Page 33

[Newspaper article}

School 44 salutes new principal Estelle Relford at reception

The Recorder Sat. April 6, 1969

The PTA of School 44 held a
reception in the school auditorium
on Sunday, March 31, as
a salute to its new principal,
Mrs. Estelle R. Relford.

In the receiving line were
Mrs. Richard Wills, PTA president;
William E. Wilson, assistant
principal; Mrs. William
E. Wilson, Mrs. Mahalla R.
Moore, sister of Mrs. Relford;
Mrs. Maude Flack, aunt of Mrs.
Relford; Karl R. Kalp, assistant
superintendent; Mrs. Phillip
C. Tetrick, John T. Phillips,
assistant principal; Mrs. John
T. Phillips, and Mrs. Frances
Groves, junior high art teacher
and general chairman.

Honored guest at the reception
was Mayor Richard Lugar.
Out-of-town guests were
cousins of Mrs. Relford, Mr. and
Mrs. Oscar L. Ballenger and
daughter from Chicago, Ill.

Representing the Central
School Office in addition to Mr.
Kalp were assisstant superintentent
Dr. Russell A. Lane,
and Messrs. Harry A. Radliffe,
Charles DeBow, Walter Bean,
and Jesse Babb.

The beautifully decorated auditorium
was transformed into
a gala flower garden with spring
flowers in full bloom all around
the walls. The poses were cut
out of colored paper by the students
of the school under the
direction of Mrs. Groves.

In addition live plants and
bouquets, sent by schools and
friends, adorned the tables,
stage and piano. Upon entering
the auditorium one was greeted
by a large pencil sketching of
Mrs. Relford on the stage, over
which was a flower decoration
inscribed: 'We Salute Our New
Principal, Mrs. Estelle Relford.'
Assissting Mrs. Groves
in the stage decorations and
auditorium was Mrs. Edward
Benson, PTA hospitality chairman.

Mrs. Relford wore an orchid
corsage presented to her by the
PTA, as were the yellow chrysanthemum
corsages worn by
others in the receiving line and
the hostesses.

Continuous music for the occasion
was furnished by staff
member: Miss Ivalue Robinson
concert harpist and pianist; David
Hardiman, director of the
school's instrumental music;
Mrs. Barbara Woodard, junior
high music teacher, and Dr.
Roscoe Polin, renown pianist.

Dainty refreshments were
served on an elaborately decorated
table done by Mrs. Irwin
Canady Sr. and Mrs. Clara
Steward who also were the two
charming hostesses serving at
the punch table.

Members of the faculty and
parents alternated serving as
hostesses in the auditorium.
Teachers serving as hostesses
were Mmes. Mary Wieghard,
Edith Fields, Maxine Johnson,
Rena Rumple, and Ethel Bannister.

Parents were Mmes. Howard
Gupton, Charles McIntyre
James Hewlett, Blanche Krause,
Donald Massey, and Helen
Riding.

Internal photographing was
conducted by Irwin M. Canady,
staff manager for Mammoth
Life Insurance Company, and
Edward Dunston, sixth grade
teacher.

Mrs. Relford is a product of
the Indianapolis Public Schools
with a B.S. and M.A. from Butler
University. She also did graduate
work at Columbia University.
She was the recipient of
the Gregg Scholarshop and
Freedom Foundation Award
during her teaching career. She
comes from a long line of school
administrators and teachers.
Her grandmother, Mrs. Ella
Meriwether, was a former
teacher of renown as were her
mother, Mrs. Rosa Meriwether
Roberts, and four aunts, one of
which is Mrs. Maude Flack,
retired principal of School 56.

Mrs. Relford, former School
44 vice-principal, was promoted
to the post of principalship
left vacant last October, 1967,
by the untimely death of the
former principal, Phillip C.
Tetrick.

As a tribute to Mr. Tetrick
and the school faculty she
states: 'Happily it has been my
good fortune to inherit a strong
PTA and a working staff of administrators
and teachers so
thoroughly competent, cooperative,
and so dedicated to the
profession that it is a pleasure
to work with them.'

Mrs. Relford's administrative
position is a joy to her as
she loves people and possesses
an inborn devotion to children.
She treasurers the years that
she has shared with and sought
a way that she might bring to
girls and boys a true and earnest
purpose for their lives each
day and instill in them a hope,
a vision and a higher horizon.

[Photo of adults posed in a row, embedded in the text, with caption:]
IN THE receiving line at an elaborate
reception given in honor of
Mrs. Estelle Relford, principal of
School 44, (sixth from left) were Mrs.
Richard Wills, PTA president; John
T. Phillips, Mrs. Betty Phillips, Mrs.
Frances Groves, art teacher; Mrs.
Anita C. Tetrick, Karl L. Kalp, Mrs.
Maude Flack, Mrs. Mahalla Moore,
Mrs. Sara Wilson, and William Wilson.
(Recorder photo by George P. Stewart
II).