Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
Morning Star, April 24, 2005, pg. 17 Last week in this column we featured a listing of the class memorials given to Washington Gardner High School in the early 20th century. This week from the same 1935-36 school year handbook, we present the words to the official school songs. These were taught well into the 1950s. These songs ought to be learned and sung at the Albion High School Alumni Association events. This first one is the official “School Song,” sung to the tune of “On the Mall.” It goes like this:
“So we’ll sing a song in honor of old Albion High, Or, how about this one entitled, “Victory Song?” I wonder what the tune to this one was?
“We’re the country’s real sensation, There is a second verse to this but I don’t want to overwhelm my loyal readership. As an historical footnote, at the time this was written/sung, the Albion High School mascot wasn’t the Wildcats yet. Before 1930 sports teams went by the nickname the “red and whites.” Beginning in 1930, the football team was known as the “Fighting Fools,” and the basketball team the “Ramblers.” The basketball team began their season as the Ramblers in December 1935, and after Christmas break was over in January 1936 they then went by the Albion Wildcats. The name stuck and was thereby applied to all school teams. From our Historical Notebook this week we present another scene from that October, 1935 16 mm. black & white silent film of the classes at Washington Gardner High School. Appropriately, this week we show the school choir singing the school songs, directed by instructor Hardin VanDeursen. The four boys in front, left to right are: George Dean, Jr., George Sibal, Robert Reynolds, and (partially) Warren Owens. To the left of George Dean is Olga Podayko, and behind her is Stella Zasucha. Above George Dean’s head is Charlotte Rutz, and to the right of her is Geraldine Bradford. Daphne Wochholz appears in the back row just to the right of the white line. Behind Warren Owens to the right of the checkered shirt is Dorothy Hanlon. The students in this photo were members of the classes 1936 to 1938. How many of our readers remember Albion High School’s classic school songs printed here? October, 1935 School Choir at Washington Gardner High School Next: 100 YEARS AGO MAY 1905 All text copyright, 2024 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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