Only 50 Years

Come on, it wasn't that long ago! Jerri Gail attended the 50th Anniversary celebration at Riverside last week. We were in the first grade together.

Awwwwwwww.



And here we are today, after the discovery of color.

Celebration!

Going to Shreveport

I'll be driving up to Shreveport today to attend the 50th year celebrations.

Pictures to follow. Watch this spot for updates!

Air Conditioning

The school has changed quite a bit since I was last there in 1963. For one thing I hear they have air conditioning. What will they think of next, closed circuit TV?

The school didn't have air conditioning when I was there between 1957 and 1963. Some classrooms had fans, but they only moved the air slightly. But, back then it wasn't a big deal because not many places did have air conditioning. Some homes had compressors but other homes used evaporation coolers.

It was rare to find a car with air conditioning. We rolled down the windows.

Classrooms were hot and sticky in the Autumn and Spring. To keep our school papers dry we would slip an extra sheet of paper under our forearm and palm to soak up the sweat. Nobody made a fuss; it's just the way it was.

It will be interesting to walk into a cool classroom but somehow it just won't be the same.

Latest News

Here's the latest news on the 50th Year Reunion at Riverside Elementary.

It's a year-long celebration started this semester.

On Friday, September 14th, Riverside hosted a Sock Hop attended by students and teachers who dressed in fifties attire, danced and enjoyed Coke floats!

I wish I could have been there.

A reunion event is being planned for Friday, October 5th and Saturday October 6th.

On Friday there will be an open house at Riverside from 9-11 a.m. with special guests and former students. A number of original Rams have been located and will attend this event. There will be a tribute by the school choir, a silent auction and a birthday cake celebration. Great fun to be had by all!

On Saturday there will be a fish fry from 11:30-1 with music and the silent auction. The money raised will go to education and audio equipment for the school.

Shreveport, Louisiana. Riverside Elementary School. 50-year Celebration. Two weeks away! Be there!

The Sixth Year

The Sixth Year at Riverside meant we were at the end of our elementary school journey. We were also at the end of the building. As with all the grades, there were two sixth grade classes: Mr. Willy's and Mr. McGuffin's.

I was in Mr. McGuffin's class, and that fact heralded another change moving to the sixth grade.

The sixth grade teachers were MEN.

Yes, it's true! Men teachers. We had heard stories in the Fifth Grade about what was expected from Men teachers. Better behavior, obedience, Yes Sir No Sir attitude.

But, what weighed heavily on our minds was one thing: swats.

Men teachers gave swats.

Now, modern readers might wonder what a "swat" is and I don't blame them. Corporal punishment has not been a part of education practice for many years, but back in my day at Riverside the swat was something to be feared.

The first day of class, in fact, Mr. McGuffin showed us his swatter. It was a magazine that had been rolled up tightly and wrapped in masking tape. As an illustration he smacked it against the blackboard a few times for effect. Chalk dust flew and we all jumped in our seats.

Class was very quiet.

I think, in retrospect, that was the purpose of the demonstration. To my knowledge Mr. McGuffin only used the swat once, maybe twice. I seem to recall a day, it was probably raining (bad stuff always happened on rainy days) where he gave the entire class a swat; girls, too. It wasn't much of a swat and it could have been a game or distraction for all I know.

The bottom line is that the Swatting Era was not all that traumatic. We survived and lived to tell the tale.

What I remember most about Mr. McGuffin's class, however, is art. Mr. McGuffin was quite an artist and we spent many class hours drawing murals in colored chalk on the board. Also, he taught us perspective. We had to write an original story and illustrate it. I still have my story and a picture, in perspective, that I drew in chalk in his class.

We came away from the Sixth Grade with discipline, a respect for each other and an appreciation of art which, at least for this person, has stood the test of time.

Thank you, Mr. McGuffin, wherever you are, for helping to shape our lives.

