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.