Latin Club Banquet Memories
Latin Banquet, 1967
The author, the daughter of Mike and Flora Orlich, Wakefield, received an assignment from classmate Andy Hill: Share your memories of Latin and Mr. Foster. She gets an "A."
By DEBBIE SYRJALA
"Villa est villa Romana." (The house is a Roman house.)
Those of us who took Latin at Wakefield High School under the guidance of Wayne Foster remember those words from one of our recitations.
During the '60s when I attended WHS, Latin was the foreign language available to us (and a valuable one at that).
Although Latin isn't as common in the schools as it once was, it was beneficial to those of us who had the opportunity to study the language. Word orgins as well as the Roman mythology were useful in our other subjects as well as those in higher education.
Latin was offered for two years at WHS and usually studied by freshmen and sophomores. The
culmination of our studies was the annual Latin banquet.
At this banquet, the Latin I students were the slaves and their mothers volunteered to do the meal preparation. The Latin II students and parents were the guests. There were also other special guests invited such as the Ironwood Latin Club officers and their advisor Mr. (Raymond) Pinski. Latin was spoken during most of the program. The following is taken from the scroll (program) at our Latin banquet of 1967.
Co-president Thomas Finco welcomed the guests.
1. The favors found by your plates are shields, swords and pillars.
2. Your nomenclators are Susan Lane, Karen Juntilla and Rita Radowski.
3.After the guests have been seated, their sandals will be removed. Floral wreaths will be placed on the heads of the guests. The trumpet will announce the entry of the slaves with the food.
4. After the first course, the hands will be washed. Here the Roman Matrons, Nancy Skolasinki, Debbie Orlich and Debbie Swanberg will perform the ceremony of the Lares. One will turn around three times with her fingers to her lips. The salt and meal are mixed and the wine is tasted with a prayer following.
5. The main course now begins and after this has been concluded, we shall select the Magistra Bibendi, the Mistress of drinking. She will be chosen by a rolling of the dice according to the Roman custom.
It is her duty to mix the wine (mulsum) as she drinks and charts to Bacchus. (I was selected and the wine consisted of grape juice and 7-Up.)
Our menu featured Antecena (appetizers,) Prima Mensa (the first course consisting of fried chicken with all of the fixings) and Secunda Mensa (the desserts). We also performed the Latin version of Little Red Riding Hood (Rubra Cuculla) including stars like Craig Honkala, Doug Foster and Ed Drier.
Co-president Karen Juntilla offered closing remarks.
What a neat educational experience for all of us who were fortunate enough to study Latin at WHS. Wayne Foster was also our freshman English instructor.
After graduation, some of us remember visiting with him at the county fair where he displayed the World Book Encyclopedias that he sold.
Now Andy, don't you wish that you took two years of Latin instead of one?