The Senior Christmas Party
The Senior Party, which took place on the Thursday before school closed for the Christmas holidays, was held in the Upper Hall, and to it came many pupils who had left school during the past year.
The highlight of the evening was undoubtedly the entertainment provided by Mr. Nicholls, Mr. Wells and Mr. Handforth. Mr. Nicholls gave a sketch entitled "School Dinners", in which he showed us a very slightly exaggerated picture of what really does happen at school dinners.
Next, all three teachers appeared as "The Glodwick Glee Club", giving us a number of songs. The singing of the "Floral Dance" by Mr. Wells was thunderously applauded. The climax of this part of the act occurred when, after singing a wrong note, both Mr. Nicholls_ and Mr. Wells were "shot" by Mr. Handforth with a very realistic-looking gun, and an even more realistic bang, and Mr. Handforth committed suicide after making the same mistake.
The three performers again appeared dressed as angels in not very white dresses, which were tastefully trimmed with purple and red frills round the sleeves. Each sported a tinsel-trimmed halo, and dainty wings, which flapped most realistically. They were apparently on the vyay to heaven, but before they succeeded in entering, they executed a delightful dance, which resulted in much tearing of angel dresses and they also treated us to some more singing. Finally the three "angels", rather the worse for wear, passed through the "Pearly Gates". The rest of the evening was occupied with dancing—modern, old-tyme, and some which came under neither of these two categories. There was some particularly vigorous dancing in the Chicken Reel and the Greenhill Swing. Supper was served half way through the evening.
The decorations in the Upper Hall were very striking, especially the row of ancient Egyptians, who regarded the whole proceedings from their positions along the wall on one side of the hall. The whole evening was most enjoyahle, and although Christmas is long past, we should like to say that we are grateful to all those who contributed towards making the party such a success.
The Prefects' Dance
Last year, the Prefects received many invitations to Prefects' Dances at various schools. Therefore we decided to hold one of our own (which would be better than the others, of course!). After much discussion we held a meeting, when we chose a committee. The committee decided to apply for King Street Stores, Rex Kane's Band, and, in order to take much responsibility off our hands, to have a Buffet. The date was set for Tuesday, January 6th - the day we came back to school after the Christmas holidays. When this project was discussed with some of the staff they seem to think it would be a "flop" and tried to dissuade us from the idea. Mr. Nicholls and his friend, Mr. Whittaker, were asked to act as Masters of Ceremonies and they accepted with much enthusiasm. During the holidays we held two meetings, and, over cups of coffee in the King's Cafe, discussed the programme and prizes, which ranged from potato pies and sausages to face powder and chocolate.
The great day arrived and some of the Sixth Form girls made the final preparations in their Crafts lesson, e.g. the sticking of sausages on cardboard. At night when we arrived at King Street Stores the room was beautifully decorated and as soon as the band arrived, dancing began with a swing.
The prefects worked hard in selling the tickets and were well rewarded for their efforts, for more than three hundred people attended. The prizes were displayed in front of the stage, so that everyone could see their originality.
Mr. Nicholls kept the party spirit alive with his jovial humour. One of the jokes came in a "Spot" Dance, when he told Mr. Whittaker to walk a few paces forward, and if he happened to go through the wall, to put it back and return to the dance-hall. Another high spot of the evening was the "Elimination Waltz", when the gentlemen were ordered to take off their coats and place them "back to front" on the lady, and then to roll their trousers up to their knees (and goodness, did we see some bony knees!). Then the men had to tie their ties round the ladies' heads, and place a penny between their foreheads. By this time everyone was laughing heartily and feeling rather ridiculous, but it was worth it, because the prizes were a basket of fruit and a book token.
The Buffet and Cloakrooms were efficiently operated by the King Street Stores Staff, and Rex Kane's Band played very well, enjoying themselves in the bargain. Our programme was varied with Old Tyme and Modern Dancing, and the Palais Glide in particular was very spirited, even riotous.
JOAN MARLAND, BERYL CRESSEY, VI Lit.