THE BLAIR COUNTY CLUB OF U. P.
Not Large in Numbers but Nevertheless Hustling and Thoroughly Active
The Blair County club of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, one of the most active organizations of its kind in the great Institution of learning, is as energetic as ever this year and is planning even greater activity. The annual midwinter dance will take place in this city soon, while the club is planning something of even great interest in Altoona than the coming social event. Most of the members are former students of the Altoona high school and at the meetings of the club the A. H. S. forms one of the chief topics, of conversation. The club, as a whole, believing that real live school briskness, such as representative athletics, debating and class activities, is conducive to school pride and an active interest in things, is considering, at the present time, the possibility of attempting to revive these things at the Altoona high school. One thing the club thinks ought to be revived is football, which is held in bad grace by the local school board and is not tolerated. Class spirit in the local school is practically a dead issue.
The Blair County club of the University of Pennsylvania was organized in 1904, when there were only two Blair county men at the institution. They were Harry S. Van Scoyoc, '07, college, now assistant city engineer, of Altoona, and Dr. Herbert Ovelman, '07, medical, of Hollidaysburg. There had been Blair county men scattered through the former years for away back, but a club had never been organized by them. Mr. Van Scoyoc, who has been prominently identified with the University club of this city, had the honor of being the first president of the Blair County club at old Pennsylvania.
Dr. Guy S. Tippery, '08, dental, the well-known dentist of Twelfth avenue near Eleventh street, brought the enrollment of the Blair County club up to three in the fall of 1905, and in 1906 there were added Ernest Hoover, Carl Burket, George Richers and Dr. Norman Snively, the well-known young dentist with rooms in the McCrorey building.
The Blair County club in 1906 was well on its way through history and was large enough to have gained influence. It has now grown until at the present time it has eighteen members. The University of Pennsylvania stands after State college as the most popular higher institution of learning among Altoonans. The number of students attending the school has been increasing every year and bids fair to keep on increasing with the passing of each term.
The present officers of the Blair County club, who were elected at the first meeting of the society, in October, are: President, Dee C. Brown; vice- president, Joseph Williams, Jr.; treasurer, R. Willard Fay; secretary, Alfred Williams.
The club is one of the many state, county and national clubs organized at the university for the purpose of fostering social relations among the members, and for the promotion of the interests of the U. of P. at home. The club meets in the dormitory room of a member once each month and affords the only opportunity for the students, who are scattered among the different departments, to see one another and keep alive old acquaintanceship. The club meetings, which are made as sociable as possible, often take on the form of smokers, and are a clearing house for home news and gossip that floats in through letters, rumors, visitors and newspapers. The Tribune is always in evidence at the meetings and is closely perused by those unfortunates who are not subscribers to it and have not read it before.
The chief activities of the club of interest to Altoona are the annual informal dance, in vogue for the last three years, and the smokers given to the high and "prep" schools boys each year at Yuletide in the University club. The dance is one of the most important social events of the local season, while the smoker is looked forward to for months by the anticipating sons of the A. H. S.
The club will hold its fourth annual dance in this city on Friday, December 29, in the Wolf building, Eleventh avenue near Twelfth street. The Blose-Lingenfelter orchestra will furnish music and there will be dancing from 9 until 1. As in the past, the dance will be a formal patroness affair, and ladies prominent in Altoona society will be the patronesses. The dance will be modeled, as of yore, after the big class dances of the university and there will be college decorations, including the Red and Blue of Pennsylvania. The college atmosphere will pervade everywhere and will be aided by the music, which will consist of college airs as well as of popular selections. The dance committee consists of: R. Willard Fay, chairman; Joseph Williams, jr., J. Walter Bancroft, Carl Feser and Dee Carlton Brown.
Altoona Tribune, Altoona, Pa., Wednesday, November 22, 1911, page 11