Last time, I told you that I had discovered a yearbook from Waitsfield High School called Mad River Echoes. The year was 1952. Mehuron’s Market sponsored the publication and, to give some perspective of the time, their phone number was given as 28. That’s it -- 2-8. Simpler times to say the least.
In the Senior Class History section, the students wrote:
Our first days of high school at Waitsfield High started in the fall of 1948. We were brought in by the seniors with an initiation which consisted of the most hideous garments -- men's union suit (wool and long-legged), nightcap, one sloppy rubber and shoe, a tail out of the hind end of the union suit with tin cans attached to the tail, a toy on wheels which we had to drag on the floor beside us. And a sign around our neck that said, “Miss Monkey BC” worn by the girls. The boys were dressed as girls in bathing suits, high-heeled shoes, and a sign that said, “Bathing Beauty of 1948” and plenty of make-up.
INITIATION
At this point I had to remind myself that in 1948 there was no such thing as politically correct. Was this a hazing of sorts? A quick search revealed that this was quite common at the time, although it was called high school initiation. On Page 18 in the book is a poem by one of the students, Genevieve Long. At the start of the piece, she comments on the event:
It's nearing on four years ago
That we were freshies small
The seniors made us monkeys
To spice up their little brawl
The boys were hula-hula girls
Of nineteen fifty-two
They don’t look very feminine now
They’d get mad if we say they do
I think by her tone we can surmise that no one was traumatized by the event. It was a silly tradition and nothing more. But by the time I finished reading Genevieve’s entire poem I was quite taken by Ms. Long. There is a section in the yearbook called the Senior Class Will where a senior bequeaths something to an underclassman. She wrote, “I, Genevieve Long, leave to Janice Dunbar my unfaltering gift of gab. In this way, no one will be able to get a word in edgewise.” Pretty funny.
CLASS PROPHECY
And in the Senior Class Prophecy, written from the perspective of the future, her classmates said, “Genevieve Long has just completed a year’s tour of the leading opera houses being her own accompanist.” That’s a bold statement. She must have been a really good musician.
Her nickname was “V” and her favorite saying was, “Oh nuts.” Her favorite song was “When the Cat Came Back,” which is a comic song written in 1893. It would have already reached folklore status by the time she was singing it for her classmates. She also loved playing the piano and skiing. Her ambition is given as going to music college. In another section it says, “She has already earned a credit toward her degree in music at U.V.M. where she intends to devote all her time soon.”
On the page, Senior Personalities, it was declared that she was the smallest person in her class. She was also named as Best Voice and Talks the Most. She was on student council, in Glee Club, orchestra and plays all four of her high school years. The same is true for ski class. Outside of school she sang in operettas. She also was the accompanist for many operettas. And what really knocked me over is that Genevieve was also the valedictorian of her class. She was a bundle of well-rounded intellect and talent.
SHOOTING STAR
To me the young Genevieve jumps off the pages of the old yearbook like a shooting star. I yearned to know what became of her. Did she get her degree? Did she continue to perform? I put a post out and asked that very question to members of our community.
Perhaps if she had been born in another time and place people would have used a special word when they spoke of her -- prodigy. Her son Donald Jr. told me, “She could sit on the lap of an adult so she could reach and play the piano when she was 3 years old. Her father played the fiddle. Even when she was a small child he’d say, ‘We need to get some money. Let’s go out and play some dances.’ She also wrote music. She and her mother tried to sell songs that they wrote together. But I guess the music business is hard to get into.” Genevieve’s brother, Eastman Long, recalls that she and their father played for dances at the Warren Town Hall every Saturday night for years.
PLAY ANY INSTRUMENT
Judy Long is married to Eastman’s son. She wrote, “Genevieve sang, played piano and taught dance. Easty says she could play any instrument she picked up. Family reports she would gather often with family for music and dance in their living rooms as was common then.”
Several people sent me a copy of her obituary:
“Genevieve Rose Terry, 87, lifelong resident of the Mad River Valley, passed away peacefully at her home with her son Donald by her side, in the early morning of Thursday, February 11, 2021. Born in Waitsfield on January 12, 1934, she was the daughter of the late Howard and Mildred (Norris) Long. She married Donald R. Terry on May 6, 1966, in Waterbury Center. Donald passed away on December 5, 2004.
“Genevieve was a graduate and valedictorian of the 1952 class of Waitsfield High School. She worked for the National Life Insurance Company of Montpelier and the Vermont Farm Bureau, as a secretary and was known as an excellent typist. She was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses for her entire life, being baptized June 27, 1954. She was very active in her ministry and faithfully attended all the meetings, including assemblies and conventions in many states and Canada.
“She loved music and was an excellent pianist, also playing guitar and saxophone; in fact, when given a new instrument, she could quickly learn to play it. She won several piano competitions. She and her father played many school functions and regularly at dances at the Warren Town Hall. She played piano and he played on a violin that he had made himself. She loved to sing in the chorus and especially enjoyed operettas. She had a small dance school, where she taught tap dancing. She enjoyed figure skating, skiing at Mad River Glen, flower, and vegetable gardening.
“Genevieve was very loyal. She rarely forgot anything you did for her. She was also very faithful in sharing the Bible’s message of hope with everyone who would listen.
She is survived by her son Donald Terry II of Duxbury and her brother Eastman Long of Fayston and many other friends and extended relatives.”
NOBODY’S FOOL
Yet, she was also a woman who was nobody’s fool. Her neighbor, Carol Collins, contacted me. She said, “. . . Genevieve had strong opinions and sometimes expressed them, and you hoped that you were not on the wrong side of that opinion.” And Carol told a sweet story, “Since I was unable to attend the family's church (funeral or memorial) service, and I had sent a card expressing my condolences, and some memories, young Donald brought to me (while I was digging in our garden) a video that a friend made of Genevieve’s life, including her love for, and her ability with music. It was on an iPad. He played the video for me, more than once. I saw the pride on young Donald’s face as her talent and abilities with music was shared.”
Genevieve’s classmates in 1952 assumed that she would become famous. They wrote, “See you in the Metropolitan Opera or Symphony Hall.” And we see in the yearbook that she did aspire to go to college and study. Yet, I got the sense from both her son and brother, that in the end, she decided to use her gifts and talent to help others in her own community. She stayed true to her faith, which everyone who contacted me said was paramount to her. Instead of pursuing fame she became a stellar employee, an excellent wife and mother, and a steadfast member of her church and community. She also used her special gifts by having a dance school in the basement of Joslin Library, where generations of kids came to learn and put on recitals at the building where Valley Players is now. And she played for local dances and shows.
I wish I had met her. In this era of social media, where many pursue their proverbial 15 minutes of fame, she had some important lessons to teach us all.
