Box Elder High School Traditions

Over the past one hundred years, several high school traditions have evolved.

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Student Body Presidents
Valedictorians
Outstanding Boy and Girl, Tom Hardaway, and Gracious Womanhood awards
State Athletic Championships
Utah High School Athletic Association – State Academic Scholars
Principals
Class Parents and Gifts
Homecoming Dedicatees
Class Plays – 1935 to 1958

School Songs

Box Elder School Song

O sing we a song of Box Elder
Her colors are purple and white
Tell all the world of her triumphs,
Led by the lily so white.
Then join in her praise students loyal;
Hail, we our dear old Alma Mater,
We are the boosters of Box Elder;
We love you, praise you, and support you,
Dear Box Elder

Professor E. D. Mann wrote the words of the School Song. The music was taken from John Phillip Sousa’s masterful, marching band composition, “Stars and Stripes Forever.”“Three Score and Ten Years” (1968), 222.

Fight Song

Sing a song of our dear school.
Shout ‘til the mountains ring.
Stand to greet the gang once again,
Let every loyal “B” man sing, “Fight, Fight, Fight!”
Cheers, “Rah, Rah!”, for all the happy hours.
Cheers for the memories;
Cheers for Alma Mater,
Box Elder will it always be (Fight!)

School Yells

Clikety, clikety, sis, boom, bah!
Brigham City High School! Rah! Rah! Rah!

This peppy yell was the introduction for “Brigham City High School Notes” in the Box Elder News for September 26,1907.“Three Score and Ten Years,” 215.
With the desire to compose a school yell that other schools could not readily use or copy, the following yell became popular in the early days of the school and was a favorite yell through the years into the 1970’s.

Yo Triumphe

Yo Triumphe!
Yo Triumphe!
Hob ‘em swab ‘em
Rebecca de Anamore
Whoop, de whoop
De shell de Vere,
De boom de rah,
De ay, de paw,
Hannica, swannica,
Whack, da-whack
Hob, dob
Ball de bora
Ball de bora
Con Slobidy,
Hob dob, rah!
BOX ELDER RAH!

Palace Playhouse

Fontell Misservy started the Palace Playhouse during the mid 1970s. Instead of the two plays per year that had previously been stage, Misservy arranged for space on the top floor of the First Security Bank (Wells Fargo) building where several plays could be produced during each year. In the 2000s the Playhouse closed due to liability and fire danger concerns.Arrin Newton, “Future of Historic Palace Playhouse Uncertain,” Salt Lake Tribune, November 7, 2006.

Beet Vacation

The school year was 166 days for the high school, partly due to vacations that no longer exist. This included beet vacation, which was two weeks in the latter part of October. There was also one day off for the deer hunt, and then two days for UEA.

Pie Dump

Seymour and Phyllis Hess bought the Pie Dump in 1927, and according to their daughter Gene Hess Bouck, Phyllis made up to 73 butterscotch pies per day, baking the crusts in a coal stove. The pies were cut into six pieces, topped with whipped cream, and sold for five cents a piece. After WWII, Sid Hess (the son) and his wife Irene took over the Pie Dump. They continued to provide fast food meals including chili, meat pies, hot dogs, bbq, potatoes and gravy, and ice cream and all kinds of candy bars. When the school built its own cafeteria in 1939, the Pie Dump experienced some new competition.

LDS Seminary

The Box Elder High School Seminary opened in 1915 (only the second in the church) under the direction of Abel S. Rich. Later teachers included John P. Lillywhite, Herald S. Nelson, A. Theodore Tuttle, Boyd K. Packer, and LeGrande Horsley.

The Circus

When the Girl’s and Boys’ Leagues merged in the 1940s, they began sponsoring a two-day circus in the gym as a fundraiser. The circus involved several departments, a floor show with semi-professional acts, clowns, music, dancing, games of skill with prizes, side shows, and food. Business teacher Lloyd Hust’s trained dogs were a particular attraction.

