The superintendent at that time was J.E. Martin. That was his second year in that position, but he would remain there until we started kindergarten. It seems rather remarkable that he was the superintendent of the Brookings school system for some 26 years (1929-1955). The athletic director was Bob Coffey, which is the derivation of the Bobcat name (Bob's Cats). A couple of others on the staff are people with whom we may be familiar. One of the science teachers and (and coaches; someone also told me once that he used to a good deal of officiating) was Lester Horrigan. This must have been his first teaching position, as he is listed as the president of the senior class 1930 edition of "The Jackrabbit" (http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/brookings/school/jr1930.txt Also on that list is freshman Millard McComb of Brookings. I believe he is the father of Joan and John McComb of our class. He worked at the Insect Lab north of town, so I became acquainted with Mr. McComb, as I worked summers there after high school and during college. I was only able to get the job thanks to a tip given to me by Jim Kortan in the spring of 1969. His mom worked there, and Jim told me about the openings. Fortunately, they hired me. Mr. Horrigan eventually became principal at BHS (perhaps I can stumble upon that information in another yearbook) and then superintendent in 1955 upon the retirement of Mr. Martin. He retired in 1966, and was honored by that year's graduating class when they dedicated the yearbook to him. That dedication reads
To show our appreciation for his willingness to help us
in any worthwhile thing we strived to do; for all the
extra work he has done in helping to make the dream
of a new school a reality (we moved into it our junior
year); for having given his time and energy as yearbook
adviser, teacher coach, principal, and superintendent;
and for his determination and desire to do anything
in his power to make our school a better place and the
students in it better citizens, the Senior Class of 1966,
being the last class to graduate with his name on our
diplomas, proudly dedicates this edition of the Bobcat
to our superintendent, Mr. L. D. Horrigan.
On this dedication page are pictures of him receiving the golden shovel at the ground-breaking ceremonies for the new high school, receiving a watch from Mr. Hauschild on behalf of the faculty, getting ready for a round of golf, and relaxing at home by doing some gardening. Retirement must not have suited him too well, though. In the next three yearbooks, he is listed as an administrative assistant. Sadly, Mr. Horrigan passed away in 1971 (http://www.geni.com/people/Lester-Horrigan/6000000001937388738). His wife lived quite a bit longer than he, passing away ten years ago (http://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=341529). Mr and Mrs. Horrigan had a daughter Patricia who graduated in 1958. She, too, has passed away (http://www.rudesfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=341408)
The fourth individual some of you may know of is Agnes Schlender. She was the school secretary. In some of the later annuals, she is listed as secretary to the business manager, who would have been Mr. Charles Webbenhurst, father of Nancy Webbenhurst of our class. She must have retired in the early 60's, as she is not shown in the 1962 Bobcat. When our family moved a block north to the corner of 3rd St. and 6th Ave., Agnes Schlender was our next door neighbor. She and Miss Erickson lived in the house just east of us. Miss Erickson had been a long-time elementary teacher and perhaps even principal for the primary building. Their lot was rather small, so we would shovel their walk during those nasty winters. Around Christmas 1976, they were ready to downsize, so their house was up for sale. With some help from an older brother, I ended up purchasing it. After my mother died in 2003, I moved into our old house, and eventually sold mine to Emmett Earley of our class. However, he needed a little bit more garage space, so he eventually sold it.
In the senior class that year of 1931 was a number of students whose family names might hold some significance or be familiar to us. The ones that left an impression on me were:
Fred Bang--anyone remember Bang's Bakery? At the back of the yearbook are a number of advertisements for local businesses, perhaps to finance the cost of publishing the annual. One of those businesses is Bang's Bakery.
Margaret Bartling--one of the children of the Bartling's furniture clan?
Harriet Bortnem--any relation to the Bortnems in our class?
