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DONALSONVILLE (GA.) NEWS THURSDAY, MAY 21, 1964
J. Lonnie’s O FOODLINER
The dollar - wise
graduating students will
know more and more from
now on, that by comparing,
the real saving is in the total
at J. Lonnie’s ... A fact
they can prove for
themselves, week after
week !
It’s The Total that Counts —
and you can count on
J. Lonnie’s!
An address given by Francis
Santi, parent of a graduating stud
ent, on the occasion of the Seminole
County High School Parents and
Teachers Association’s presenting
the Seminole County High School
-graduating class of 1964 with Cert
ificates of Achievement at the
County High School aud
itorium in Donalsonville, Georgia
on Tuesday, May 19, 1964:
Madame President, Graduating
Students of 1964, Special Guests,
Parents and Teachers:
It is with humble and heartfelt
appreciation that I have accepted
the privilege given me by Mrs.
C. O. Herrington, the Program
Chairman of this very special e
vent, of addressing you, the grad
uating class of 1964, tonight.
May I further state that the 1
privilege acorded me is cloaked
with the full realization that in
appearing before the graduating
class of 1964, under the auspices
of the joint Seminole County High
School and the Seminole County
Grammar School Parent and Teach
er Association, I have accepted the
moral obligation and the grave re
sponsibilty of weighing each and
every one of the words I speak,
with the utmost premeditation and
care because those words are es
pecially directed to and are involv
ed with the most valuable asset we
possess, of the greatest importance
to our country and our future be
causes without every single solitary•
one of you, the graduating students
of 1964, there could be no continua
tion of our country, no reason for
a future as we know it today.
So you see how very important
•all of you are to us, to our country,
-to our future and what responsi
bilities will eventually be placed on
your now tender shoulders, as each
year goes by from now’ on.
You have just witnessed another
first by your Seminole County
High School Parents and Teachers
Association, in the awarding of
Certificates of Achievement in the
various classifications of scholastic
achievement but*never lose sight
of the fact that those certificates
of achievement could never have
been awarded "without your person
al dedication, perserverance and
very hard work throughout your
grammar as well as your high
school years of constant learning.
Those achievements are actually
investments in your future, they
are the proverbial cushions to help
soften the hard blows you will ex
perience as you go through your
next school, the school of hard
knocks and low’ blows, the school
of smetimes failure and sometimes
success, the school of life itself.
Where you have, up to now, been
sheltered with parental love and
care, an abundance of guidance and
; mature advice, and a lot of do’s
and don’ts, you will from now on,
be exposed more and more to the
outside world, and that outside
world does not always have your
best interests at heart, but slowly
and surely, through hard knocks
and low blows, you will live and
learn and in due course of time,
you will learn to live and event
ually fully comprehend and master
the significance of‘ the fact that
you, as an individual, owe the
world a living and that the world
does not owe you a firing.
Your life span, thanks to the
ever increasing marvels of medical
science, could cover, with ease, a
hundred years, but it ha’s been said
by the sage men of history that if
a human being were given the
privilege of a life span of one
thounsand years, no matter how he
tried, he still would not have suffi
cient time to learn everything
there is to learn so take full ad
vantage of the many extra years,
medical science is constantly giv
ing you to learn, learn, learn and
eventually pass on that know ledge
to your children so that they too
can make this planet a better place
on which to live through" know
ledge.
As each days goes by, life’ itself
is ever increasing in pace. Where
not many years ago, speed was
calculated in months, then weeks,
then days, then hours, then min
utes, and we are now calculating it
in seconds. Where once we fell in
love and still do, with the image of
the man on the moon, you, not I,
will be privileged, in your life span
! to personally meet that man on the
moon. Where once we lovingly re
cited, “Twinkle, twinkle little star,
how I wonder what you are,” you
will soon have the privilege and
: the perogative of no longer having
to wonder but actualy going and
seeing for yourself, not only why
that little star twinkles, but what
actually makes it twinkle, and
some day soon you, just think, you
will be able to hold in your very
own hand, some of that twinkling
star dust, and you will be able to
bring some of it back to your v ery
own children and say to them, see,
this is why we have twinkling stars
in the heavens above.
However, I must give you a
serious word of caution. It is all
well and good to seek new frontiers
and the most formidable frontier
■is that of Outer Space, a frontier,
i to our present knowledge, that has
no limits, but what of our very own
planet and the moral and the phys
ical shape it is in today, where, no
matter where you look, you can
| still find, despite our superb tech-
Congratulates the Graduating
Class of 1964
FOR HA VING MERITED THE
Certificates of Achievement
PRESENTED TO THEM BY THE
Seminole County High School Parents
and Teachers Association
| nical knowledge, abundant sur-
I plusses and famine, advanced
knowledge and utter ignorance,
the joy of freedom and the despair
of tyranny, free peoples and those
in forced bondage, iron curtains,
bamboo curtains, Berlin walls, civil
strife around the world and right
on our own door step, hot wars,
stalemates, cold wars, distrust and
suspicions and packaged destruc
tion first calculated in pounds, then
tons and now in megatons, atomic
bombs, guided missiles, polaris
under water missiles, hydrogen
bombs with enough destructive
power to destroy the very planet
we live on and to stop, dead in its
tracks, all that our civilization has
accomplished, up to this very mo
ment, on this planet.
