Wayback Memories.

From the "Wayback" machine- One of my former students stopped on his way back to Arizona and I invited him to stay overnight. I took a picture and then got the class picture out, scanned it and here he was then and now.L to R - 1st Michelle Ellinger, Emily Schaeffer, Suzie Schmidt, Bobbie Martin, Melissa Bass 2nd - Aaron K Cooper, Hillary Emmerson, James Skank, (Terry) Terri WellnessCoach Jackson, Derek Anderson, 3rd row - William Johnson, Dean Bridges, D Reinhardt, T Stempler, George Christiansen 4th Row - Craig Weltha, Michael D Zell, Tirene Harding-Mitzel, Tara Short, Me and Paul Smaltz

 

A Game of Cards

I don't have an idea of what to write about but John sent me this meme and it got me to thinking about card games.  I know very little about them. The only time I ever played cards was on family vacations at the lake.  We would go up to the Lodge and a bunch of us would sit around and play cards.  When we first started going it was one game and then later we learned another one and played it for awhile.  Funny thing is, I can't remember what the names of the games were, nor the rules.. What I do remember is the people who played.  My mother, of course she of the "Ruth can't wait to get up there and gamble" fame as stated by her older sister,  My uncle Harold (the older sister's husband) Morrie, Joe, Maryjane, Paul, Bob, and a myriad of other who stayed at the resort.

There were also a lot of people who sat around the outside and watched or got in and out of the game.  Funny thing is though it wasn't about the gambling. It was more about the sociability. Bets were never high and you won about as much as you lost.  You wouldn't get rich or poor because of playing cards -- basically it was just to have fun.

Some people, being more competitive, had to win,  It was more fun to beat them because they made such a big deal out of losing but by in large they were not as much fun to play with.  We just enjoyed each other and being together at the most beautiful place on earth. Or at least one of them.  We could fish, and swim and take road trips and have a wonderful time and then enjoy our friends.  That was heaven. And we didn't even know it...oh I imagine that Mom and Ginny did because they both cried for about 30 miles as we left.  I didn't because I had to drive.  Want to know where - here is a picture.  I think my cousin Loren took it.

Sometimes friends from the lake would come to visit us or we would go to visit them and we would play cards. Again not for the card playing but as a vehicle to enjoy each other's company and to have a grand old time.  I miss those days.

First Church

This is the First United Methodist in Ames, Iowa. In many respects it is responsible for my becoming a teacher.

 A friend asked me to send her a picture of the organ in the front of the Sanctuary.  I had not been inside for years but when a friend asks you to do something you do it.  So the other day I drove down and went in the new (impressive) entrance and took some pictures.  It brought back memories.  There have been many changes over the years and it is at its most beautiful right now.  Truly a sanctuary.

 I remember sitting in this place with my mother for church, attending Sunday School and Wednesday Youth Fellowship.  I also addressed the Church at Youth Sunday. I may even still have the talk I gave somewhere. I remember the time when a man who was usually drunk was brought

My favorite stain glass window. 

into church by one of the retired pastors, and another time when the town street walker was in church and how the church "pillars" looked askance at her. And I remember thinking that it was compassionate of the minister to bring the (usually) drunk man into the church and to sit with him and being amused that the woman who Jesus would not have condemned was in the middle of the "church ladies" upsetting them.

When the sermon got boring I could revel in its beauty.

I went there until college and when I took my "gap" year and worked at Collegiate Manufacturing Company I was asked to teach the 7th graders Sunday School class.

I was a difficult teacher even then as I did not follow the curriculum but lead my students through a study of Judaism because Jesus was a Jew.

It was that experience that made me decide to become a teacher. I have never been sorry

When I came back from College I was lead to another Church and eventually joined the ranks of the Church Alumni but I will always have a fondness for the Church of my childhood and I thank it for the lessons it taught me and the guidance I received from its members.

