To hear a live recording of our alma mater, copy and paste this link into your browser:

https://soundcloud.com/albionalumni/albion-central-school-alma

Spotlight on the Albion Alma Mater

By Susan Starkweather Miller,

class of 1981

Al-bi-on, may thy sons ne’er forget thee
And to thy name we ever will be loyal;
Through all our days, we will sing thy praise
In times of pleasure or in times of toil, we’ll shout for Al-bi-on,
And our cheers will re-echo
As high above we see our colors float.

One, two, three, three good cheers for thee
Dear old Al-bi-on!

I received a phone call this past summer from Orleans County Historian, Bill Lattin.  I think the world of Bill; he has offered his support with many school projects that help us connect our students to their local history.  Bill thought I might be interested to know that our alma mater is 100 years old this year.  Being a proud Albion Alum I was very interested in this tidbit and set to work to find more information about this song.  My initial instinct was to search the Chevron. I have always loved history and enjoy looking through old Chevron issues. The District has issues from as far back as 1912. As luck would have it I came across a poem in the December edition of the 1914 Chevron. It was written by Nellie Mahoney, class of 1916.  The poem reads:

 

One day our principal,
While strolling down the street,
Received an inspiration
Which would our favor meet.

He rushed off to the school,
And on the piano played;
until by some good fortune
A wonderful tune he made.

When our artist heard this air,
She set to work directly
To write some charming words,
To match this tune correctly.

When it was completed;
What a wonderful song we heard!
By its beauty, so elated,
We were left without a word.

Much praise should then be given
To their efforts, brave,
Which gave us such a song
As to make the pupils rave.

 

Bill Lattin told me the high school principal at the time was Frank R. Wassung.  He wrote the music to our Alma Mater. He left Albion in June, 1914.  Curious person that I am, I wondered what happened to him. So I did what many people do; I “googled” him. With one click of the mouse I began an interesting internet journey. The more I searched, the more intrigued I became with Frank Wassung’s career.  After Albion he became principal and then superintendent of Norwich Schools.  Later in his career he became superintendent of Garden City Public Schools in Long Island.

What really fascinated me in my search was how instrumental Frank Wassung was in the development of two organizations that have made a lasting impact on New York State Public Schools.  In 1921 he met with Daniel Chase who at the time was Supervisor of Physical Education at the New York State Education Department.   The meeting resulted in the establishment of a statewide organization known today as NYSPHSAA (New York State Public High School Athletic Association).  The purpose of NYSPHSAA is to bring consistency to athletic eligibility rules and to conduct state tournaments.  This is the Association that promotes the NYS Scholar Athlete program.  Many of Albion’s sports teams qualify for scholar athlete status and the high school has been named a School of Distinction multiple times (all three seasons of varsity level sports teams must qualify for scholar athlete status to become a school of distinction.)  But that’s not all; in 1932 he helped establish Pupil Benefits Plan, Inc.  This organization offers insurance to more than 360 NYS public school districts and covers 650,000 students in case of injury during school and extra-curricular events. Their website offers a brief history that gives credit to the creation of Pupil Benefits to Frank Wassung and Robert Wegner from Roslyn, NY. The idea took shape as a result of a discussion they had with a doctor related to an injured student athlete.

 

In my search I stumbled across a brief article announcing the marriage of Frank Wassung’s son, John.  I wondered…could he still be alive?  I found a phone number in the White Pages for someone by that name.  The gentleman was in his late 80’s and lived in another state. This could be Frank Wassung’s son, John!  I took a chance, picked up the phone, dialed and was immediately connected to our past.  Mr. Wassung was hesitant at first but soon opened up and told me his father was indeed our high school principal.  He said his father was always involved in community service.  He was a District Governor for Rotary and a member of the Elks.  He was one of a small group of Americans chosen by General Douglas MacArthur’s Post WWII staff to travel to Occupied Japan as an expert on educational affairs.  And lastly, Mr. Wassung told me how his father learned to play the piano by ear.  The family would play records for him and he would go over to the piano and play the song with ease.  He wasn’t surprised that his father wrote the tune to our Alma Mater. John Wassung will be 90 years old next year, how fortunate I was to chat with him for a few moments and share what I had found as well as learn a little bit about a man who created a simple tune that would touch so many of our lives 100 years later.

I probably will never know the name of the woman who wrote the lyrics to our Alma Mater.  I wonder if the author of the poem wrote the words.  I have a feeling she did. Unfortunately, she died a long time ago and did not have children for me to contact. I wonder if anyone out there knows and can shed some light on this mystery.

The Alma Mater has been and still is special to me. I think it is special to many Albion Alumni. I have the privilege of attending many school functions each year.  I hear it and feel a sense of pride.  It’s a part of me. At gradution I watch new graduates and hundreds of Albion Alumni stand and proudly sing the words we learned so long ago.  The song brings us together.  We share a part of history. We’re connected.  We will forever belong to our Alma Mater, our dear old Al-bi-on.