A Much Needed Day Boy Update From Lower Weld Hall By Aidan Kendall ’13 This fall has tested the repu- tation of the day men. It may come as a surprise to some, but the Day Boy room is not always spic „n‟ span. It is, in fact, a recurring prob- lem, and at the beginning of this year, as you may have heard, it almost reached the tipping point. It was in a state of disaster. Clothes lay strewn across the floor; dishes (no telling how old) stood tall and proud, prepared to never see pantry again. Certain questionable piles of mystery food were solidified in places where food should never solidify. Mr. Ford, ever concerned, organized a meeting with the day student population. Day boys from all corners of New Hampshire and of all shapes and sizes gathered in Weld; for a few, it was their first visit to the Day Boy room. Mr. Ford insisted that a plan needed to be formulated to get the students back on track, or else drastic meas- ures would be enacted; the Day Boy room was to be locked for eternity, unless the day boys could learn to re- spect it. With the threat of loosing their home away from home looming over them, the boys began to follow the schedule and things finally did turn around. The Day Boy room was saved, and the day was won! Soon after, however, there was an incident involving the breakage of a major school rule, which also led to the questioning of the day boys‟ honor. Suspicions arose among the faculty that the use of drugs was becoming a serious problem with the day (Continued on page 2) Quotes of the Week: “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.” - Winston Churchill “We elves try to stick to the four main food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.” - Buddy the Elf 1 in 280 Page 8 A Photo Essay: Francis Chapuredima Page 2 Carp in the Bathtub? Really, Fabian? Page 4 The Picador Volume 7, Issue 6 December 12, 2011 A PUBLICATION BY THE STUDENTS FOR THE HOLDERNESS SCHOOL COMMUNITY Congratulations Ryan On Qualifying for the Telluride Snowboard World Cup! Good Luck on Thursday!
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A Much Needed Day Boy Update From Lower Weld Hall
By Aidan Kendall ’13
This fall has tested the repu-
tation of the day men.
It may come as a surprise to
some, but the Day Boy room
is not always spic „n‟ span. It
is, in fact, a recurring prob-
lem, and at the beginning of
this year, as you may have
heard, it almost reached the
tipping point. It was in a state
of disaster.
Clothes lay strewn across the
floor; dishes (no telling how
old) stood tall and proud,
prepared to never see pantry
again. Certain questionable
piles of mystery food were
solidified in places where
food should never solidify.
Mr. Ford, ever concerned,
organized a meeting with the
day student population. Day
boys from all corners of New
Hampshire and of all shapes
and sizes gathered in Weld;
for a few, it was their first
visit to the Day Boy room.
Mr. Ford insisted that a plan
needed to be formulated to
get the students back on
track, or else drastic meas-
ures would be enacted; the
Day Boy room was to be
locked for eternity, unless the
day boys could learn to re-
spect it.
With the threat of loosing
their home away from home
looming over them, the boys
began to follow the schedule
and things finally did turn
around. The Day Boy room
was saved, and the day was
won!
Soon after, however, there
was an incident involving the
breakage of a major school
rule, which also led to the
questioning of the day boys‟
honor. Suspicions arose
among the faculty that the
use of drugs was becoming a
serious problem with the day
(Continued on page 2)
Quotes of the Week:
“We make a living by what
we get, but we make a life
by what we give.”
- Winston Churchill
“We elves try to stick to the
four main food groups:
candy, candy canes, candy
corns, and syrup.”
- Buddy the Elf
1 in 280
Page 8
A Photo Essay:
Francis Chapuredima
Page 2
Carp in the Bathtub?
Really, Fabian?
Page 4
The Picador
Volume 7, Issue 6 December 12, 2011
A PUBLICATION BY THE STUDENTS FOR THE HOLDERNESS SCHOOL COMMUNITY
Congratulations
Ryan
On Qualifying for the
Telluride Snowboard
World Cup!
Good Luck on Thursday!
Page 2
The Picador
students.
One supposed theory was that
the day boys were using drugs
in the Day Boy room between
classes, and they had a look-
out man to warn if teachers
were coming, a canary of
sorts.
I would like to appeal to your
knowledge of the day students
at Holderness school, and
more specifically, the day
students who frequent lower
Weld. These kids are the far-
thest thing possible from ne'er
-do-wells. Innocence cannot
even begin to describe their
nature.
They provide the back bone of
noon and sit-down dinner
pantry. They are polite, hon-
est, and loyal members of
Holderness School.
Can you picture, for example,
Joey Casey as a drug mule,
smuggling illegal parapherna-
lia on and off of campus? I
didn't think so.
In addition most of the day
students in question are un-
derclassmen and do not drive
themselves to and from cam-
pus. Even if they did, day stu-
dents cannot leave campus
and then return the same day.
This rule is monitored scrupu-
lously. Given these bounda-
ries, it is irrational to assume
that the day students are using
drugs.