It is with a heavy heart and ut
ter shame that we, as your parents
and your teachers, have no choice
but to’ pass on to your tender
shoulders, those grave responsibili- |
ties and those yet unsolved prob
lems, those rights and those
wrongs existing on our very own
planet, and we ask your forgive
n?ss for having failed to pass cm
to you, a world with most, if not
all of those problems solved, but
we have faith and a heart full of
hope that you will acquire the
know how to solve those problems
confronting us today on our planet
before the time arrives when you
will be sitting here, as parents, in i
the process of passing on the prob"-'
lems and responsibilities of your
world to your children.
You will be going out into a
world that is fell, to the brim,
with advanced technical knowledge,
with know how that has been hon
ed to a razor’s edge, but I leave
you with a plea on my lips that
you keep ever present in your
mind, one of the simplest but most
significant utterances ever made
by mankind and that statement is
“Peace on earth, good will towards
men.” What with the combined
power of destruction accumulated
throughout the world today, our
most important task, your most
important task, is to see that true
peace is kept throughout the
world; a feat that has been accom
plished during the past few years
by only the very skin of our teeth
but unless you do better than we
have done in the present as well
has the past and erase from your
way of life some of our utter in
difference, some of our unforgiv
able apathy to our local, state, na
■ tional and international problems
and make your voices heard in the
! right places, at the right time and
, bring back into true significance
the expression that “The word is
mightier than the sword,” then you
will only live actually, day by day,
■ I as we are living today. T..e word
“peace” is the magic key to the
, utter future existence of our be
• loved planet, and we, as your pa
rents and your teachers, pass that
magic key named “peace” on to
you, the graduating class of 1964,
for you to guard with every ounce
of realization that without it, our
planet could come to nought and
all the work and toil your fore
fathers, your parents and your
teachers and you, have gone
through, could go up in. smoke and
destruction, instead if the “peace”
is kept, then we will be’ permitted
to progress to heights that are ac
tually beyond our comprehension
today..
Our faith in the future rests in
each and everyone of you with the
following words:
Youth) is not a time of life; rt is
a state of mind, so always stay
young of mind.
I Youth is not a matter of’ ripe
cheeks, red lips and supple knees.
It is a temper of the will, a quality
of the invagination, a vigor of the
emotions; - it is a freshness of the
deep springs of life. Always have j
the imagination to compose, to im-.
provise, to concoct, to plan for the
present as well as the distant fu- |
tore. Express with righteous vigor
your emotions a nd you will receive (
praise in" your private as well as ,
your public life. Through your deep
1 springs of life you can constantly
radiate that freshness sos mind.
Youth means a temperamental
predominance of courage over tim
idity, of the appetite of adventure
over the love of ease. Work hard
and you will accomplish your
aims, take pride in your chosen
profession and like a knight in
shining armor, always stand ready
to protect what you stand for pri
vately, publicly and professionally.
Nobody grows old by merely liv
ing a number of years. People grow
old only by deserting their ideals,
years wrinkle the skin but to give
up enthusiasm, wrinkles the soul.
Worry, doubt, self distrust, fear
and despair; these are the long
years that bow the head and turn
the growing spirit back to dust.
You will, no doubt, have some of
these, throughout your long years
of life but fight them tooth and
nail and refuse to allow your spir
it to turn to dust.
You will stay on top so long as
you retain the love of wonder, the
undaunted challenge of events, the
unfailing appetite for what next,
and the joy and the game of life.
You are as young as your faith,
as old as your doubt.
You are as young as your self
confidence, as old as your fears, j
, You are young as your hope, as
j old as your despair.
Think in terms of faith, of hope,
of self confidence, of beauty, of
cheer, of courage, of grandeur and
the power of your ideafs and so
long as you do, so you will stay
young.
Let your heart never become cov
ered with the snows of pessimism
and the ices of cynicism for then
yon will not only be old but an
cient, regardless of your age..
(Strive always to be, in the eyes
of God, one of His worthy children,
through always doing your best in
life and always use His benevolent
guidance as your constant “Guid
ing light” throughout your life and
never fail to fully realize, at all
times that were it not for the
“grace of God,” neither you nor I,
would have the privilege of being
here tonight.
T hope that with these meager
words, I have been able to partially
expose you to our pride of having
you assembled here tonight, as the
Seminole County High School grad
uating class of 1964, and to have
given you a tiny insight of wfrat
our hearts, as your parents and
teachers, hold for you, and to
thank you, from the very bottom
of our pride filled hearts, one and
all, for being as wonderful as you
are and to thank you for bringing
us, during your many school years,
the blessings and the very rich re
ward of being our very own sons
and daughters, our pride and our
joy!
Thank you, one and aIL
And now I direct the following
remarks, exclusively, to the parents
and teachers of the graduating
students of 1964:
I trust that I have not abused
the privilege accorded me, in a cting
as spokesman for all the parents
and the teachers of the graduating
students asemlbled here tonight.
I hope that I have been able to
select the proper words, words that
would express the innermost feel
ings of my heart, your hearts, my
soul, your souls, in trying to trace
for our sons and our daughters,
some of the pinikles, some of the
pitfalls, some of the possible suc
cesses, and some of the possible
failures, some of the actual facts
of life that we, as parents and
teachers, have already experienced
and they have yet to experience. I
hope that my words, expressed on
my a s well as your behalf will give
our sons and daughters, a better
chance, a fighting chance of not
only doing as well as we have done
with our lives but with a prayer
on my lips, on your lips that they
be given the opportunity of doing
far better with their lives so that
they too can make their worthy
contribution to mankind.
Thank you.