Since the reunion was announced, I've been reminiscing... High School brings many memories to mind, but I also remember earlier days. Some of us began together in first grade and continued throughout the next twelve years.
1st Grade - Remember sweet little Mrs. Fuqua? She seemed ancient back then. I wonder how old she really was.
2nd Grade - My teacher was Miss Louella Johnson. I was terrified I would be placed in Mrs. Lynch's class. To a second grader she seemed like a drill sergeant!
3rd Grade - This grade is fuzzy. Seems like my teacher was Mrs. Chandler. Was that her name?
4th Grade - Mrs. Thurman - She read to us each day after lunch. I think this was also about the time of day when Billy Warden would sing "Cotton Fields Back Home."
5th Grade - Mrs. Edwards - short, sweet and stout! When she slapped you on the back, you knew you'd been slapped. I made my first "C" in her class. I remember crying and telling her that my mom would really be mad. She changed the "C" to a "B." Whew! (Wish I could have convinced Mr. Roberts to do this in 11th grade history..)
6th Grade - Mrs. White - We could never forget the "Polly stories."
7th Grade - Ms. Hedges (Miss Neatness!).. Miss Wood also stands out in my mind. I was in her class the day JFK was assassinated. Of course she was upset and crying.
8th Grade - Mrs. Jones and all the memorization! Then there was Mrs. Simmons and the Colorado experiences. All we had to do was ask a question about Colorado. She would relate stories for at least half of the class time.
Those were the days when we walked downtown for lunch. Remember munching on tuna sandwiches at the drug store? Cherry cokes at Duncans? Hamburgers and fries at Parkview Restaurant?
Remember??....
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Rita,
ReplyDeleteYou say your 3rd grade teacher is "fuzzy". I think she was the wife of the pastor at The Methodist Temple at the time, Mrs Eta (I think) Chandler and they moved around that time. The only reason I remember this is I went to church there.
I went to Olmstead 1st to 3rd grade. I have to my knowledge only one person i went all 12 years with--Phil Gregory. We were shocked to see each other in the same 4th grade class, Mrs Gray's.
My years at Olmstead included having an "ancient" teacher in the 2nd grade who had taught my Father. I think it was odd to also have a future sheriff (Robert Wilson) for a school bus driver.
I had Mrs. McEndree (spelling??) for 5th grade.
What I remember the most was her reading the Bible to us.
I had Mrs. Raby for 6th grade. Her and her "Board of Education."
For 7th grade I had Mrs. Hedges, and Mr. Linton. I remember Miss Wood, do not recall what she taught, and Mrs. Stark(?) Didn't Miss Wood get married while we were in 7th or 8th?
I had Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Simmons in 8th. I remember being suprised to find out Mrs. Simmons dyed her hair red and was a natural blonde.
I feel there had to be others. (Lloyd, we do not have a yearbook do we)
Somewhere I have 8th grade graduation stuff.
Why are we picking on only our high school English teachers? Don't we have memories of others? I will confess many of mine may not be the best to write down. I did not have enough "fun" in high school.
Well enough for now.
Mike Russell
Mike and Rita, you guys win the memory prize! All this reminiscing reminded me of a classmate we had back in grade school - I'm thinking maybe grades 1-3 or so. Anyone remember Doug Kurtz? It happens that he also lives here in Las Cruces and was chair of the math dept. here at NMSU. He's also a neighbor of mine. It turns out my brother Keith's ex-wife Pat was on tap to pick up Doug's wife Jessica from the airport in El Paso when she moved here. As they drove back to NM, Doug's wife mentioned that Doug had lived in a small town in KY when he was little. Pat said that Keith had also grown up in small-town KY. When she asked what town,lo and behold, it was R'ville for both of them. When Pat asked Doug's age, she realized it was the same as mine, so there you go. A "small world" story for you.
ReplyDeleteFolks:
ReplyDeleteYou talk about classmates who came and went, what about starting a list and trying to contact some of them?
There is no nice way to ask this, but do we have classmates who are nolonger living we need to think about. I am not aware of any, but I have not been in touch with this. I did find it odd that someone I had heard was "rumored to be dead" at an earlier reunion, is listed on the map showing where we are. I do nat recall the details. I am glad it was wrong though.
I can think of a few "names" of classmates we may want to include/invite.
Some of these went to county schools, some moved away. I feel that in no way do I remember close to all of them, so you all pick your brain and think of others. Even if these would not be inclined to come, an invitation may be appreciated, and a few suprises may be in the works.
I am glad to see you have Mitch on the list,and Jean Carter. Others--In no particular order: Larry Greer, Jeff Kline, Donnie Murphy, From the Jr. High era Bobby Hope, Diane Sandy. Are either of the Oliver men around(Robert and Raymond), Walter Brasher(?) and Roger Jenkins from grade school, Wayne Blackwell, I feel there are many more. These are some I recall. Naturally I tend to recall males more than females, so you guys fill in the blanks. Do we want to make a "primary post " for this?
Mike
I think a primary post is a great idea - I remember Francis Pate. I was driving through the Knoxville area years ago (probably 23 or 24 years back) and found her mother's name was still in the phone book. I called her and she had Frances call me. I have no idea what became of her.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, unfortunately, we do have a few deceased members. I'm not going to list them here - I think I'll leave that to Carolyn Kees Baker who knows for certain. (I don't want to make a mistake on this!) But I believe there are at least four who are no longer living. I think the committee is working on some sort of "In Memoriam."
Mike,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the info on Mrs. Chandler. I thought I remembered her name correctly but wasn't positive. As for Miss Wood getting married during our Jr. years... I don't recall. Maybe someone else will remember.
Cathy,
Yes I do remember Doug Kurtz...what a neat story!
And thanks for the "memory prize." To receive a memory prize (with MY memory) is as Martha Stewart says..."a good thing!"
Our deceased members are Sherry Cabbage, Ricky Keeton, Frank Tinch and Barbara Todd. These are the ones that I know about for sure. There may be some that attended class with us but didn't graduate that I haven't heard anything about.
ReplyDeleteAs far as we can tell there are only 3 classmates we can't seem to find: Carolyn Armstrong, Joanne Williams and Joan Anderson. If anyone knows anything about them, let Cathy know so that we can get them contacted.
I have oftened wondered about some of those folks we attended grade school with but disappeared from the scene. I'm glad to hear about Doug Kurtz. I remember being in class with him. I also remember Frances Pate. She lived on Armstrong Street in the house that Connie Murphy ended up in later. She was a really tall girl.
I did have Mrs. Lynch in 2nd grade and she was something else. I believe her daughter Amy was born during that time and we might have gotten a break from her for a while. I know that Donnie Murphy was in my class then. David Bilyeu was also in there but I don't seem to remember who else. I had Mrs.Hanes in 3rd grade and Mrs. Thurmond in 4th. Mrs. Jones was my 5th grade teacher and Mrs. Raby in 6th. Mrs. Raby liked to put on class plays and I remember being in several of those. This is the first time I've posted anything on this blog so I hope it comes through okay. Thanks for the memories!!!