Recess Time

We got some more of that "White Stuff" as Molly calls it. She likes it and she ran outside and ran in a big circle. Seeing that circle got me to thinking. Back when I first started teaching we took students outside twice a day for a Recess. A break from the classroom to play and refresh themselves. It was a good time for them and there are good, sound educational reasons for doing so. The students would generally organize themselves to play certain games which would involve both boys and girls and would be athletic in nature and involve a lot of running and movement. The teachers on "recess duty" would supervise to make sure the games did not get to rough and out of hand so that no one got hurt. The games would sometimes change with the season In later years it seems that many times the activity changed. We had basketball hoops and a football field and the boys would play while the girls would socialize and sit on the swings or the jungle gyms. Sometimes they would just wander around the playground. A game of tag might get started but with the advent of "sports" on TV the character of the playground changed. I think the PE teachers had a lot to do with that also for they used the sports for their curriculum. But that is another story. I went to Wikipedia to share some of the games I remember the kids playing. There were many variations of Tag the one I remembered when I saw the circle in the snow was Fox and Geese

"A traditional type of line tag, sometimes played in snow, is Fox and geese. The fox starts at the centre of a spoked wheel, and the geese flee from the fox along the spokes and around the wheel. Geese that are tagged become foxes. The intersections of the spokes with the wheel are safe zones."

 

This was a form of "Tag' and required snow.  Another form of Tag was "What Time is is Mr. Fox?

One player is chosen to be Mr Fox. Mr Fox stands at the opposite end of the playing field from the other players, facing away from them. A call-and-response then takes place: all players except for Mr Fox chant in unison "What's the time, Mr Fox?", and Mr Fox will answer in one of the two ways:

1) Mr Fox may call a clock time (e.g., "3 o'clock"). The other players will then take that many steps out loud as they go ("One, two, three"). Then they ask the question again.

2) Mr Fox may call "Dinner Time!" Then Mr Fox will turn and chase the other players back to their starting point. If Mr Fox successfully tags a player, that player becomes the new Mr Fox for the next round.

Another Tag game was Duck, Duck Goose.

In this game, usually played by young children, the players sit in a circle facing inward. One player, the "picker" or "fox", walks around tapping or pointing to each player in turn, calling each of them a "duck", until finally announcing one to be the "goose". The goose then rises and runs around the circle in the same direction as the picker, attempting to tag that player before he or she can sit back down in the vacated spot.

As with all games and playground activities the supervising teacher was there to make sure that things did not get out of hand.  If they did not pay attention and make sure rules were followed and the games did not get out of hand there would be complaints which would lead to banning.

Another game (non tag)  was:

Red Rover Red Rover

The game is played between two lines of players, usually around thirty feet apart. The game starts when the first team (usually called the "East" or "West" team, although this does not relate to the actual relative location of the teams) calls out, "Red rover, red rover, send [name of player on opposite team] right over." or "Red Rover, Red Rover, let [name of player of opposing team] come over." or "Red rover, red rover, we call [name of player on opposite team] over."

The immediate goal for the person called is to run to the other line and break the "East" team's chain (formed by the linking of hands). If the person called fails to break the chain, this player joins the "East" team. However, if the player successfully breaks the chain, this player may select either of the two "links" broken by the successful run, and take them to join the "West" team. The "West" team then calls out "Red rover" for a player on the "East" team, and play continues.

When only one player is left on a team, they also must try and break through a link. If they do not succeed, the opposing team wins. 

In later years when I was supervising playground the boys wanted to play football.  They also were playing football in after school leagues and always wanted to play tackle.  This had to be banned on the playground because they did not have protective gear on and so they played tag football or flag football and the girls were mostly relegated to the sidelines.  Once in awhile a girl would play football but that was not usually the case.

I was not in favor of it because of the injuries.  I can remember one mother being very upset because of a broken arm that her child had received playing football after school.  I remember thinking (and I may have even said it)  "What can you expect when you let him play football.  You are lucky the injury was not worse.  

The  teachers were there to modify rules, select appropriate boundaries and equipment, and make sure pupils are safe. Teachers should emphasize tag games that develop self-improvement, participation, fair play, and cooperation and they need to make sure the game does not get out of hand.  Too many times when I was supervising I would see other teachers using the time to visit with one another instead of actively watching to make sure the students were safe and I am sure I did the same thing at times.  

Play is necessary and important to a child's development but it should be play that includes all children and above all it should be safe. Here is an article from the New York Times about the importance of Recess.. The Fourth R.

My Letter Opener

 This is my letter opener.  It used to belong to my grandfather.  He was the head of the Hog Cholera Research Station which was on East 13th Street here in Ames (picture below).  I used to go there when I was younger and this was on his desk.



                                                                                    I do not know if he and my grandmother went to the Pan American Exposition or not (I doubt it) but my grandmother was an antique collector and later had an antique shop in her home. She probably acquired the letter opener and gave it to him to use.
Over the years it has become somewhat   misshapen but that does not matter to me.

