Talk:The Pennington School

Latest comment: 16 years ago by Calebrw

playing college basketball is not notable. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.140.4.190 (talkcontribs)

When I attended (1962-1968), the motto was "Only The Excellent." {Hail, Pennington, Hail/ Thy motto brings content/Our days, t'will guide/ What 'er betide/'Only The Excellent,' Only The Excellent!'/Hail, Hail, Hail, Pennington, Hail} I don't know when it was changed. In the area just south of The Lodge and west of Old Main were stone pathways leading up to and through 3 separate brick archways, labeled "Virtue," "Honor," and "Humility." The latter was, I would guess, only about 5 feet high, necessitating one to stoop or bend in order to pass through--although one couldn't because they each had eye-hooks and chains on their inside perimeters, blocking access. I believe they dated from the time of Headmaster Dr. Ira S. Pym They were never used during my time there and were subsequently taken down, in order to build on the spot. John Robert "Bob" Wilmeth, Class of 1967, had his senior picture taken atop "Humility" but the word got cropped out, destroying the desired effect. In any case, someone obviously retained the history and lore regarding those gates and instituted "Virtue,Honor, Humility" as the new motto. Oh, and the Alma Mater DOES have 5 verses, but even in my time, we usually left out the one referenced above and the one about the no-longer existent rose garden (of either Dr. Pym or Francis Harvey Green--the former, I think). Feel free, you who come after, to edit or discard any of this background info. I'm tempted to include some stories about the water tower, but no. MFish1228