Postscript

In the class photo Mr. McGuffin stands there implacable, like Rod Serling introducing an episode of the Twilight Zone.

I can almost hear McGuffin-Serling describing the scene. Something like this...

Standing before you, anticipating the flash of the camera, is the Class of 1963. Twenty-six young men and women who at this moment have no idea what is in store for them around the next corner, through the next door or even if they will leave the stage they are standing on. They don't realize at this point in time that the stage they are standing on is a stage in their lives, and from this stage they will act out twenty-six different dramas with twenty-six different endings. They're smiling now but the smiles will fade when they step down, face a cold, stark reality and enter their real lives in...

The Twilight Zone

*cue Twilight Zone music*

Small World

We moved to Houston in 1997. It was a big move and involved uprooting the kids from their schools and transplanting them in new schools. It involved buying a new house and starting new jobs. Really, it was something people do all the time but it was sill an adventure.

Little did I know that another family had done the same thing only a few months earlier. More about that later.

So, fast forward a few years and I find myself a frequent flyer. Not by choice, I assure you! But, there I am flying from Houston to the mid-west every few weeks.

Looking down as our jet glided into Bush International Airport I saw the lake and houses, lights, cars and occasionally people. I often wondered who they were and what they did.

Wonder no more, at least for one family.

This week I had lunch with a classmate of mine whom I haven't seen for 43 years. Check out the Second Grade phot on this site. The guy on the left, saluting, is Dean, and the guy on the far right is me.

Yes, we found each other through this website after 43 years and had a wonderful lunch together just last week. Dean had grown considerably and given up his saluting habit, whereas I had grown a beard. However, we recognized each other and spent a few hours catching up on old and new times.

There is a connection between people that is established in grade school and in high school. Most reunions are from high school but I felt the same sort of connection and commonality with Dean as I had in meeting high school mates years later.

It's something about spending formative years with these people that creates an indellible bond.

I'm not complaining, just observing.

Reunion Update!

Christy Terrill, the current principal at Riverside has the following to report:

Well we are off to a great start with this school year. So much smoother
than last year.

Our birthday committee is really working hard to get
things going.

Some info for you to pass along--

September 14: 50's Sock Hop!

Friday, October 5: Tour of the school and a Birthday Cake!

Saturday, October 6: Fish fry fund raiser and silent auction.

I'll be there with bells on my toes.

Reunion

Friday, October 5, 2007.

Watch this space for details.

Returned Again

Hello All.

I've been in Europe for a month at the 21st World Scout Jamboree. It was a great experience.

While I was gone I was contacted by a classmate of mine whom I haven't had contact in many, many years. Hopefully, this site will foster more of those connections.

So, Riverside is planning a celebration for October, 2007!

Details to follow, but I think it will be in the first week of October, the 5th.

The Fifth Year

Mrs. Sheffield was a great teacher and 5th grade was a great year. We were in a new decade and the sky was the limit, literally. The US space program was in full swing and all our attention was to the sky.

The Fourth Year

Fourth grade found our class at the end of the second wing of the school; our final year as "little kids."

Fourth grade also brought new challenges in Science and Art. We worked on expiriments with magnets and created ceramics using plaster molds and a magical, goopy substance called "slip."

Except for backsliding in citizenship, it appears to have been a good year.

The Third Year

Here we are all grown up! That's our story and we're sticking with it.

Mrs. Gray's class. Alas, no Mrs. Gray in the picture. What's up with that?

As I recall, Mrs. Gray was doing double duty. Not only was she our teacher, but she was moving to a new job as principal at a different school. We all liked Mrs. Gray, but for most of the year we had a marvelous substitute teacher, a veritable clone of Mrs. Gray named Mrs. White.

From my report card I can tell that 3rd grade was a banner year for me in terms of Citizenship! Apparently, during this Prague Spring of my youth I learned to obey school rules.

And like Prague Spring it wouldn't last forever.