 I love the buffalo head and used to use it to pound on the pipes that ran the length of the Research Station.  When I hit the pipe with the head of the buffalo it made a really nice sound.


Poor thing.

The Pan American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York.  It was from May 1 - November 2, 1901.  It is notable as the place where President William McKinley was assassinate by anarchist, Leon Czoigosz at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901, he died 8 days later.,  

I was reading the book The Fifth Assassin when I read about the McKinley Assassination. That got me to thinking about the letter opener.  I read until 3 AM and so things are a bit "off" right now.  I imagine I shall nap today.

 My grandfather's office was on the right hand end of the building.  The left side was where they performed autopsies on the dead hogs.  I can still call up memories of him opening up an animal to study it.  The work that was done at the station developed Crystal Violet Vaccine which eradicated the disease in the United States.

Hog Cholera was eradicated in the United States thanks in part to the work done here.  My grandfather - Dr. C. G. Cole is mentioned in this article

Department scientists realized that a control method involving use of the live virus offered no hope for eradicating hog cholera. So they began work toward a protective vaccine made with killed virus. Research of Drs. Dorset and McBryde, and C.G. Cole at Ames culminated in the development of the crystal violet killed vaccine in 1935. An initial problem of contaminants in the vaccine was overcome when F.W. Tilley patented a procedure 10 years later for preparing a consistently sterile crystal violet vaccine.

I remember Dr. Tilly.  These guys put up with me. There was also Clarence Cameron who worked there. He went by Cameron - He and my grandfather both had the same first name and neither of them liked it. My grandfather was called "Doc" or "Dig" - They called each other P. T.   Since my grandfather was the head of the station he got to live in the farm house on the property.  It was a great place to live and play as a kid as it was surrounded by woods.  but I digress.  Have a great day ARTYAL.

Remembering the Cole House

This is the house that my grandfather's father built.  It was on the corner of 13th and Burnett here in Ames.  When I was a boy my great aunts (my grandfather's sisters lived here.  Aunt Liz was the oldest and did all the cooking when I was little.  She had gone to North Dakota to homestead and sold her homestead and came back here.  The house did not have a refrigerator when I was young nor a gas stove.  They had an "ice box" and an  iron stove where Aunt Liz cooked.  She had a household allowance and would walk all over town to save a few pennies. One of my favorite stories about her was when she got so she could not do the shopping.  She would make out the grocery list for her sisters to do the shopping that she had loved to do.  At the bottom of the list she wrote "Go to Hell."  She was not happy that they made her give it up. She had the bed room in the front of the house on the right side. I think they called it the "front room."  It was the room you entered as you came in the front door and that was where the TV was after they got one. They had a large radio also..

 The house had been built in sections and the left side of the house had a dining room which connected with a bedroom that my great Aunt Avis used.  It had been her father's bedroom earlier so there was also another bedroom upstairs that Aunt Avis had used.  She had been a 2nd grade teacher at Roosevelt Elementary School.  My other great aunt Kate had a bedroom upstairs.  There was also a large room which the boys had used.  Kate had a sort of suite of rooms that were above the dining room.  I used to stay with her when I stayed there on Saturday Nights.  I spent every Saturday night there with them. Kate worked at Iowa State College.

 The house had a lot of big trees in front of it that the city wanted to take out when they put in 13th Street.  My great grandfather would not let them take the trees and so they were there and 13th Street has a "jog" in it to this day. The kitchen was large enough to have a table in it where we could eat most of the time and a pantry where the ice box.  There was also another room between the parlor and the dining room that connected to the bathroom and to a stair that went down to a dug out cellar.  We used to sit on those steps when there was a storm.  My great-aunts were afraid of storms. Across the front of the house was a nice screened in porch,

We used to have large Cole family reunions at the house and family from all over would gather on the front lawn and there would be good food and lots of fun. My grandfather was one of nine children and they dispersed all over.  I would not know most of them today. When we ate inside the large dining room and kitchen were all used and there was a "children's table" where we kids ate set up in the walk through room. It was a bright airy room with something which my aunt called a "what not" which had a lot of little figurines and objects d'art on it. I used to play with some of them.  Perhaps that is why I have a shelf full of similar things to this day.