Irwin Gunsalus--there was a Gunsalus family that lived in our neighborhood, about a block west of the courthouse. Twins Robert and Richard graduated from BHS in 1965. Robert graduated from SDSU in 1969, and was recently honored as a distinguished alumnus (http://state.sdstateconnect.org/distinguished-alumni-2013/ and http://www.statealum.com/s/1108/index.aspx?sid=1108&gid=1&pgid=1802). As an aside, another honoree was Brian Kaatz, who atttended SDSU when many of us did. He was in one of my freshmen chem labs. But Irwin was the father of these boys. He, too, had a very distinguished career (http://www.asbmb.org/uploadedfiles/AboutUs/ASBMB_History/Past_Presidents/1970s/1974Gunsalus.html and http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/11/24/dr_irwin_gunsalus_discovered_lipoic_acid_a_form_of_vitamin_b6/) Their mother was also gifted. (http://eidsnessfuneralhome.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=339287)
Ruby LeFevre--was she related to the owners of LeFevre Motors?
Maxine Linn and Burdette Shelden--these two are listed together because they were married to one another in 1933. One of their children was Bob, who graduated in 1959, and was one of the most talented athletes ever to come out of BHS. The high school stadium is named for him. This site has a nice aerial photo, even though there is s misspelling (http://wikimapia.org/29317056/Bob-Sheldon-Field-Football). Bob died of Hodgkin's disease when we were about in the 4th grade. He was related to Gerry Albright. Gerry told us that Bob had become so sick and lost so much weight that he was practically a skeleton. If memory serves right, Gerry is related to Stew Linn. This obituary of Maxine Linn Shelden gives some clues (http://www.eidsnessfuneralhome.com/sitemaker/sites/Eidsne1/obit.cgi?user=1252_MShelden172)
George Messner--father or uncle of Frank Messner, who graduated from BHS in 1961?
John Nolan--any relation to "Gip" Nolan, longtime director of the Chamber of Commerce in Brookings? (http://southdakotagravestones.org/view.php?id=218782)
Lyle Otterness--related to the Otterness family that lived in Brookings until the early 1970's?
Viola Telkamp--many Telkamps farmed in the Brookings area. A Roger Telkamp worked with Joan and John McComb's father at the Insect lab north of town. Telkamp Housemoving is a well-known business throughout the state.
Hazel Trygstad--the Trygstad family was one of the earliest families to settle in Brookings County (http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~sdbrooki/chistory.htm and http://www.brookingscountysd.gov/Index.aspx?NID=99)
Naturally, yearbooks have evolved over the years. One strange feature in 1931 is that there were no individual pictures of sophomores or freshmen. Rather, there were just picture of their homerooms. The name of the teacher is listed, but not the names of the students. Bobcat Day seemed quite late, Nov. 10, with the football game the next day. BHS beat Huron 20-0 to cap off a successful week. The football schedule was a bit different than the one we were used to. Instead of a prom, there was a Jr.-Sr banquet held at the Hotel Dudley (Sawnee) on April 25. In track and field, the boys threw the javelin. However, that event is no longer contested today. Don't know when they quit throwing it.
Girls athletics was limited to soccer, basketball, and volleyball. In the picture of the soccer game, it appears that the field was on the north side of the Red Castle, which would have been the playground north of Central Elementary. It's also interesting to note that volleyball was played outside.
French must have been an elective, as there was a French Club (Cercle Francais). The school paper, The Broboca, was in its first year of existence. The only other clubs listed are dramatics and student council.
There were other opportunities for extra-curricular activities, though. Musicians could play in the band and/or orchestra, while the singers could belt out their notes in the boys and girls glee clubs. It appears that there was even a musical, "The Lucky Jade."
Future Hollywood hopefuls had a couple of plays to show off their talents. There was Jr-Sr play on Oct, 30, and another play on March 19. Was that one limited to juniors and seniors? In addition, there was a one-act play and another short skit during graduation week.
Those with an argumentative bent had numerous chances to display their oratorical skills. There were 13 debates during the season, in addition to districts and state.
What was intriguing to me was to see all of the business that advertised in this yearbook. As mentioned above, Bang's Bakery was one. Some of the others that seemed significant to me will be the topic of the next post.
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