Over 70 years has passed since South Salem High School opened its doors in 1954. Traditions such as roses, Saxon Man, the columbia blue and scarlett school colors, and the Rowdy Dowds are a key aspect to the legacy South has maintained in Salem as the second high school to ever open in this city. Two members of the Genius World Record holding class of 1957 give us a scope of what life was like in the beginning of South, creating the school colors, mascot, and fight song, along with roles on the pep squad.
Pat and Nancy
Patricia Thor and Nancy Webb were both 1957 graduates when South was a high school for 10-12 grade. Both ladies were prominent members of clubs, sport squads, and contributors to the culture at South.
“I was involved in music. I was in the general level when you first got there, you could not be in the main choir your first year. So it is a different choir than it was in the first year, but then when I was a junior, I was in the main choir. But when I got elected to the rally squad, my senior year, I chose to be on the pep squad instead of choir.” Pat said.
“What I did in school was mainly that I was not an academic person. I mean, I was a good student. I did fine. But I I stayed after school almost every night for sports. I just thought that was always just my thing.” Nancy said.
At South, the main club a majority of the student body participated in was the pep club. The pep club was all about getting supplies ready for games, helping with dances, and keeping the student body engaged for the rallies and games.
“Everybody is in the pep club. There would not be one seat left all the way across with only 900 students, all the way across, all in red and white. This is the rowdy down section and far on the south end of the gym is where the rowdy down section sat all the guys. We were in the pep section. So we were all over here [pointing right] and the guys were all here [pointing left],” Pat said.
Committee
When deciding what the school colors, mascot, and many other key factors that are important to South, the district elected students from the middle schools in the area to help vote on these topics. The kids were chosen from separate areas so that a diverse community could impact the school’s legacy. Inside of this committee for South, Nancy and Pat were two people elected from a middle school in West Salem and a middle school in South Salem. The two did not know each other since they came from separate sides of town, but they quickly became close friends.
“I mean, you were kind of strangers. communities were kind of strangers. And so not everybody was a complete stranger, but you’re right it was different and it wanted to belong,” Nancy said.
Rowdy Dowds Origination: Song Queens and Yell Kings (yellow)
In 1954, people we might associate with “Rowdy Dowds” would be our present cheerleaders. Students were elected by the student body to run the student section and yell chants, cheers, have small dances, and keep the crowd going wild. There also was a divide in seating, and because of that, there were girls and boys chosen to conduct each section at sports games.
Pat’s brother, who was a senior when he came to South, was a core founder of the name “Rowdy Dowd”.
“My brother had gone to a football game at Oregon State and they had this section made up of all guys. And it kind of fascinated him so when he came to South his senior year, he was talking with the dean of boys, Robert Vote, about this. And so they organized it. He remembered something about Rowdy and something , and then they came up with Rowdy Dowds. That’s how they named it. Rowdy Dowds,” Pat said.
In each section the Rowdy Dowds were called something a little different. Rowdy Dowds mainly referred to the boys section, but the girls were under the same category. The girls team in the pep squad were called the Song Queens, while the boys side were called Yell Kings.
“Sometimes we would do routines together [Song Queens and Yell Kings], but then a lot of times they were over in front of their section and we’d be in front of ours,” Pat said.
Each part of the squad worked incredibly hard to put on pep rally assemblies in the auditorium, make posters, pom poms, and to put on the game cheers.
“We made our own pom poms, they were made out of crate paper and they were huge, and if you’ve ever worked with crape paper, just just dries your skin out. It also dyed them colors you never thought would come off,” Pat said.
Rowdy Dowds were more of an entertainment piece for South students, keeping them excited to watch the games and to be proud of their school. The pep squad did many fun events and shows for the school, some still very memorable til this day.
“Rowdy dowds would have this sweetheart contest about every single year. And it was usually during basketball season because, you know, we were in the gym. The thing was that three guys would dress up as women. Oh, wow. They’d come out and somebody would vote for the contestants. It was fun for the students and was something to look forward to,” Pat said.
Day in the Life in 1954
Pat and Nancy started as sophomores in high school at South, since the school was only 10-12 grade. In 1954, school life looked slightly different than it does now.
“We had six classes. They were like 55 minutes of these. So, you were allowed to have one study hall, so that left you with five classes. And well, you had to have a math class at some point, you had to have some kind of science. You had to have some kind of social studies. PE was required. Eventually that left you with if you were only taking one five classes, that left you with one elective. That was yeah. And so a lot of people took languages. I took my extra period to work with the pep squad to get things done like posters, pom poms, and anything the school needed,” Pat said.
One major difference between South life now is the community. As South only had about 900 students attending in the early years, the student body felt more like a family.
“We were raised with total respect for other people and especially for the teachers, and so you got so you kind of knew everybody. I I don’t I don’t remember anybody being unkind to anyone else in school. No, they kidded a few people like Jerry Peacer. But as far as everybody at school, I don’t remember not speaking to just everybody here,” Nancy said.
WIthout the use of cellphones or our modern television, your face to face interaction level was much higher. This encouraged students to attend school to see their friends. Skipping school was not as common, as well as skipping class. Where else would you see your friends?
“I mean we all thought it was a wonderful place. I was happy. I mean, I would not want to go whether I felt well or not. I mean, because you just wanted to be there. You just loved everything. It was different because it was expected of you. You go to school,” Nancy said.
Spirit
Attending sports games, being on the pep squad, for Nancy and Pat, that’s what life was all about. The ability to come together as a school and support each other for the hard work that they put into their sport. Almost every seat in the stadium or gymnasium were full of excited students. That was the South spirit.
“It was just magnetic. had your own school. I mean, what a cool thing,” Nancy said.
As Nancy and Pat were on the committee for the decision making of South’s colors, mascot, and fight song, they got a sneak peak into their high school experience. This helped them know how to engage more in the community and provide leadership roles within the school.
“The spirit, it is hard to describe spirit. It is just in us. And I think we really got it, in our ninth grade year in middle school. I think we got really excited because we got the help of all this stuff. Yeah. And then we got into a brand new school. I remember the first time that the committee got a walk through and we thought, oh, my gosh, this is just wonderful, you know? It was to have something so new and clean and beautiful,” Nancy said.
Class of 1957
After 70 years, the class of 1957 still regularly meets for lunch once a month. These bonds between the former students have many years, and many of them still live in Salem and its surrounding area.
“But these people are priceless. We still meet with some of our class members once a month for lunch. We fill each other in where we are going, what we are doing, who is ill, you know, but we do not talk about religion or politics, which is a blessing. that was set up long ago, so it is just open mic for whoever,” Nancy said.
Out of anything valued by Nancy and Pat, community comes first. Nancy and Pat have been friends for seven decades. Through ups and downs, these two have stuck together to help keep the class meetings going and engaging others from their grade.
“I mean the friendships I made, there are some I still have from grade school. They were so beautiful and they are still there, we still a bunch of us still get together with close classmates,” Nancy said.
“You can not ever go back and so enjoy every day and boy, we did. I mean from day one. I think we all cried when we graduated because we all loved it. The spirit was just so strong. It was a friendship. Oh, but they are still there. I mean, really bid friends since 1954,” Nancy said.