My grandfather's brother Lewie John used to bring his wife (another Kate called Kate Mike as her maiden name was McMichael) to eat on a Saturday night and he would load us up and take us for a drive.  Many times he would go out to Red's Barber Shop in Campus town and get his hairs cut while we waited in the car.  I can remember one time when I could finally stretch across the backseat of his old Nash Rambler and reach from my head to my toes.

These were a part of my extended family.  I walked to my great Uncle Lew and Aunt Kate's place every day for lunch and spent Wednesday nights at their place. They lived in the house at 522 Crawford that my great grandfather Underwood build.

I know that every person has a wonderful family.. well most everyone.  I am extremely fortunate to have had the one I had.

The house at 522 Crawford still stands the house at 13th and Burnett was torn down and the Assembly of God church built a large church there. I am sure that it would have come down eventually but I will always remember with fondness the Cole House.

A Memory

When Ginny and Bruce and I were at Red Lobster for Christmas Eve dinner we got to talking and she brought up the old High School that I attended.  She was in the elementary school right across from the High School building.  It had been the original school and later was made into the elementary school.  The buildings were close together and both were "vintage" when we went there in the late 1950s.

I don't know who the architect of the school was but he obviously had no idea of what went on in a school.  You see the building was built around the gymnasium/auditorium.

Gilbert, Iowa is a small community just five miles (or so) north of Ames.  It has a large area for the school district and now includes North Ames where a lot of the wealthy people built their homes. It is in much better financial situation than it was at the time the school (building) I went to was in.

There were only 17 in my High School Graduating class. But I digress.

As I said the school was built around the gymnasium. At one end was the stage where we put on the play each year. I remember one of them was entitled "Grandad steps out."  Above the stage was the choir room accessed by some small undoubtedly unsafe steps (I worked as the janitor's assistant when I was in High School and was lifting a heavy floor buffer up those steps and dropped it on my finger, cut it deep, blood, pain, trip to the emergency room, stitches...all in a day's work).  Below and to the back were the locker rooms.  The gymnasium also served as an auditorium for musical programs and graduation and we held prom there.

The balls bouncing while the basketball team practiced and the P.E. classes used it was a real distraction to the classrooms.  Around the gym was a balcony which led to the second story classrooms.  The west side of the building housed the library (a small room with books and magazines manned by an upperclassman) and the study hall room.  On the east side of the building at the top of a short staircase was the office of the Superintendent of Schools...Mr. V. L. Schwank (not sure that is spelled correctly). From here in his lofty perch he could keep an eye on the whole school and make announcements on a PA system that covered the entire school or just one classroom as necessary.  He could also listen in on classrooms if he so desired.

In the spring time we held P.E. out on the field in front of the Ag Ed. building and one day my class was out there and Carole came running up to me. Carole was a new girl. Much as I was.  Most of our classmates had been together since Kindergarten and we were newcomers, I spending only the last four years of my schooling at Gilbert. She was blond and nice looking and just a little "wild."  I had a car and I think that is why she came up to me.  "Come on she said I need you to take me to so and so's farm (I cannot remember who owned the farm but it was somebody from Gilbert).  I left the class on the promise of a pass to get back into it when we came back.  Off we went and she went out to the chicken yard and captured (as it turned out) an unfortunate chicken.

I asked Carole why she was getting the chicken.  She said that the student teacher (a jock from ISU) in charge of the study hall mad the remark that he would need a chicken to interpret these "hen scratches" on a student's paper and she had volunteered to get one.

When we arrived back at the school I followed her up the steps to go and get my pass. As we went up to turn left to go to the study hall Mr. Schwank was on the other side of the balcony just going up to his office. He saw Carole with the chicken and went right on. She opened the classroom door and much to the delight of the students, tossed the chicken in.  The students were delighted and hilarity ensued...soon the dreaded VOICE came over the speaker. Carole _________report to the Superintendent's office.  Off she went and I got my pass and returned to PE.  (Just a little thankful that I was not included in the summons.)

I asked her after school what he had wanted.  She said she told him the story and he sent her back to class.  I don't think my PE teacher even missed me because he seemed surprised when I gave him the pass.

The chicken, I did say unfortunate.  The student teacher had it for dinner.  He claimed it was tough and stringy.

P.S. In case you were wondering the finger which was my right index finger had a scar on it for years but after 50 years it seems to have healed but (if I use my imagination) it still feels a little "odd" when I touch something like the keyboard with it.

