SFHS CLASS OF 1934 HOLDS 75TH REUNION

The Sheboygan Falls Class of 1934 has celebrated its 75th year anniversary and according to Bea Morken Visser, reunion coordinator, “This is it!”

“There are only six of us left out of 33 and we’re just too old to do this anymore,” Visser said, “but there are some things I wanted to tell you.”

The “things” Visser wanted to share are not only interesting but details of this information recently came to light, as a reminder to her and her relatives, when her grandson graduated from Sheboygan Falls High School this past June, class of 2009.

“Before 1934, the Sheboygan Falls school colors were green and white,” Visser said, “and in 1934 it was decided to change them to purple and gold.

“Then, because we needed to change our cheerleading uniforms, our skirts were homemade made out of purple sateen; and we could only find yellow sweaters that had the head of Mickey Mouse on them,” Visser laughed. “So Char Vanderpan sewed a piece of yellow material on, over the head of Mickey Mouse, and then sewed the letter F on the yellow material. Now we had the correct uniform colors!

“Well, that change meant the school song had to be changed, so there was a contest to all of us to write new lyrics for a class song,” Visser said. “My friend Marge Hoeper, who was in the class of 1935, and I decided to try and we won!

“Marge and I wrote most of the words while in school, but we just couldn’t think of a last line until that night walking home from school,” Visser recalled. “We used the tune from the Notre Dame school song and just couldn’t think of a last line until just before we got home.

“Marge lived on the hill on Leavens Avenue and I lived on Buffalo, at that end of town, where the YMCA is now, and we were just about ready to go our own way when it came to us,” said Visser, becoming increasingly more excited.

“We had to get this done, because the next day was the deadline!

“The next day it was announced that Willard Lawrence, our classmate, was second runnerup and we were the winners!” Visser exclaimed.

“Willard was always so proud of our school, and to this day he still wears his class lapel pin,” Visser said. “And because our song was the winner, we got free passes to all the sporting events, which was really funny because Marge and I were cheerleaders and got in for free anyway!”

Visser wanted to share the words from Lawrence’s song as well as hers and Marge. Here are the words as written by Willard Lawrence in 1934:

“Through the four short years of high school

‘Mid friends and teachers kind,

We have studied hard and faithful

A useful life to find.

But when school days all are ove r And we leave the sheltering fold ,W

e never, never will forget,

The purple and the gold.”

Now, the winning words to Sheboygan Falls High School should sound familiar to a few of the readers, because that song still vibrates throughout the crowd at sporting events even now in 2009.

“We are from Falls High, purple and gold,

These are our colors, royal and old !T

hey lead us on to victory – They help us – They cheer us –

They stand for loyalty!

So, cheer, cheer, for Good Old Falls High –

This is our school and this is our cry!

We will fight with heart and soul –

And Falls High will reach its goal.”

The class colors of 1934 were purple and silver, the class flower was lily of the valley and their motto was, “Not Finished-Just Begun.” The remaining members of the class of 1934 are:

Bea Morken Visser, Selma Groeschel Vogel, Victor Kampmann, Willard Lawrence, Cornelia Vanderkuyl Stobber and Marjorie Buggy Bleeker.

This group of people has left behind many memories in Sheboygan Falls High School, but one very special memory is still being shared openly by students now and in the future.