Day students have so much to
offer the school. They leave
the bubble on a daily basis,
which protects them from
becoming too caught up in
strictly Holderness affairs.
They also have many special
talents. Caleb Nungesser raps.
Pete Saunders plays varsity
basketball. Mitch Shumway
has an excellent smile. Scott
Merrill is good at all sports.
And I heard Noah Thompson
can dunk. These are but a few
of the many day boy special-
ties.
Without them, this school
would surely lose a valuable
part of its population. They
mustn't be misunderstood, nor
taken for granted.
Fortunately, they survived the
fall, and I suspect, they can
survive anything.
Day Boys (Continued from page 1)
A Photo Essay By James Robbins ’12
On Saturday night Mr. Chapuredima shared the music and culture of Zimbabwe with the Holderness commu-
nity. With the help of Mervin Mervey, a South African who is also a theater major at PSU, Chapu showed the
students the instruments that are traditionally used in African drumming — ngoma (congas), mbira (thump
piano), marimba (xylophones), and hosho (shakers). After telling a few African folk tales and teaching the stu-
dents a dance, Chapu invited everyone to participate in a jam session. James Robbins was there to photo-
graph the event.
Page 3
Volume 7, Issue 3
“I am very grateful to the students who came and to El-
louise Sanborn who brought her friend Sandy with her. That
was nice. Also, many thanks to Mr. Lockwood for letting us
use instruments from Carpenter.”
- Francis Chapuredima
Page 4
The Picador
By Fabian Stocek ’13
There are many traditions
during the Czech Christmas
holidays that every Bohemian
family should fulfill. I will
describe only the ones I have
encountered and experienced
in my own house.
On the evening of the fifth of
December, if you find your-
self wandering the streets in a
town in the Czech Republic,
you might think you have
fallen into a children‟s tale.
In every major village in
Czech and Austria and Ger-
many people dress up like
angels, devils, and Saint
Nicolas (Mikuláš). These
people walk through the
streets and ask children if
they have been kind during
the past year. If the children
say yes, they get candy and
other gifts from Saint Nicolas
and his angels. If they say
they behaved badly, the dev-
ils take them in a sack to hell.
It usually turns out that par-
ents with little children call
organized groups of angels,
devils, and St. Nicolases to
come to their houses, because
in the center of the villages,
there are usually fights be-
tween courageous teenagers
and angry devils.
Every minute you can hear at
least one loud boom from
somewhere out of sight. The
teenagers are armed with
poppers, thick red or green
tubes packed with gun pow-
der that serve only one pur-
pose: to make really loud
noises. Ninety percent of the
time someone gets seriously
injured or the police arrive to
calm the situation.
On the same day, children
also receive St. Nicholas pre-
sents from their parents and
relatives. Gifts (e.g. sweets
and chocolates) are often put
into stockings and hidden
somewhere in the children's
rooms. If children behave
badly, they receive potatoes
and coal.
After the fifth of December
things get pretty calm. Chil-
dren open their chocolate
advent calendars and men
open their beer calendars,
which are basically boxes
with 24 beer bottles and an
advent cover.
Usually around the 20th,
families buy Christmas trees,
and most also buy carp, a
very typical Czech fish. The
tradition is to keep the live
carp in a bathtub until the
23rd or 24th so the delicious
fish can be served fresh for
dinner.
According to tradition, if you
fast until dinner on the 24th,
you will see a golden piglet
on a wall. I have tried it, but I
did not see one - unfortu-
nately.
On the 24th there is a big job
for the head of the family:
killing the carp. It is one of
the most illustrated activities
of Czech Christmas - the
father of the family with a
towel over a carp swinging a
big hammer to kill dinner.
Oftentimes the female popu-
lation of my family does not
partake in this tradition.
Another tradition is to pour
lead into a bathtub or a con-
tainer of water. Lead is
melted over a fire and then
poured into cold water to
form a shape which predicts
the future of the family.
We also make little boats out
of empty walnut shells, and
each family member places a
little burning candle in it.
Everyone's shell is then
floated on a bowl of water. If
the shell makes it across the
bowl, its owner will live a
long and healthy life. A shell
that sinks brings bad luck to
its owner.
Many families also visit their
ancestors. Usually before
dinner, we drive to all the
cemeteries and light candles
on the tombs.
When we come back, we set
the table. On the dinner table,
there is usually some kind of
chain that symbolizes the
strong relationships through-
out the family during the year
to come. Also under each
plate there is a coin and fish
scale to symbolize fortune in
the coming year.
For dinner we have carp, po-
tato salad, mushroom cake,
carp soup, and a special kind
of pastry (vánocka). The
meal is always delicious.
After Christmas dinner, every
person present at the table
cuts an apple in half
(crosswise, from the stem
down). Both halves are
shown to everyone around (Continued on page 5)
Devils , Lead, Carp, and Apples in the Czech Republ ic