That's my story and I am sticking with it.

Getting in the Newspaper

I don't get into the newspaper much (with one notable exception which won't be mentioned) but in two cases there were positive stories.  The first is one from when I taught at Roosevelt School.  This picture was taken by the Tribune Photographer as my class and I went to the Ames Patriotic Council Veteran's Day Program.   We were not far from downtown and the Council asked that we bring flags to the program.  (I was either a Past President or working my way to be President of the Council which is responsible for the Veteran's Day or the Memorial Day programs for the city.)  It was a beautiful day and a good outing for the students.  I was surprised the next day to see this picture splashed all over the front page of the Tribune.

I suppose now that parents would complain about the students missing class today but back then they were more supportive.

 I used to be on a Facebook group for people who live in Ames but there was one person on there who was continually complaining about everything.  She ranted about fluoride in the water and then got everyone going on about how her kid missed music class because of a program which was put on by Ronald McDonald. (It had nothing to do with the restaurant but rather the program was about doing nice things for one another.)  Her child is not even in the school but is home schooled and comes over to the school for Art and Music. (picking and choosing what you want...when did education become a smorgasbord?)  She was highly critical of the school and other parents joined in with her.  I decided to drop the group.

The second clipping was for a play I was in for ACTORS.  That is our Ames Community Theater group and I used to be involved and this was a play by Megan Terry called Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place.

Keep Tightly Closed in a Cool Dry Place begins in a jail cell that contains two bunks and a single bed. At the start of the play, Jaspers, Michaels, and Gregory face the audience, then combine to become a human machine. Soon they change from parts of the machine to prisoners in a cell by moving in a “military manner” to their bunks. It soon becomes clear that all three have been accused of the murder of Jaspers’s wife. The audience does not know which one has committed the murder, nor is it clear whether a murder has actually taken place at all.

I played the part of Jaspers. It was pretty advanced for Ames at that time and the language was not something you would have heard at that time.  I think my favorite line was "Cut off that bastard's balls."  The play was in the round and we were very close to the audience.  I can still remember hearing some woman in the audience whispering (loudly) to her friend.."I knew his grandmother - I wonder what she would have said about him saying those lines."  I got a chuckle out of it.  Actually we got good reviews and I enjoyed it.  

It was fun to find these clippings among my photographic treasures.  I have to thank my sister for sorting them out originally for me.

Let Me Tell You A Story

Hi folks,  I have a story to tell. I have a picture at the bottom of this post to illustrate the story. It didn't scan very well but it will have to do.  

Years and years ago I used to go to Leech Lake in Minnesota.  My aunt and uncle, Fran and Harold Dawson who lived in Adel used to go up there and the first time I went up I rode with my grandparents.  They drove all that way for a long week-end and they both loved it.  They went to Leech Lake in Walker and there was a resort there run by the Bantz's, Paul and Germa.  

It seems like everyone in the family fell in love with the place and them.  We all started taking our vacations up there and for about 20 years Mom, Ginny and I went there for one, two, three or four weeks in the summer.  Even if I took another vacation I made it to Minnesota for the vacation.  In 1976 I came back from Egypt and Greece and went to the lake.  I held my first slide show of the Egyptian slides on the front porch of the cabin.

My aunt and uncle used to spend the entire summer up there and my uncle Harold loved to fish and my aunt Fran liked to sit on the porch and read.   There was a card came at the Lodge every night and we all had our little cabins.  The people who came there became our extended family and great friends.  We all tried to be up there at the same time.

But that is not the story this time.  This is a fish story.  My uncle Harold, as I said, loved to fish.  Most of the time he went out fishing alone.  Once in awhile Fran would go out with him but she didn't like to stay out on the lake for a long time.

When I was there most mornings I would go fishing with Harold.  We would get up as my friend John says at O'dark hundred and eat some breakfast (I think I really don't remember that part) and head on down to the boat. Then off we would go to fish Walker Bay which is (to my memory) one of the most beautiful places in the world.   I was pretty young when we first started out doing this. Uncle Harold would bait my hook and he taught me how to catch the fish and for years he would clean the fish for me. I never caught much but I loved to go out with Harold and we had a great time.  The lake could change from calm and beautiful to rough and dangerous without much warning.  People would get caught out in a storm and the boat we were in was not always the safest place to be. But for the most part we were safe and secure.

