Reunions 108 Class of 1939 Reunion John A. Lindquist The year 1937 was a banner year. It was the last year of a sort of caretaker status under the direction of President Leland H. Creer. You may recall that he took the reins for the years of 1936 and 1937, immediately following the release of Weber College as a Church school. Weber narrowly missed being closed for economic reasons during its last year or two as a Church school. Finally, the State of Utah accepted the college and appointed Dr. Creer for a two-year stint, then pondered what to do with Weber. The Class of 1937 responded to the challenge of the State, which included that we have student and community support for the institution. That year Weber stayed alive with just a few hundred students, down from the 1,004 it enrolled during its last year as a Church school. Russ Richardson was student body president that year. Larry Evans was sophomore class president. He found a home at the college and never left. I presume, though, he graduated. Our football team that year won four and lost three. That may have been one of our best seasons ever. Charles Clark was captain of the team. He owned a football. Reed Knute Swenson was coach, trainer, athletic director, and Mother Superior. He always told the football players that the game would be won or lost on the line of scrimmage. "You control the line, and you control the game," said Reed. "Respect your opponent, and be responsible for your position." Basketball had a good year. The Morris brothers and company continued the rap- idly growing tradition of winning, even beating the famous traveling pro team, the first time they had been beaten in Ogden. Ogden was a basketball center way back when. June Andrews was queen of the Acorn Ball, and Darwin Costley was king of the Hayseed Hop. Leland Monson was traveling about the west with his debate team, taking high honors and establishing a tradition that would last for decades. Other faculty included Merlon Lafont Stevenson, dean of instruction and math teacher. This gentleman watched with pride the scholars, athletes, actors, debaters and musicians, and persuaded all students to achieve worthwhile goals. Eva Browning was librarian and had the little room upstairs on the north side of the Moench Building. It was a real experience to study with the aroma of Lydia Tanner's home ec class coming up through the cracks through the floor. At the same time you could inhale the stench of Orson Whitney Young's specimens floating around in alcohol jars along with the odors of Ralph Gray's chemistry lab. It was sort of a kodachrome-type library. A new era began at Weber with the arrival of Dr. Henry Aldous Dixon. I knew Dr. Dixon was a winner when he addressed our freshman class, and, quoting Sir Isaac Walton said, "Undoubtedly God could have created a better pastime than fishing, but undoubtedly God never did." I knew he was my man. He then went on to compare our class with his fishing. As I mentioned, this was my freshman year, and the first memory I have is falling in love along with about 200 other guys with Lucille Petty. Other faculty who made an indelible stamp on this class were Leland Monson, Robert Clarke, and Charles Osmond. Thatcher Allred could keep even a one o'clock class in literature awake, although the students may have had full bellies of Ross and Jack's Burger/Spuds. The title of Ph.D. began to show up here and there in the ranks of the faculty, and we were awstruck by these learned people. Robert Polidor - remember his gorgeous little sister, Vivian? - was our student body president. He was assisted by Josie Stone, Helen Abbott, and Veon Packer. We even had an Associated Women Student organization. Shirley Turnquist was its president. 1938 saw the rise of Adolph Hitler in Europe, and many men in our class and subsequent classes soon found themselves in uniform. Three members and buddies - Leroy Madsen, Lowell Redfield, and Bob Blair - all enlisted in the Aviation Cadet Program the same day. The Ogden Standard-Examiner gave them a nice write-up, but none of them survived the war that was soon to come. Remember the torrid romance between Wayne Farrell and Norma Barrows? I have often wondered if anything came of that. Also the Josie Stone-Howard Cory twosome. Well, that class moved up and out, and then came the really great class, the class of 1939. All those kids knew freshman girls coming in from Davis, Morgan, and Box Elder High Schools. Merle Allen was our student body president. He was assisted by Arlene Osmond, Beverly Breem, and me. Our sophomore class president was Bart John A. Lindquist 109