Lovely Surprises

I typically hate surprises, but some are always appreciated: there is nothing quite like finding a BFS historic treasure in either a traditional or electronic mailbox. Every once in a while, kind people find BFS-related items among their personal collections and choose to share them with BFS, thinking (correctly) that BFS might wish to have them or that I, Susan Price ’86, am so interested in BFS history that I’ll definitely want them (people have come to know me pretty well).

Our most recent surprise contained three photos from Lois Berseth Hedlund, sister of John Berseth ’49 and mother of Magnus Hedlund ’91. The original photos were tiny, yet scanning at high resolution enlarged and enhanced them. They are shown below and I believe all three are from the 1948-49 school year – two from a basketball game and one of Mr. John R. Roach, BFS French teacher, theatrical director, composer, playwright, and photographer. From what I’ve seen in the Archives, this may be the earliest photo of Mr. Roach outside of a yearbook.

Thinking of BFS in this way is so appreciated. Over the years, there have been remarkable examples of people who choose to share the BFS memorabilia in their personal collections. Of course, some items come from those who can only be with us in spirit: on occasion, BFS has received memorabilia from the estates of BFS alumni, thanks to the thoughtfulness of family members and executors.

So this post is also a request for you to take a look through your personal collections – at your leisure, of course – and to then share items with the BFS Archives. Your memorabilia often contains material the school does not have, and the school does not have what you might believe it does – just take a quick look at the Archives website and you will understand. Please know we also accept loans from your collections, and we do return! BFS so needs and appreciates your help as it seeks to deepen its institutional memory, its understanding of its own history.

Basketball in the Gym at Schermerhorn

Look like Friends won the game!

Mr. John R. Roach