As I said, I never caught much,  not like my cousin Michael who fishes for Muskies and has caught several of those monster fish.  Everybody wanted to catch the big fish.  Some of them did. 

Harold liked to catch Walleyes.  I was never very good catching them.  But there was this one time when we went out and were fishing the south end of the bay. It was a nice day.  The water was calm and the sky was clear and was reflected in the surface of the water.  I threw my (baited ) hook in the water.  (By this time I was baiting them myself) and waited. It did not seem like a long time until I felt a tug on my line, then a full out pull and that fish began to fight being caught.  I had hooked a Northern Pike and let me tell you it was the most exciting fish I have ever caught.  It was a big one and he fought and pulled but we finally got the son of a bitch (guys can talk like that when we are out on the lake but come to think of it Harold was a real gentleman and I don't remember him ever saying anything like that....I must be projecting.) up close enough to net and I brought him home.  He weighed about 14 pounds but the guy in town who weighed him said that he had not eaten for quite awhile and would probably have weighed in at 21 pounds if he had eaten.  I did not have him mounted but he was displayed in the window at Reed's downtown.  

I have a character flaw.  When I succeed at something I am apt to give it up. I once played Bridge and got a Grand Slam and decided it would never happen again so I gave it up.  With fishing it may have been that Harold decided that along with baiting the hook it was time for me to start cleaning my own fish and I really did not like doing that.  The first fish I cleaned wound up with filets the size of a quarter.   

Here is the picture of Harold and me and out "catch" of the day.  By the way that was the only time I was ever slender.  I had dieted and lost weight to the place where I had a 38 inch waist.  I looked pretty good.  Then I gave up smoking and gained a bunch of weight. Not so much fun, but I am still here.

Those were good times.

My first formal portrait

I don't know the story behind this picture.  I just know that my great aunt Ethyl, whom we called Auntie, was a photographer and she probably took this picture and they liked it so much that they sent it to a studio in Minnesota and had it blown up and colored. I brought up some pictures from the basement (or rather Jon did) and found a treasure trove of pictures which I will be scanning and sharing in the coming weeks. In addition I found an entire album of my cousin Bud and his family which I will give to Randy the next time I see him.  I think he will like having it. In the meantime here are some more pictures from this era....

We lived on East Sixth Street in Ames and there was a short sidewalk that I played on.  The house was small but the neighborhood was great.  It was a cul de sac and there wasn't much traffic.

As I got older and after my parents divorced we moved out to my grandparents home on East 13th Street.  But I went to Beardshear School and that was just a few blocks from this neighborhood.  My great uncle and aunt Cole lived in the house at the corner of 6th and Crawford and as there was no school lunch program I would walk down there for noon lunch every day.  My great aunt (Kate Mike) made the greatest corn bread.

And of course I learned to walk there.

This may have been taken in Adel at my mother's sister Fran and her husband Harold's farm.  We liked to go there and I may have been on Cousin John's hobby horse.  Or it could have been someone else's.  I don't really remember that it was mine.  Anyway I have always liked this photo.

 I am glad I finally have a scanner that works.  Another photo I scanned today was of my cousin George Underwood who passed this last August.  It was in his football uniform.  I thought you might like to see it.

Thanks for taking the trip down memory lane with me.  j

Elementary Memories

I had these pictures in a collage box which someone gave me. The pictures are all of me. The one in the upper right is one of the "school pictures" that we were required to have taken each year.  Not sure when the baby picture was taken but the ones in the jumper were taken in the fall of 1946 when I started school.  My great aunt Kate worked at Iowa State University and she arranged for a photographer from there to come and take pictures of my frist day of school.  I was 4 years old.  My birthday was in November and while you were supposed to be 5 when you started school they gave me some tests and I passed them so I could start school at 4. 

It may have been a good thing but I was always a bit younger than the other kids and so was probably immature.  Smart enough but behind the other socially.  Not that I noticed it.  I just went to school and what a school.  Beardshear School in Ames was a great place to attend school.  I went there through 5th grade.  I do not remember my Kindergarten and First grade teacher but my Second Grade teacher was Miss Steele. She was marvelous.

My mother always told the story of how she visited school and came away thinking that Miss Steele was too strict but that I seemed to love her so she didn't say anything.  I am glad she didn't because I did love here and I learned a lot from her, both in and out of the classroom.  

