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Rolfe Alumni Essay | |
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Esther Wilson Married Jim Wilson (RHS class of 1928) in 1950 and became a long-time Rolfe resident and school supporter. Sun City, Arizona Taught music in Rolfe in 1949-1950 and 1957-1959 When I first came to Rolfe to teach in 1949, I was extremely impressed with the homecoming activities and the fact that the week was so well-organized and done so beautifully. The entire student body plus town and country people were alert to the events and busy preparing for them. The windows of the businesses were decorated with slogans and artwork. Of course, each high school and junior high class had its float-building headquarters, and after a theme was chosen, hours were spent building a float. The Pep Club, FFA and FHA and other groups also had floats, and teachers wondered whether some students ever slept. Nominations for the royal court (the queen and attendants) were held early in the week with the final vote taken later. Thursday night was the pep rally with a huge bonfire that ended with a snake dance. Friday afternoon, the coronation ceremony was held in the auditorium complete with a crown bearer and scepter bearer. The beautiful program climaxed with the crowning of the queen by the high school principal, Miss Edna Marcum. At the conclusion, everyone assembled outdoors, getting ready to march to the business area. The marching band led the parade to Main Street followed by the cheerleaders, the queen and her court, the floats, and finally the entire student body. Usually each grade had a banner with a slogan. At the pep rally, people from the Rolfe area were given an opportunity to express their desires for a victory that night. It was here that the floats were judged. During halftime of the football game that night, the floats were paraded around the field, and the results of the judging were announced. After the game, the alumni were invited to the homecoming dance at the school to mingle with students and faculty. During the tenure of Superintendent R. O. Mortensen, Rolfe was host to various district speech and music contests. These events were superbly organized with teachers given timed schedules and detailed instructions for their assigned stations. The construction of the gymnasium with its addition in the early 1950's also led to the hosting of basketball tournaments which were welcomed by local and nearby sports fans. One of the parent organizations of the Rolfe Schools was the Rolfe Music Mothers. Each mother who had a child in band or a vocal group was asked to join. The main money-raising projects were dinners for various groups. Whenever an organization such as the county pork or beef producers was scheduled to meet in Rolfe, the Music Mothers provided the meal. Although the groups were large, the meals were served in "sit down" style with the youngest of the mothers assigned as servers. Supt. Mortensen was of tremendous help in organizing these affairs and usually kept time, for instance, of how long it took the Music Mothers to serve dinner to 200 people. I doubt if any dinner were ever served without the help of Helen Heald’s "little black book" which had a wealth of information on menus for specific events, recipes and quantities needed to serve 100 people. Helen was an active member of the Presbyterian women’s group and the Rolfe Music Mothers, and the information stashed in her book was a precious resource to both organizations when administering dinners.
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