Monday, March 16, 2015

Little Treasures Found

Memories, like fleeting birds, take wing.  The task: to retrieve and hold in heart-hands.


We have in the archives any number of treasures.  One that surfaced recently was the Mary Martha Adick collection that a thoughtful relative gave us.  In the container are photos and other memorabilia, but what really catches the imagination is a poem.  While the author is unknown, it may have been a very clever member of the class of 1928 (or was it by their very talented principal, Sr. M. Agnetis?). 
And here it is:
Dear Old Notre Dame
I want to wake up in the morning,
         God down old Fifth St. in the morning,
And hear my classmates say good-morning,
         At dear old Notre Dame.
I want to make some paper roses,
         To watch Miss Whitney strike new poses,
And see Anne Campbell touch her toes-es,
         At dear old Notre Dame.
Got to thinking of history,
         And of Chemistry too,
They were always a mystery,
         So was Cicero and O(h),
I want to ramble down thru the hallways,
         To meet my teachers in the hallways,
Their smiling faces greet me always,
         In dear old Notre Dame.

I want to meet the N.D. scholars
         To see our Hedges grab the dollars, 
And Babe and Jane forget their collars,
         And Roselyn play the Jazz.
And Margaret show her golden tresses,
         And Catherine strut her pretty dresses,
And Lou and Angela caresses
         The fiddle and saxophone.
Got to see Martha Adick,
         Dot and Anna Mae Hayes,
Irene Cahill and Thelma   
         With their taking ways and say,
I want to learn when Alma rises
         And Bunny carries off the prizes
And Mary Deye the class surprises
         At dear old Notre Dame

In comparing the names of the graduates of the Scientific (ahem; i.e. high school) class for 1928 with the names in the poem, one finds the names of all of the members of the class.



The photo is also of the members.  It is interesting to recall what these young women were about to face in the country in the not-too-distant future.  But for this pictured moment, life held sparkling promises and fond memories of “dear old Notre Dame”. 

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