Our Last Hurrah At McNary

We were staring at our future while still standing in our high school memories. This last issue brings it all home as we see who will follow in our footsteps in student government, sports, academic achievement, social circles and what they will wish to change in what we have left behind. This last issue of The Piper is a poignant look back at the end of our Senior Year.

 

 

 

Bittersweet Ending To Our Senior Year

This post contains two of the last issues of The Piper. The prom was a big deal to some, but not all of us, end of the year athletic events were ongoing, and we see that school funding and the detrimental effects of teens on drugs were hot topics.  

How can our country still not make solving just these two problems a top priority? Things surely seem to have gotten worse – not better, and it it hard to see a light at the end of this dark tunnel. We can only hope that the voices of our children and grandchildren are loud and powerful enough to affect the necessary societal changes. How did we fail?  

 

 

A New Play, Election Results, Student Apathy, Spring Tournaments, Music & Sports

This issue of the Piper shows that although life at McNary goes on, there is still a sense of the end of the school year drawing nigh!  

Spring! Time for Elections, Tryouts, More Sports Action & Sportsmanship Trophy

Remember back when elections for student government were happening?  What criteria did you use for casting your votes?  I can’t remember back that far, but I am hoping I voted for those whom I thought would do the best job!

Recognition of McNary winning the coveted Sportsmanship Trophy for the second year in a row was a high point!

Read the Opinion page, as it also mentions a letter received that was the only one out of 1600 McNary students!  

All in all, this issue is a snapshot of what was going on as the school year was winding down.

The Tournament and Some Interesting Art, Poetry & Opinion

I’m posting two issues of The Piper back to back, as the first one is the lead up to the state basketball tournament and the second one issue was published AFTER the tournament. So, we all know what the outcome was.  Were our hearts broken?  Yes…. but our team and students were stellar!  So, we do have wonderful things to remember about McNary and not just that we won another tournament! Taking third place was a remarkable feat in and of itself.

So, the first issue of The Piper stokes the fires of school pride with the Celts earning a spot in the basketball playoffs!

The center pages showcase some of the talent at McNary with artwork and writing. Of great interest and of great controversy today is a piece written about women bus drivers.  Read the article and remember when it was written and how different things were back then. This could be an interesting topic of discussion with some of our classmates at the reunion!

 

 

 

 

Courtyard Plans, Student Apathy, Speech & Music and Festivals

This is the 12th issue of The Piper that was published during our Senior year.  On the front page was an article about collaboration between speech students and some of our great McNary musicians.  The McNary Booster Club starts on plans for the McNary High School inner courtyard, there were upcoming Choir and Band Festivals, and our great McNary athletes were winning wrestling tournaments, competing in gymnastics and continuing their basketball supremacy.  

Of interest are two articles: One is entitled, “Ways to Lose a Date,” and published responses from both Faculty and Student Government regarding student apathy. There is also a continuing problem with “bad behavior” from both adults and students at basketball games.

Read the articles and see if you remember any these issues when you were a Senior!

Social Issues, Opinions, Talents, Honors and Sports

This issue of The Piper is very interesting! On the front page we have an article about married students, some of whom were our classmates and who are interviewed. It gives us some perspective of how some of our classmates had a whole different experience in high school. There is also an announcement of a Family Life class series being offered by the YMCA. How much do you think things have changed since that class was presented?

Take time to read the editorial “On the Way Out.” It speaks on the topic of protests and how they were carried out during those years.

We also get to read about some of our talented classmates who were involved in the plays at McNary. Who remembers Lemon Flatbush? It was well done and the level of talent of our thespians was amazing! And a new play is introduced in this issue. Great job all!

Judy Berg was honored in this issue for winning top price in the Elks statewide Leadership Contest. Her prize was $1000 which she stated with go directly for college.

And, let’s not forget our great athletes…. Basketball, Swimming, Wrestling and Gymnastics. We had so many gals and guys that were outstanding.

Enjoy this issue. Really gives us all an idea of what was happening when we were Seniors.

Happy 1969 + 50!!

Randy Hledik greeted me in this manner when he sent the first two 1969 issues of the McNary Piper, and I like it very much. It puts our 50th Reunion into perspective and makes it even more important that as many of us attend as possible.

Please note on the first page, our Girl and Boy of the Month for January! Dawn Bauer is one of our Reunion Committee Members and is such a great addition to the Committee as she comes up with wonderful ideas to create a meaningful reunion for everyone!

On the second page, you will see an article about classmate Gary Ebert who received nominations to both West Point and the Air Force Academy.

I also love the photos of some of our great athletes which are shown on Page 3. Can you guess who is who?

The Last Piper Issue of 1968….

As we celebrate Christmas and New Year’s, we are happy to provide you with the December 20 issue of The Piper. This issue features an interview with Corporal Ed Holcomb, who had just returned home from Vietnam. His letters to The Piper and this interview give us a tiny glimpse into what he must have gone through there, and of course, we were glad he was able to return home.

Also of interest are the articles on pollution!  I had totally forgotten that this was such a big issue back in High School.  Seems we have not learned a thing since then!!

As we are soon to welcome 2019, we are also coming closer to our 50th Reunion in September!  If you have not yet made plans to attend, we encourage you to do so.  We are working on finalizing venues, etc, and will soon be posting more info about our plans for the event, so check this blog often, as well as our Facebook page – McNary Class of ’69.  

Wishing all of you Happy Holidays!!

 

Closing Out 1968….

This issue of The Piper is the next to the last issue of 1968, with the last issue to be published here and on our Facebook page (McNary Class of ’69) on December 20. 

1968 – What a year it was! MLK Jr. and RFK were assassinated; Tet and My Lai; the Smith and Carlos controversy at the Mexico Olympics … on the brighter side, also at that same Olympics, Beaman jumped the longest and OSU’s Fosbury flopped the highest … Cousteau shared his undersea world with us … we watched Earth rise over the moon with the Apollo 8 astronauts … and Corporal Ed Holcomb made it back from Vietnam in time for Christmas! You can read an interview with Ed in the next issue of The Piper.