Mr. Vickers the Imposing Figure

There are so many it is hard to choose just one but certainly the picnic at Marten Bank stands out. Of course we were all afraid of Alan Vickers as he was an imposing figure, but he invited us to the headmaster’s house for a picnic. We were on our ‘best’ behavior until watermelon was served and we started having a seed spitting contest – which Mr. Vickers thought was wonderful and we began to realize he was actually nice.

Of course there was also the faculty field hockey game where Bruce ‘Flash’ Gordon and Bob Horton dressed up like girls (I think I have the photo somewhere) and we had a rousing game. Mr. Vickers as I recall was the goalie and somehow allowed the puck to go in multiple times.

I won’t mention how the week before graduation we snuck down to the boys campus, put toilet paper on the water tank, and got caught red handed coming back by our houseparents, and were threatened with expulsion or at least not attending graduation. As I recall, some of the boys who participated in our little adventure were not permitted to come to graduation.

How about finding the abandoned cabin on the banks of Marten Stream and having parties there? Of course at that point in the stream it was shallow enough to cross and was the favored way of getting to the boys side. Another favored place for us girls was the abandoned grammar school(Gould) between Anthony and Redington. We found it easy to access the building and for those of us who did not have permission, safely smoke in there. Halloween met going to the little cemetery behind Redington and scaring the younger girls with ghost stories (that means you Isabelle!)