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| Osawatomie Home To Many Active Organizations |
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| Opinion | |||
| Written by Grady Atwater | |||
| Wednesday, 30 December 2009 09:00 | |||
Osawatomie High School has a heritage of service and social organizations, and in 1908 one unique organization was the Sons and Daughters of the Rest. The 1908 Osawatomie High School annual, The Cardinal, reported that the organization’s motto was “We Always Sleep,” and the titles of the Sons and Daughters of the Rest’s officers reflected the organization’s motto. Thomas Josephus Sommers was the Noble Grand Ruler of Hoboes, and Mary Belle McEnrue was the Great High Prophetess, rounding out this active bunch was Laomi Vera Pinkerton.  The members of the Sons and Daughters of the Rest were Ethel L. Michaels, Mabel M. Eby, Emma H. Kolbohm and Verna C. Snyder. The Cardinal reported that the group was true to its motto, for it reported of the organizations efforts to meet, “The regular meetings of the club were once every month, but as the members are all too lazy to attend or are too sleepy, there have only been four meetings in the last year.” In addition to having a hard time getting anyone to a meeting, the group had a difficult time selecting officers, for few wanted the honor of leading the Sons and Daughters of the Rest. The Cardinal continued, “At each meeting an attempt was made to elect officers but as each member absolutely refused to waste his energy on voting, no elections were held.” However, The Cardinal did report that the Sons and Daughters of the Rest accomplished their goals, for The Cardinal reported “By the combined efforts of all the members, 196 hours of sleep were extracted from the recitation periods and 921 hours of rest were secured during the study periods. They are past masters of sleeping with one eye on the teacher.” Whereas Osawatomie High School students found the stated goals of the organization quite appealing, many students sought to join the Sons and Daughters of the Rest, but the organization was selective in whom it admitted to membership. The Cardinal reported, “There were several other applicants for membership in this select order but as none had become sufficiently expert in the art of resting, they were denied admission.” The Sons and Daughters of Rest does not exist as a formal organization at Osawatomie High School any more, but their legacy continues. Teenagers still avidly seek to master the art of “sleeping with one eye on the teacher,” and to perfect the art of sleeping and resting. Today as we look back on the people who built Osawatomie, we tend to think that they were a dour lot who lacked any sense of humor, and faced the rigors of life with a constant stoicism. The reality is that one of the most potent weapons in their arsenal when facing tough times was laughter. The Sons and Daughters of the Rest are part of that heritage of humor that helped to fortify Osawatomie High School Students in 1908, and also prove that sarcastic humor is not an invention of the current generation of teenagers.
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