, for most of us, our entire high school experience--an important phase of our lives--was shared in that space.

We've read, if a school levy passes this fall, that Glacier will be razed and a new Middle School will be built in its place.  Our alma mater will be no more.  If we feel "orphaned" by losing the remnant of memory the buildings represent in that place, at least we can know that it will be vibrant again with young lives -- some perhaps the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of Glacier alums.  And we won't have to see it decline further if we have courage to visit at all. But it's a sad day to think of the walls of our school coming down, as it must have been sad in June, 1980, when Glacier closed its doors for the last time.

Click on photos to enlarge
Thank you to Wanda (Swansby) Jones for providing this article.

Whether its buildings exist or not, Glacier, its students, and teachers are part of the fabric of our lives, and, looking back, we see that our school was more than bricks and mortar--an important piece of our life cycle and formative memory.  Our "alma mater" will exist in our memories for all time.

Say the words "alma mater", though, and most of us think of our school song.  In tribute to our school and its spirit we sang our Alma Mater together after every assembly.  At athletic events, the team would line up facing us all after a hard fought game, and, with our song and yell staff leading us, we would sing together.  In my view, bonding experiences weren't abundant at Glacier but I found this to be one--the words of the Alma Mater bringing our voices together as classmates, making us aware that we were only there for a short time before moving on.

And move on we did for fifty amazing years!  We've gathered together a few times but our largest reunion yet is on the near horizon and we've found the words of the Alma Mater to be true.  The memories really did linger on and on and now it's time to "celebrate & remember" them all! We'll be gathering in a few short weeks to do just that!  And we'll be singing our Alma Mater as we did back then.  So refresh yourself on the words and maybe the melody will come back too. Our class of '64 is something to celebrate!  Fifty years is something more!  How meaningful at our age to stand together again and sing loud and proud for the spirit of Glacier--our Alma Mater!  Can't wait to see you there!

To our Alma Mater

We give our hearts to thee

Forever to the Blue & Gold

We pledge our loyalty

Through halls that ring our echo

We march to goals unknown

With courage and with leadership

And spirit proudly shown

Glacier we will cherish

Through all the years to come

And when we're gone

The memories will linger on and on...

FIFTY YEARS PAST BLAST:  

JULY/AUGUST, 1964

Like a time capsule from fifty years ago, here’s a blast from our past: world news headlines, cultural trends, and Glacier happenings from our senior year.

We began our summer perhaps with a new sense of freedom and contemplating our future after graduation in June.  Some of us began jobs or tours of duty in the service, others enjoyed what may have been their last carefree days of summer and summer jobs before heading off to college.  We likely stayed in touch with a few of our classmates, enjoyed summer and perhaps a last vacation with our families before beginning the next stage of our lives. By summer's end our high school days were put firmly in the past and the class of '64 had moved on. 

 In the rest of the world...

NEWS HEADLINES

(Click on photos to enlarge)

JULY

--President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law abolishing racial segregation in the U.S.

--Alabama Governor, George Wallace, makes a speech condemning the Civil Rights Act claiming it will threaten individual liberty, free enterprise and property rights.

--The 35th Major League Baseball All-Star Game is held at Shea Stadium; won by the National League.

--U.S. Casualties in Vietnam rose to 1,387, including 399 dead and 17 MIA.

--At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khahn calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

--Viet Cong forces attack a provincial capital killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians, 30 of which are children.

--The Beatles return to Liverpool in triumph following their first international tour and just in time for the premiere of their movie "A Hard Day's Night".  More than 300 people are injured when a crowd of more than 150,000 welcome them home.

--At the Republican National Convention in San Francisco, U.S. Presidential nominee Barry Goldwater, declares that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice", and "moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue".  

--Six days of race riots begin in Harlem

--President Johnson announces the commissioning of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, an advanced, long-range, Mach 3+ strategic reconnaissance aircraft.

--The U.S. sends 5,000 more military advisors to South Vietnam bringing the total U.S. forces in Vietnam to 21,000.

--Former UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill retires from the House of Commons at the age of 89.

--Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photos of the moon.  Images are 1,000 times clearer than anything ever before seen from Earth-bound telescopes.

AUGUST

--The final Looney Tune, "Senorella and the Glass Huarache", is released before the Warner Bros. Cartoon Division is shut down by Jack Warner.  

--U.S. destroyers, USS Maddox and USS C. Turner Joy, are attacked in the Gulf of Tomkin. The next day "Operation Pierce Arrow" had aircraft from the USS Ticonderoga and USS Constellation bombing North Vietnam in retaliation.

--U.S. Congress passes the Gulf of Tomkin Resolution giving President Johnson broad war powers to combat North Vietnamese attacks on U.S. forces.

--In a coup Nguyen Khanh replaces Durong Van Minh as South Vietnam's Chief of State and establishes a new Constitution drafted partly by the U.S. Embassy.

--A Rolling Stones gig in Scheveningen gets out of control and riot police shut it down after 15 minutes, upon which spectators start to fight the riot police.

--The International Olympics Committee bans South Africa from the Tokyo Olympics on the grounds that its teams are racially segregated.