There were two aspects to the Third Grade that I recall. First, we moved from the first wing to the second wing. We had access to a different part of the playground but not the back area where the fifth and sixth graders hung out. We were sort of in the middle. But, we were moving up and in a few years we would be kings, all of us.

Second was the Twilight Zone. As a third grader I was deemed "old enough" to watch the Twilight Zone every Friday night. It came on at 9pm which means my bedtime had been extended. In fact, I was allowed to stay up past 10pm on a Friday which meant I could take in the monster movie that came on after the Twilight Zone.

Being able to watch the Twilight Zone was a very big deal because it was the main topic of conversation for much of the subsequent week. This was 1959 and the episodes were new, never before seen and the Twilight Zone was by far the most exciting show on television.

The 1959-1960 season had some of the best Twilight Zones ever:

One for the Angels with Ed Wynn.

The Lonely with Jack Warden.

Time Enough at Last with Burgess Meredeth.

Third from the Sun about escaping TO Earth.

The Monsters are Due on Maple Street with Jack Weston and Claude Akins.

A Stop at Willoughby with James Daly.

It was a sterling season for Rod, that's for sure.

The Big Toy

I'll probably write a few stories about the Big Toy because it was a Big Deal at Riverside Elementary.

The Big Toy was a set of playground equipment installed in 1961; I was in the 5th grade.

This was not just any playground equipment. No sirree! We had swings and we had the jungle gym and we had the baseball diamonds, but we didn't have the Big Toy.

As it was explained to us, the Big Toy wasn't a toy. No, no no! It was an Obstacle Course designed by (educational scientists?) someone to improve our fitness, agility and spatial coordination.

OK. Yeah. Right. Spatial whatzis.

The Big Toy took a month to install. There were holes to dig, pipes to set, concrete to pour. But, finally, it was done. As I recall it consisted of 6 or 7 pieces of playground equipment designed to work different parts of our body. In fact, the Big Toy came with an instruction manual and that's where the fun really began.

Unlike the concrete pipes, galvanized jungle gyms and swings, the Big Toy was galmorous. Tubular steel, bright colors in enamel and quite something to look at.

Finally, at long last, the Big Day came and we would be allowed access to the Big Toy. However, that day was painful beyond our wildest expectations because we were told we had to follow the guide. You see, the Big Toy wasn't just a toy, it was something to improve us and blah, blah, blah, so we had to do it right.

What is right?

Right is like the guide says to do. You start at the left side and work your way to the right, then circle around and do it over again. The Big Toy consisted of a climbing tower with chain linked ladders, balancing beams, a horizontal bar and other bits and pieces that I can't remember. The climbing tower and horizontal bars constitute my most vivid memories.

According to the "guide" we had to line up in single file, then follow the course in order: walk the beam, climb the tower, do the next thing, cross the bars, and blah, blah, to the end.

We did that once.

Once.

After that it was a free for all! We climbed! We jumped! We balanced! And most of all we didn't follow directions because we were kids and there were "rules."

In the end, kids win and rules lose when it comes to something like the Big Toy.

Postscript: When I visited Riverside in 1993 the last part of the Big Toy was being removed. I think it was one of the balance beams, but I can't be sure. I do know that thousands of kids had a great amount of fun on the Big Toy and I am grateful to whomever funded it and had it installed. Of course, as kids we never think of those things.

We just have fun.

The Second Year

I don't remember much about Second Grade.

By all accounts, Mrs. Mathieu was a kind and patient teacher, two necessary qualities to teach second grade.

However, I might have been a handful. On the grading scale used at that time a 1 was good and a 4 was bad, but surprisingly not the worst.

The explanation of the code numbers reveals:

1. Effort and progress are high.
2. Effort and progress are satisfactory.
3. Effort and progress are unsatisfactory for promotion.
4. Progressing, but has ability to do better.

So, was a 3 worse than a 4? You would think that a 3 would be progressing and a 4 unsatisfactory. Very confusing!

