Walpole High School students have always enjoyed a great and diverse collection of extra-curricular activities. From Green Team to GSA to Film Festival, there is a club for almost any student, of any interest. The school’s newest club however, does not care about its members’ interests, academics, views or skills. It cares about one thing and one thing only: cardigans.
“Ever since I was a boy, I have always envied my father’s profession as a cardigan model,” says club advisor Conor Cashman. With the help of Cam Klavsen (Class of 2011), Issacar-Jean Simon (Class of 2011), and Marven Jean-Simon (Class of 2012), Mr. Cashman began The Cardigan Club out of a common love and obsession of this stylish sweater.
According to The Cardigan Code, the club has two essential goals: “the promotion of the cardigan as the most elite article of clothing” and “to make the community of Walpole appreciate the chesty integrity of the cardigan.” Members carry out these daunting tasks through various activities such as the annual cardigan photo shoot (see photo above) and the “flash cardigan mob.”
A “flash cardigan mob”, according to the code, is the unanimous flaunting and complimenting of cardigans by fellow group members in hopes of enticing onlookers into membership. The mobs are gaining huge influence in the most pretentious and yuppie sections of Walpole. “I love the style!” said Andrew Berardinelli, class of 2012, “It’s modern yet classic, formal yet casual. Where do I sign up?”
The Cardigan Club has begun bringing class back to Walpole. Where the class originally went is unclear but many have formulated possible reasons. Some believe it ended with the termination of The Sweater Vest Club in 1984; others are skeptical in thinking this class ever truly existed.
With no previous media coverage, few members, and a relatively unused twitter account, The Cardigan Club is presently the most underground club at WHS. As junior Marven Jean-Simon takes over for Cam as club president next year, the club has will continue their pretentious strive for cardigan supremacy next year and their hopes are high. “We want Imbusch and Lincoln Lynch in Cardigans by the end of next year, and not as a favor to this club, but rather as a stylish favor to themselves,” says Mr. Cashman. Whether the administration will actually start wearing cardigans or not, the town certainly will continue to enjoy the rebirth of this timeless classic.
