Notes from Cardigan
Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE
PAID Canaan, N.H. Permit No. 1
Cardigan Mountain School Canaan, New Hampshire 03741
Volume 3, Issue No. 3
November-December 1974
In mid December the sun sets early in Canaan. By four o'clock boys skating on snow-free areas of the lake are casting long shadows across the ice and there is already an evening chill in the a ir . Long before dinner it is quite dark. A beautiful evergreen festooned with co l ored 1 ights brightens the center of campus. Huge wreaths adorn picture windows in the dining room and the front of the Chapel. Rev. Mahoney's Christmas pageant is at the dress rehearsal stage. There's only one more day of c l asses until vacation, and it' s hard to tell whether the boys or the faculty are more excited about that. At this moment a l ongawaited blizzard is just start ing - with heavy snow swir ling around the corners of every building. This will be the final touch needed to transform the campus into a Winter wonderland. That's the picture you r sons will carry with them as they leave to spend the holidays with family and friends. That's the atmosphere - further enhanced by the utter peace and so litud e of a deserted campus - that many of us will be enjoying through the end of 1974 . It' s a quiet time that we l ook forward to for relaxation and reflection. May your holidays be as wonderful wherever you are. Even though snow and co ld are l ate arriving.this year, we are ready for them. Our prepara- . tions start on schedu l e - winterize the vehicles, put up the storm curtains at dining room entrances, repair storm windows, ready the snow-cat and snowmobile, fill woodsheds, cut brush from the ski s l opes on the Pinnacle, and cl.it new cross-country trails. Timing i s a ll important; for most of these chores are difficult and un comfortable to perform if you're waistdeep in snow and it' s below zero. Since we're ready, we can relax now and l et our world fill up with snow. La s t Sunday as a prelude to the holy season, the cho ir (augmented by four faculty singers) presented a 17th century cantata, "The Christmas Story" by Johannes Petzold featuring a recorder obb ligato ab ly performed by Mr . James Crowell. The la st of ou r schoo l -community programs this year will be the Christmas pageant. Th e traditional nativity story is enacted in pantomine while a "modern shepherd " narrator asks what significance this o ld story has for our contemporary world. The beautiful life-size creche with 1 iving figures, the wise men and visiting kings come t o pay their homage to the Christ child, the modern narrator with his search ing questions - all these paint a graphic and moving picture; and as accompaniment the choir sings the age-o ld Christmas music. With the awe of this pageantry sti ll in our minds, we conc lud e with the moving ceremony of cand l e- ] ighting. From one so litary cand l e sh ining into the darkness, the flame i s passed along, each one lighting his neighbor's candle, till the entire sanctuary is aglow with a hundred light s. Each year we are inspired anew by this touching service. It is a beautiful and altogether fitting finale for our 1974 schoo l act jviti es. The first academ i c term ended just before Thanksgiving. After a ll the reports were in, there were s i xteen boys on the Honor Roll. For ach i ev ing Honor grades in at l east three major subjects, they now have the privilege of being in their rooms during morning study periods and they may use their evening study period in any const ructive way they c hoose. Erich Fahrner i s the so l e Honors student in the s ixth grade. Seven boys from the sevent h grade made the 1 ist : Owen Bryant, Jon Gold, David Jeffrey, Tad Linn, Steve Wein s t ein, Wa lter Williams and David Winter s. On l y three eighth graders were r epresented: Paul Aronson, Hugh Covert and Keith Loma son. Five Seniors were honored: Ne l son Emerson, Brian Hardy, Charles Hi ckox , Joseph J angro and Takashi Yamas hiro. Hopefully the 1 i st will grow by the end of the nex t marking period.
Having the ability to video-tape programs of significance is g1v1ng us an opportunity to enrich a number of our academic programs. We are taping the 11 America 11 series by Alstair Cooke, showing it to current Social Studies classes, and saving the tapes in a permanent library to be used again for other classes. There is an excellent "Western Civil ization 11 series now being presented on the educational TV network. These are being taped for use later in the year when their subjects come up in our course content. A series on Leonardo daVinci is being taped and will be used by the Art, History and Music departments at various times when appropriate. Our dramatic group, The Cardigan Players, used the video-tape equipment at a rehearsal so the actors could see how they looked on stage and what aspects of their performances needed improving. This contributed to the success of their recent performance of a one act play called "Nobody Sleeps. 11 It was not heavy drama, but a most entertaining little play demanding a good deal of work in characterization and relying on substantial use of makeup and costumes for the humorous effect. It was very well received and sparked renewed interest in the next production entitled 11 Refund 11 to be presented January 31st at the start of Parents 1 Weekend. More than 18 boys came to read for the seven roles in this show! Don't miss this one. It is just the start of the busy program planned for Parents 1 Weekend, January 31st to February 2nd. Five boys joined us in November and two in December. We also said fond farewells to Inigo and Javier Abascal and Pedro Echeverria who have returned home to Guatemala City where their regular school year will begin in January. They spent the Fall term at Cardigan to improve their facility with English and to become acquainted with a different part of the world from their home. This is the third year that boys from Central America have joined us for the Fall term. It seems so natural for these boys to be here from September to December that we have to keep reminding ourselves that they are giving up what amounts to their entire summer vacation in order to go to school. Their regular school year ends in early September - just barely allowing time for them to arrive here by registration day. A new school year starts right after New Year 1 s. The boys who just left will, therefore, have been in school steadily from January through December. They contribute a great deal to our campus bringing a different point of view and a great spirit, not to mention their delightfully accented English. It must be worthwhile for them too. One of the first boys to come for a Fall term was Manuel Echeverria. This Fall - three years later - his younger brother Pedro was here. How good it was to see Manuel again when he and his father arrived to bring Pedro home. In addition to their regular teaching, dormitory, supervisory and athletic duties, some of our busy faculty found time this Fall to take active parts in the School 1 s community programs. The series opener was a slide presentation by Eric Anderson and Alden Burt of a canoe trip they led in September through a wilderness area of Maine. Their route followed a journey made by Thoreau, and it was interesting to have Mr. Anderson point out certain areas that evidently have remained virtually unchanged since Thoreau 1 s trip. Harold Finkbeiner treated us to a wonderful piano concert of music of the romantic period featuring selections by Brahms, Grieg, Rachmaninoff and Vialla-Lobos. How great it was to have the Chapel filled with such beautiful sounds as he made on a concert grand piano. A gratifying number of friends and neighbors from the community joined us for each of these programs. Just before vacation, Steve Heath conducted an informative and well-attended seminar on the proper waxing of cross-country skis. We are certainly fortunate to have such talented faculty members who take the time and effort to present these programs. Have a wonderful New Year.
11 Notes
We 1 re looking forward to seeing you at Parents
from Cardigan" is published monthly by the Cardigan Mountain School. Third Class postage paid at Canaan, New Hampshire 03741
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Weekend.