However, back to the story. I received 1's and 2's in academics, and a solid strip of 4's in Citizenship, especially Observing School Rules.

What rules? We don't need no stinking rules!

Ah, perhaps that kind of thinking was part of the problem.

As We Were Then

First Grade

Mrs. Merhant's class.

There were two First Grade classes in the inagural year of Riverside Elementary. Shreveport was growing and the subdivisions to the south of the school would continue to expand over the next six years. Cotton fields would be replaced by housing tracts and the wild, open spaces we explored would become streets full of homes. My street, Meadowbrook, was right on the edge of "civilization." Nothing but fields and cotton to the east and south. That would change sooner than later.

The Bookmobile Cometh

As a kid I loved going to the library. I still do, for that matter, but the Internet has become my library and for an information sponge like myself it's like living in a library!

To be honest I don't recall whether Riverside had a library or not. I don't have any memories of a library other than the branch library in Shreveport where I checked out books every week and even participated in a summer reading club. I remember a library at Youree Drive Junior High, but not Riverside.

I do remember the Bookmobile!

The Bookmobile came to school every few weeks and we were allotted some time to go inside and check out books. My passion was (and still is) Science Fiction and in a few months I had exhausted the offerings in the Kid's Section and had crept over into the Adult Section.

The Adult Section of the Bookmobile was roped off. You weren't supposed to go past the rope. But the SciFi shelf was near the floor and I found that I could sit on the floor in the Kid's Section but read the SciFi titles in the Adult Section. It didn't take me long to realize that with a little stealth I could whisk a book off of the Adult SciFi shelf and check it out big as you please.

It was through the Bookmobile that I was introduced to the great science fiction of the 50's: Asimov, Clarke, Heinlein, Bova, Simak, Bradbury, Verne and Wells.

I read the Invisible Man and War of the Worlds, Mysterious Island, Dog, I Robot and many adventures about Mars.

Then came the fateful day. It comes to all who skulk in the shadows. Eventually.

I got caught.

Red Planet Handed.

While sneaking another book off the shelf I suddenly noticed a pair of feet. The Librarian. I dropped the book in shock and, panicked, I looked for a way out, but the aisles were filled with kids and the Librarian was blocking the exit at the front. I was trapped.

Then the Librarian knelt down and asked me a couple of questions. Did I enjoy reading? Why did I like science fiction? What's wrong with the fiction books in the Kid's Section? I told her that I really loved reading and that science fiction really interested me and I had my own telescope and everything, and that there was nothing wrong with the books in the Kid's Section only I had read them all.

The Librarian smiled and asked me to stand up. Shaking, I complied. OK, I thought, here it comes, another trip to the Principal's Office.

But, no! The Librarian unhooked the rope and told me to step into the Adult Section. It was OK. I was invited. In fact, she had some other books I might be interested in. Then she introduced me to some of her personal friends: Dickens, Bronte, Hemingway, Williams, London, Twain, Conrad and others.

I learned that it could be just as engaging floating down the Mississippi River on a raft as it was rocketing to the moon. I discovered biographies and spent months reading about Washington, Franklin, Boone, Crockett, Bell, Watt and many others.

So, maybe Riverside didn't have a library, but those adults who supported education provided us with opportunity and encouragement to stretch our wings as far as we could.

To the unknown Librarian on the Bookmobile, thank you! You helped to develop in me a lifelong love of learning that continues to this day.

The Riverside Letter.

A mark of pride for the Riverside athlete.

I earned my letter in baseball which was the only sport that offered a letter at the time! Lucky me.

I played center field although it turns out that I was a very good second baseman. The coach once remarked that I was helpful to play in center field because the Mom of the second baseman was a real pain in the ass.

Maybe that's why I got my letter. Not so much service to center field, but service to Coach's piece of mind.

Well, whatever it takes.

Not quite. I have one thing to get off my chest after 50 years.

