I started Clearview School probably
in 1920 when I was six years old. My family lived on Whetstone
Road at the time and we had to walk to school in all kinds
of weather, almost a mile. In winter there was nothing
to plow the roads so we waded in waist high drifts and
arrived at school soaking wet. I wish I could remember
how we dried out.
I cannot remember the name of my first teacher but I do
remember a teacher named Miss Pukas, who boarded at Kelleys.
Later I had Gladys Williams for a teacher and we students
knew she was fond of Henry Delay because she would blush
when he appeared with a load of wood. We all know how
that friendship ended.
When cold weather arrived, I was put in charge of the
wood stove and tended it for $12.00 per year. I had to
get to school early to get the fire going so that the
schoolroom would be warm by the time the children came.
We didn’t mind the winter weather, as we loved playing
in the snow. We boys used to rip boards off Mr. Kasney’s
barn to use as a toboggan. He never caught us.
We had a lot of fun in class. I recall once when the teacher
had Helen Fritch go to the blackboard to write her lesson
and when the teachers back was turned, Helen would entertain
the class by making very funny faces. She would get everyone
laughing and the teacher would tell us to calm down.
My brother Henry and I did not talk for the first six
months at Clearview. The teacher could not get us to say
one word – but things must have improved, for I
remember being ordered to sit with Helen Fritch because
I talked too much.
I remember a game we played called Duck on a Rock. We
took a large, flat rock and placed a smaller rock, called
the Duck, on top of it. Then we all stood back and threw
rocks at the Duck to see who could knock it off. One day
I was gathering up the smaller rocks when someone threw
one and it hit my head and cut my scalp and blood ran
freely.
I remember Mr. Lewis S. Mills and how he used to drop
in on us at school to check up on the teachers and the
work we were doing. As I recall, he walked with a limp
and was very strict and we children were all afraid of
him. But from my advanced age, I now know that he was
a dedicated educator who thought only of the children
and left his mark on this town.
I wonder if Children in school today have half the fun
that we had? I don’t think so.
We can all be thankful we were young in the early years
of the 20th century. So many of us have passed on, for
which I am sorry, I know they would have enjoyed this
day.
