The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1922-12-06
DEDICATION OF CENTRAL
a

es frightened as they entered the beau
tltul building, SO neatly and complete
ly finished, and all so artistically dec
Grated for this glad occasion. The
stars and stripes waved over us, and
pot plants and chrysanthemums en-
hanced the charm of the place. The
blackboards were especially attractive,
decked in Thanksgiving designs,-
fruits, and pumpkins and turkeys that
almost said "gobble! goblet" This
entire work was the free hand draw
! ing OF one Of the gifted pupils, Aliene
Stewart
The exercises were conducted by
Rev l. N. Kennedy, whom we all know
and love. He began with prayei'. Then
told us his part on the program was
Just to crank up. But soon the
"self-starter" worked like magic and
we found ourselves sailing along with
him, wondering at the progressive age
in which we live, admiring our new
school house anew, and feeling Justly
proud of 1t. On and on he carried us,
until with the mental eye we saw our
second mile stone,-a good top-soil
road through this community leading
to our school Bye and bye he led us
to the third milestone, the time when
most of the Central boys and girls will
be sent to college Would that these
two mile-stones soon be attained!
! During the evening the school chill
dren sang patriotic songs, Amer
lea, the Beautiful" South Carolina" ;"
and "A patriotic Medley" This clear,
sweet animated singing must have re-
joiced the heart of every mother and
father present, and certainly shed
glory upon their teachers who had so
skillfully trained them.
MIR. Ralph Wilson, our superintend-
ent OF education, was the second
speaker. If we followed him closely,
we must all have carried home that
night hearts, grateful for our public
schools and democratic government,
and grateful above all for our Chris
tian homes, in which rests the ark of
wv covenant VI Tic SAFETY vi lnC pcO-
pie. And | am sure we all left, deter
mined to be booster and not a
"knocker".
Among the many splendid things Mr.
Wilson told us, there were two strik-
ing needs of the day which especially
appealed to the writer. These were :
hrst, the need Of medical examinations
in every school, and second, the dis
tressing need Of longer terms in the
country schools. We hope our school
will, ere long, attain each of these
goals.
The dedication reached it's zenith
in the speech of Mr.. A. C. Todd, the
lawyer, employed in floating the bonds.
He gave us much food for thought Let
us make the best use Of it. lie ex-
pounded to us the fundamental fact,
that structure is sure to fall unless
built upon a deep, solid foundation.
Mr. Todd also taught us that the soul
Of man is the greatest undeyeloped
power in the Universe and religion is
the principal thing. Over and beyond
the teaching Of algebra, and dead his
tory, ETC., good as they are, we saw
that the main object of the school is
to prepare the pupils to be good, all
round, law-abiding citizens.
Immediately after the exercises the
speakers were ushered into an ante
room where light refreshments were
served Iby members of the Ladies'
School Improvement ASSOCIATION.
We appreciate the thoughtfulness of
those who planned and perpetuated
this pep" "get-together" meeting But
above all we appreciate the sincere
kindness and the genial interest mani
tested by Messrs, Kennedy, Wilson and
Todd. They came regardless of in
clement weather Their speeches were
entertaining, instructive and inspir-
ing. For Central this truly was a
"red letter" night
"On Central, dear, 0 Central, near,
God shed His grace on you.
And crown thy good with brotherhood,
Most loyal and most true"
"One Present"