Evening star., 1945-12-09
lust Between
Yourselves
BY Philit FL. Lops

by Philip Fl. Love -
My mother certainly didn't raise
her boy to be chaperon, but
somehow, that's what I turned out
to be a few nights ago. And,
strangely enough, it was fun.
AS I got the story, the boys and
girls of the Church Of st. Thomas
the Apostle, out Woodley road way,
were organizing a young peoples
club for the purpose of doing bit
of dancing the second and fourth
Friday nights of every month. The
pastor, the Rev. Joseph Moran,
had granted permission to use the
parish hall, adjoining the church,
provided the dances were properly
chaperoned.
Whether or not the word prop
erly" is the precise descriptive Of
my style OF chaperoning, I can't say.
And it doesn't matter, anyway, be-
cause, as 1t turned out, the boys
and girls of st. Thomas parish
didn't really need chaperon.
My experience in the field of
chaperoning is, of course, extremely
limited. Only once before had /
ever been called upon to serve in
such an odd capacity, and that was
several years ago. That time,
simply watched the other chaperons
and tried to initiate them. But
doing nothing proved rather boring
after while, so I left the chaperon-
ing to the others and took to the
dance floor.
At st. Thomas, however, there
were only two chaperons-the Lady
With Whom I Go Places and land
since we were equally inexperienced,
there was nothing to be gained by
watching each other. So we danced.
One Of the members of the club
had brought portable electric
phonograph. Others had come
loaded down with their favorite
recordings. An admission charge
of Is cents each covered the cost
of "cokes," potato chips and pop
corn.
The dancers must have come from
all over town. Some of the girls
were from Holy Cross Academy,
some from as far away as Holy
Trinity High School and Visitation
Convent in Georgetown. One of the
boys had Travelled all the way from
Mount Rainier, Md, a good hours
bus ride. But it was a friendly
crowd, and before the evening was
over, nearly everybody had danced
at least once with nearly every
body else. Consequently, there were
no wallfiowers.
A Gonzaga High School football
player, Tommy De Battista, is pres
ident of the club, and he and his
assistants-Phyllis and Jack Turtan
saw to it that every one was made
acquainted. And few Paul Joneses
for which I attempted, none too
successfully, to whistle-did the rest.
\ #
The Young Peoples Club repre-
sents a comparatively new idea.
When I was in high school, boys
and girls had few such opportuni-
ties for wholesome, adult-supervised
recreation. The overwhelming ma
jority of teen-agers were either kept
in at night or else turned loose to
roam the streets. Parents were,
for the most part, either too strict
or not strict enough.
In recent years, fortunately, more
and more adults have come to real
ize that high school boys and girls
need to share in wholesome recrea-
ton, and that club sponsored by
a church or school is preferable
In many ways to dance halls, taverns
and other public places Of entertain
ment. Now many churches have
young peoples clubs, and their pop
ularity-among pastors. parents and
teachers, as we'll as among the boys
and girls themselves-is growing
rapidly.
Junior jottings: Montgomery Blair
High School students have been busy
on the radio lately Betsy Herr
Sprigg Duvall, Kitsy Chase and
Peggy Zeiber represented the school
on Teen Time" WWDC pro-
gram, and David Foster was guest
Of WTOP's Junior Board of the
Air" Missouri is the most
beautiful State in the Middle West, n
writes Betty Storey, Anacostia High
School. The very minute you cross
the Mississippi River, you can see
the difference-in the roads, the
rocky hills, the many forests and
streams" William McVeigh
st. Johns High School sophomore
has been awarded the highest rat
ing of the Pinwheel Junior Rifle
Club, which is affiliated with the
National Rifle Association. He Is
one of the best marksmen on st
Johns rifle team.