One time when I was in 4th or 5th grade I was walking with Miss Steele along the street after school.  I would walk downtown and meet my mother at Dixon's Drug where I could read comics and have a coke while I waited for Mom.  As we were walking I was walking on the inside.  Miss Steele gently moved me to the street side and told me that a gentleman always walked on the outside so that when the horse and buggy went by the lady would not be splashed by the mud thrown up by the horses. 

(Years later I learned that it was because the night soil would be tossed out from second story windows onto the street and the real protection was so that the lady would not be covered with that disgusting "stuff" as she walked closest to the house and it would pass over her on its way to the curb but Miss Steele's explanation was much more appropriate for an elementary student)

My third grade teacher was Miss Mabee (sp) and she was sweeter (grandmotherly type) and I remember we studied Native Americans and I brought in some trees from the woods to use as tent poles.  In that less politically correct time we studied Indians.

Fourth Grade was Miss Kirby and she read Misty of Chincoteague  (by American author Marguerite Henry) to us.  The book was written in 1947 so it was very new.  I remember that Miss Kirby had the same first name as Mrs. Henry.  She lived on a farm about two miles outside of town and we went on a picnic out there. (Later when I read to my own students they loved it also.  It is truly a timeless story and the illustrations are wonderful)

Fifth grade was taught by two teachers. One of them was also the principal of the school so she taught half the day and the other half was taught by someone else (Mrs Moore, I think).  Miss Carlson was the principal. I was always just a little leery of her.  Guilt probably, I think I was kind of a brat.

My mother remarried (a man named Chuck Jackson) and we moved to Atlantic, Iowa (where I attended Jackson Elementary School) and then Jackson, Nebraska and then back to Ames but to the North side of town so Ginny (my sister who was born in Atlantic) and I went to Gilbert to school. I went by Jay Jackson during this time but never legally changed my name so when it was time to get my driver's license I decided I should go back to using my legal name.

All of these teachers were still around when I came back to Ames in 1969 to teach in the Ames Schools.  In fact Miss Carlson and Miss Steele were still teaching and both of them made it a point to take me up to Walt Hetzel (the Superintendent of Schools) to introduce me to him as one of their students.  It made me feel quite special.. In fact they always made me feel special and that is the true test of a great teacher.  

Thanks for walking down memory lane with me. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. j

Tears for Bella

I received the following from The Elephant Sanctuary.  Tears are in my eyes for Tarra and all who loved Bella. R.I.P Little One.  You are loved.

My dear friends, I write to you with very sad news. Tarra's little dog Bella has died. We found her body on Wednesday and have been dealing with the aftermath ever since, trying to work out what happened while we look after Tarra and each other. We noticed Bella was not with Tarra at breakfast on Tuesday and later that morning she still had not appeared. Tarra and Bella have always spent short periods apart as one goes off exploring briefly on their own, but this longer absence worried us deeply and a search of the property was started which continued into the next day. The search ended tragically when Bella's body was found close to the Asia barn that had long been home to Tarra, her five sisters and Bella. During the time of the search our usually social Tarra chose to remain alone, watched over by concerned Caregivers. Dr. Scott, our vet of sixteen years, examined Bella for the last time and, with advice from the experts from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, determined the probable cause of death was an attack by animals, most likely coyotes. We have sent off samples to see whether there were any other contributory causes. Having carefully examined Bella's wounds and the place where she was found, we concluded that Bella had not been attacked near where she was found and neither could she have walked there. As these investigations were taking place observant Caregivers, even more watchful of Tarra than usual, noticed blood on the underside of her trunk, evidence that pointed us in the direction of what likely happened that fateful night. The most probable scenario is that during the night Bella strayed from Tarra briefly and was set upon. Tarra arrived too late to save her but was able to stop further damage being done to Bella's body. With deep sadness and deeper wonder we come to comprehend what likely happened next—that Tarra picked Bella up and carried her home. Further evidence in support of our belief for what happened comes from Tarra herself. After Bella had been found, Caregivers ensured Tarra had every chance to inspect Bella's body before it was buried and to come to terms with her death, as this is an important part of the grieving process for elephants. But Tarra was not interested in either Bella or the group of Caregivers who would normally have drawn our inquisitive Girl to see what was happening. It was only later when we had pieced together the whole picture that Tarra's behavior at Bella's grave made sense. Our poor, brave, loving Girl knew what had happened to her beloved Bella and, in the dark hours of the night as she carried her body home, had come to terms with her death. Tarra's sisters will help her through her sadness. Although we cannot take away Tarra's pain immediately or the pain of all those that knew Bella, I do know Bella knew true love and true freedom. It will always be so for animals that find Sanctuary.    CEO ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We are very concerned for Tarra and the grief she must feel at the loss of Bella. Caregivers are carefully monitoring her during her time of mourning. She still has a healthy appetite, and we are sure she will lean on the support of her elephant sisters, especially Shirley, during this difficult time.  She appears to be doing remarkably well under the circumstances, and we will, of course, keep you informed through updates in the Asian Ele-Diary and in Ele-Notes. Please pay your tributes to Bella on her Tribute Page. We will be posting a press release shortly to the news section of the website. “Bella, you will live on forever in our hearts. Don't worry, we will continue to look after Tarra, just as you looked after each other.” The Elephant Sanctuary Staff Memories like these make us smile through our sadness…. Tarra and Bella in the Snow Tarra and Bella Summertime

