An Open Letter to the ARROW of 1957 Dear ARROW,
I think I must feel something like a proud father must feel when he carries his first born son down the aisle of the church for the christening. I have a feeling of pride mixed with apprehension-proud that at last you are ready to face the world, and apprehensive that perhaps you may not meet the standards that have been set up for you. But, like the proud father, I bid you the best of fortunes as you face the world on your own merits. There have been many things to remember about the months spent in bringing you into existence. Count less have been the hours spent in preparing for you. There have been many happy moments, times that I shal l remember always, and there have been as many . anxiOus moments, times that I shall likewise remember. You are not the result of one person's labor, but rather the product of a great many people who have spent much time and effort on your behalf, and to them should go the credit for your successes if you are fort unate to be blessed with such . ooking back over your short life, I can remember . � distinctly those months of the first semester when i n �he bliss of my ignorance, you were, for the most art, Ignored. Th o� e were the days when it seemed you were demandmg great amounts of time when the staff was obligat�d to sit behind typewriters and type up . the forms mvolved m the making of individual pic tures. Little did we realize then that the final week before deadlines would find us sitting, standing, kneel ing, running, walking, yelling, whispering, and prob ably many other things as well, trying to prepare you for the day of your presentation.
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Happy were the moments when we knew that at last all pictures for the class pages were finished, when layout plans were completed, when the first pages were turned in to the printer, when the last sheet of a great stack of copy was written, and finally, when we saw you for the first time, a new creation, the product of our imaginations and efforts. Anxious were the times when we suddenlv realized that the pictures of one of the revival speakers had never been taken, making it necessary to write and wait long days for the picture to arrive; when we were reminded that pictures of two of the largest organiza tions on campus had never been taken, with tl1e final deadline bearing hard upon us; when the call came from the printer that the pictures of one whole class had been pasted up on left-hand pages ( thank good ness, they hadn't, really ) ; when Dene informed us that our supply of photographic paper was exhausted with at least a hundred pictures yet to be printed; and
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the most anxious times of all, when we tried franti cally to get all the pictures taken b�fore everyone went home for the Easter vacation. Included in the long list of people who have played an important part in your life's story is every staff mem ber. They were faithful to help when the need arose, and without them you would not be here. Some of them deserve special credit for the parts they played. There was Jean, who took tim� off from her busy sched ule to attend the ACP convention in Cleveland so that we might be informed about this business of publish ing a yearbook. She was the one who could always seem to make a bad situation appear better, and who never lost her head when all about her were losing theirs. Thanks go to Mrs. Lundy for the time she spent reading and correcting copy. I've often wondered if she realized that we were using her as a dictionary, knowing that she would catch and correct our errors when we were too lazy to look up the correct spelling of a word. Dene played a most important part i n your creation, spending countless hours i n the darkroom, somehow producing useable prints even from the worst of the negatives given to him. Phil walked miles and spent much time and patience trying to get decent pictures of the many elusive subjects of which we had to have pictures. Less noticeable, but just as important, were Eunice and Sammye, who contributed many after noons to typing, trimming and pasting pictures, and doing countless other jobs which were given them. Retta, at the printer's, was always able to make the best of something we had carelessly "goofed up," and Bill turned out some literary masterpieces in h is letters, trying to sell the ads n ecessary to finance the costs of publication. Rusty was the one who could always coax his car to make "just one more trip" to the printer's. Without the help of Reba, Jean, Wesley, and Pat, the copy for the classes might have never been written . Without all these and their contributions, ARROW of 1 9 57, you could not have been.
I deem it an honor to have played a part i n your creation. As you are placed on your own to face a world of demanding students, your life will not be an easy one, for you will also face the close scrutiny of the j udges of the Associated Collegiate Press, where your merits and faults will be revealed without prejudice. I t is my hope that whatever honor you might incur upon yourself will be well deserved. Always remember, however, that your purpose is not to satisfy the j udges alone, but you have an obligation to the students of Bethany Nazarene College. W h a t e v e r awards you might receive will be in vain if you do not present life as it really was during the school year of 1 9 56-57. Now, my job is finished; you are on your own . Good luck!