In one very popular side show, a number of girls from the Phys Ed depart wriggled their way through a bubble dance. At the end of the dance, one curvaceous young blonde slyly stated “For another dime, you can come into this next room, and I’ll show you where I was operated on.” As the gullible ones crowded close to get a peek, she moved a bubble, extracted a small paper and displayed a picture of the Cooley Hospital. She made a net gain of $39.00 for the Leagues.“Three Score and Ten Years,” 225.

Block “B” On the Hill

The original block letter “B,” located on the mountainside east of Brigham City was installed shortly after Alf Freeman became principal in 1943. An objective for having a “B” on the hill was to promote school spirit, and to provide memories and a tradition to be proud of for the graduates.
It was originally located in an area southwest of Flat Bottom below the water line. The “B” was first lit as part of the homecoming celebration, by placing oil in tin cans containing combustible material and setting them on fire. The owner of the farmland adjacent to the “B,” expressed his concerns about the danger of setting the mountain on fire and doing considerable damage to his property located below. Feeling a responsibility to rectify the problem, Searle W. Beecher, Pupil Personnel Officer, organized a group of senior students to assist in staking out another site to relocate the “B.”
On an August evening in 1950, prior to the beginning of school, this group hiked up to a proposed site on the hill just north of Flat Bottom above the water line. Each student was given one or two flares to place in appropriate positions. Of course they were all alerted to be responsible for their respective flares and make sure they were properly controlled. When it was sufficiently dark, the flares were lit and things appeared to be going well. Suddenly the dry grass in the area caught fire and within minutes the whole mountainside was aflame. Car lights soon appeared near the base of the hill and a group of spectators gathered. J. D. Gunderson, the summer fire warden in Brigham City, soon arrived and began hollering instructions in fairly colorful language. “What are you doing up there? Get that ‘blankety blank’ fire out!” As the flames reached the top of the hill and were pretty much out of control, a slight east wind stopped the blaze before it could continue through Flat Bottom canyon. Without any assistance from spectators below, the fire was soon under control and extinguished. The students were very pleased that Mr. Beecher was there to explain what had happened and bear the brunt of any future problems.Memories of David N. Morrell.
The blaze highlighted the real dangers and action was soon taken to relocate the “B.” Denton Beecher, grandson of the property owner, indicated that the following year, the class of 1951-52 completed the job and the “B” was relocated to its present site in the rocks some distance north and east of Flat Bottom. It has been lit each year for homecoming and has become a permanent feature on the hill.Jane Gomez provided a student paper written by student, Jimmy Hepworth, in 1976 entitled, “Painting the “B”. His account was taken from an interview with Norwood Hyer who kept a rather detailed account of the relocating and designing of the 125 by 75 foot “B”. Mr. Hyer, William Griffith, Searle Beecher, and Principal Alf Freeman were responsible for this 1952 relocation. Some painting was included but more permanent paintings took place in 1953,1965, and 1976 by students and faculty. Mr. Hepworth went into detail as to the amount of paint needed for the project, proper mixture, additional supplies, and transporting materials to the site. Interviews were also included with other faculty members who participated in subsequent paintings.

Painting the Town

Before the move to the new building in 1961, Homecoming involved “painting the town.” Purple and white water-based paint was used so that it could be removed relatively easily. Junior students painted sidewalks and business windows. Most businesses were good sports with allowing the practice. Sayings, high school letters, and some images were painted. Businesses had to do the cleanup/removal themselves. After the move, it was limited to an area adjacent to the school, much to the satisfaction of local merchants. No more purple and white paint to wash off the store windows and the excessive paint on sidewalks and streets.

B Pins

Perhaps the most coveted award is the “B” pin. Student body officers, cheerleaders, top scholars, and editors of the student newspaper and yearbook qualify for the pin. Additionally, other students who have given outstanding service to individual academic department or to the whole school may be presented with “B” pins.

Notes


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