--The Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City nominates encumbent Lyndon B. Johnson for a full term and U.S. Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota as his running mate.

--Philadelphia 1964 Race Riot:  Tensions between African-American residents and police result in 341 injuries and 774 arrests spanning three days.  

--Walt Disney's "Mary Poppins" has its world premiere in Los Angeles.  It will go on to become Disney's biggest money maker and winner of 5 Academy Awards, including a Best Actress award for Julie Andrews.  "Mary Poppins" is the first Disney movie to be nominated for Best Picture.  

MOVIES YOU MIGHT HAVE GONE TO SEE: SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA U.S. #1 FILMS BY WEEK

• Circus World, Paramount, John Wayne, Claudia Cardinale, Rita Hayworth

• The Killers, Universal Studios, Lee Marvin, John Cassavetes, Angie Dickinson, Ronald Reagan
• The Moon-Spinners, Walt Disney Studios, Hayley Mills, Eli Wallach, Peter McEnery
• Marnie, Universal Pictures, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Tippi Hedren, Sean Connery

• The Night of the Iguana, MGM, Richard Burton, Ava Gardner, Deborah Kerr

• A Hard Day's Night, United Artists, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr
• Mary Poppins, Walt Disney Studios, Julie Andrews, Dick VanDyke, Glynis Johns, David Tomlinson

BOOKS ON THE NY TIMES BEST SELLER LIST:  (top five adult fiction a/o August 1964)

• The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, by John Le Carre, #1 from February 23 until October 24, 1964
• Armegeddon, by Leon Uris
• Julian, by Gore Vidal
• Candy, by Terry Southern and Mason Hoffenberg
• The Rector of Justin, by Louis Auchincloss

TV EVENTS AND PROGRAMMING:

• British Television showed the first television kiss between white and black actors.
• American Bandstand

• Combat

• The Andy Griffith Show

Music you would have heard (on your transistor radio?): 

(Source: Billboard #1 Singles 1964--click on the title to listen)

• I Get Around, The Beach Boys (Weeks of July 4 & 11)
• Rag Doll, The Four Seasons Featuring Frankie Valli (Weeks of 18 & 25)
• A Hard Day's Night, The Beatles (Weeks of August 1 & 8)
• Everybody Loves Somebody, Dean Martin (Week of August 15)
• Where Did Our Love Go, The Supremes (Weeks of August 22 & 29)

grizzly happenings - BACK TO THE FUTURE

AUGUST 2014

From summer 1964 to summer 2014 we are transported through this blog "time machine" from our high school past through the fifty years to our future present. As Nathan Scott said:  "It's the oldest story in the world.  One day you're seventeen and planning for someday, and then quietly, without you ever really noticing, someday is today, and that someday is yesterday, and this is your life."  We've lived it a day at a time and suddenly we're here, fifty years from graduation.  In many ways it seems only yesterday, and in other ways a lifetime of years.  

The words of another song we sang as a class come to mind as we think about standing on the threshold of our lives back then.  We sang "The Senior Song" together at our graduation and the words of that song mean much more now as we prepare to see one another again.

Senior Song

Performed during our Class Day Program

Sailing on, Sailing on, O'er the sea of life

Sailing, on, Sailing on, Beginning worldly strife.

As we leave, we will grieve, our class of '64

But we'll meet again to greet on that distant shore.

Sailing on, Sailing on, Our true friends of the past

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last.

Sailing on, Sailing on, O'er the sea of life

Sailing on, Sailing on, Beginning worldly strife.

Some go east, some go west, each his task to do,

But we'll meet again to greet Glacier friends so true.

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last,

Sailing on, Sailing on, We'll love you to the last,

Love you to the last....

As the song says, some of us went east and some went west and we've disbursed without much thought of the years that went before.  We've lived through some amazing times and witnessed and participated in a lot of change.  Sometimes we find ourselves reminiscing about how much simpler life was then, looking at the "Back to the 50's and 60's" videos passed around by email, remembering when.  

After all the years, it feels like time to regroup with the people and memories from our past.  Our 50th reunion will be the biggest reunion our class has ever had, with 101 classmates there--add a few teachers, our spouses and companions and we will have a great gathering with 172!  We're looking forward to sharing old memories while making new ones with so many members of our class together once again!  

I hope you've enjoyed this bi-monthly blog counting us down through our senior year to the big day of our 50th reunion.  The research and writing have shown in what a pivotal time we've lived with numerous seeds of things to come planted in our high school years.  Writing this blog provided a means to explore that past in a way I might not have otherwise done so I appreciate that opportunity to reconcile the present with the past.

We're just a few weeks and days away from our milestone reunion, celebrating that past, and then "Sailing On" again.  At almost 70 years of age, it's sweet to see the excitement build as classmates ask about old friends, remember old times, and look forward to connecting again with people we knew as kids. We look forward to seeing those faces and smiles again, and for the few hours we are together, we can remember times when we were young, the era we shared, the silly things we did--and for the span of that time and ever after, the Glacier spirit lives on!  See you then!  

For reunion details and info visit our 50th reunion website: https://sites.google.com/site/glacierhighschoolclassof1964/home

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Submitted August 8, 2014

Diana (Stillwell) Carew

GHS '64