Movie Theaters in Ames

I have always loved going to the movies.  This is a photo of the old Collegian Theater here in Ames.  I don't know what the picture was taken for but it shows the theater,  There is a bank where the theater once stood.  I actually think the theater was better for the community than the bank but that is another story.  The bank took out all the neat stuff that was in the theater including the seats, some of which line the Masonic Lodge in Ames.   

There were four theaters in Ames.  This was my favorite. It was on the West end of Main Street. I used to sit down close to the screen. I guess now I realize that was probably because I needed glasses. No one knew that but when I was in fifth grade the teacher noticed that I was squinting and using my hands to help me focus.  I could read just fine (still can) without glasses but could not see things far off.  I remember when I got the glasses I was amazed to be able to see individual leaves on the trees across the street.

Oops - off topic. The Collegian was quite large and had some large stuffed fish (one a swordfish) that the manager of the theaters in Ames, Joe Gerbrach had caught.  They were impressive.  Inside the theater was a second lobby where you could buy popcorn, candy and drinks.  You had to go upstairs to the restrooms and the lounges up there were very nice.  They had chairs that were built so that when you sat in them one person on each side you could have a private conversation.

The other end of Main Street we had the Capitol Theater which was where you went to see the Hopalong Cassidy movies and Westerns and Serials.  My most vivid memory of the Capitol was when they would not let me in. The price was for Children under 12 and that was what I had in order to go to the movie.  The girl would not believe that I was not older.  I was big for my age.  I had to go down to the drugstore to call my grandmother who went down to the theater and chewed the girl out.  I can still hear her saying "That boy does not lie!"  She was still sputtering about it when I got back from the movie.  I carried that with me all my life.

The Varsity Theater in Campustown was just a plain theater where you went to see movies.  It held a lot of people and was probably a moneymaker for the Ames Theater Company because it was located near the college.  The really sad thing about it was what happened to it in the end.  The Cinemark people came in and purchased the theaters in Ames and now they have a monopoly.  They gradually closed most of them and now they have the North Grand 5 and Cinemark 12.  The Varsity was the last one closed.  The ISU student government thought that it would be nice to purchase it and use it for their own purposes. I heard a rumor that they were unable to do anything with it because the Cinemark people had hired folks to go in and destroy it for use as a theater.  I have no idea if that is true or not but if it is it is too bad.

The Ames Theater was also in Campustown and its attraction was that it had a balcony.  I never liked sitting up there as I have a little problem with vertigo and I could always imagine myself falling off.  Some of the rowdy kids used to throw candy off the balcony so I sat underneath so they couldn't hit me.  Then I imagined the balcony crashing down on me.  I was imaginative to say the least.

Finally there was the Ranch Drive In on the West side of town.  Mom and Thelma Martin used to pop up a large bag of pop corn and would take us there Two adults and 4 kids.  They had a playground just below the screen where we could go to play before the movie started and then go back to watch the movie in our car.  You could purchase a little incense right to keep the bugs out and it was sometime hard to see but we all enjoyed it and it was a great way for the mothers to have some time together and we enjoyed ourselves.

It is so sad that the theater experience in Ames is no longer a special thing.  Going to the movies here is a chore and instead of cartoons we now have endless advertising,  slow ticket and concession lines, restrooms inconveniently located and crummy parking. I really have to want to see the movie in order to make the effort to go.