I was a damn good pitcher, not that I got the chance. The coach had alread pegged me for a lousy outfielder. Yeah, that's because I was nearsighted, which wouldn't be discovered for another 9 years! However, I had a great infield arm and could pitch hard and fast.

During one practice, and I remember this as if it were yesterday, Coach called me off the bench to pitch a few, that is, if I could get a couple of balls across the plate.

The first batter came up to the plate and I struck him out. Then the next came to the plate and I stuck him out, too. And the next, and the next. Finally, Coach came to the mound and told me I didn't have "team spirit" and sent me to the outfield.

Ah, the 50's. Not like today. Yeah, right.

Teachers to Remember

First Grade - Mrs. Barbara (Bradford) Merchant

Second Grade - Mrs. Anne Mathieu

Third Grade - Mrs. Thelma Gray (who became a Principal and was replaced by Mrs. White)

Fourth Grade - Mrs. Roslyn Chiesa

Fifth Grade - Mrs. Jennie M. Sheffield

Sixth Grade - Mr. James E. McGuffin

Principal - Mr. Charles E. Cozean

Riverside Elementary in Shreveport, Louisiana celebrates 50 years of excellence in education beginning with these fine teachers. Thank you for your dedication and patience.

(More about patience later!)

First Trip to the Principal's Office

Every school kid gets a trip to the Principal's office.

Don't they?

I got my first trip in the First Grade. Start off on the right foot; I always say that. Thinking back, I don't recall the exact details but I do remember the consequences.

It had been raining for a couple of days. The playground was soggy and where the grass had yet to grow it was a quagmire. We were 24 or so first graders cooped up in a classroom all day, but the school clock and schedule continued to tick along as if nothing unusual was happening.

Well, something unusual was happening. First grader kids were becoming restless, tired of being cooped up all day. Something was going to blow!

Our teacher, as if endowed with a sense of ESP decided to spend afternoon recess in the teacher's lounge where she no doubt smoked a carton of Camels and chugged a quart of Jim Beam, such was the effect our delightful dispositions must have had on her. Perhaps she spent the hour pouring over her teacher's contract looking for a loophole; an escape clause.

Whatever she did is lost in the mists of history but the one thing she did that is not in dispute was to Leave a Class of First Graders Alone for an Hour.

If there is a horror film to be made it is this: First Graders Alone!

I remember how that hour unfolded. At first we worked on our coloring assignment. The classroom was quiet other than the incessant plink plink of the rain outside. Then, an unnamed person wadded up his coloring assignment and threw it. The wadded up ball of paper arched high in the air before bouncing off one of the students in the middle of the room.

That was the spark.

A veritable jamboree of paper throwing ensued after that for a whole five minutes. There were screams and shouts and maniacal laughing galore as wads of paper arced across the room, litering the floor with paper hailstones. Pausing briefly to assess the situation we soon realized that there was not much fun in thowing paper when we could throw everything else!

So, we did. We raided the Activity Cupboard and took out all the balls and outside toys. We stood on desks and jumped around like demons possessed. At some point in the festivities the big, red rubber ball was thrown to me and while standing on the teacher's desk I batted it towards the door.

Just as the Teacher returned from her break.

The ball bounced in front of Teacher, over her head, and into the quagmire outside our classroom. Instantly all the noise stopped and all of the kids returned to their desks except for me who was frozen on Teacher's desk. Hastily, I hopped down and scuttled to my desk, but it was too late. I had already been identified as the Ringleader of the uprising.

Teacher grabbed me and three other boys and marched us down the walkway to the Principal's Office. Although I don't recall all that happened, I do recall that my mother was summoned, as were the mothers of the other three boys and all four of us left school early that day. The remainder of my day was definitely unplesant culminating with the ultimate threat:

Wait Until Your Father Gets Home.

I must have blacked out after that because that's all I remember.

As for the Principal's Office. I don't remember a thing. I must have been terrified out of my wits. Nobody returned from the Principal's Office, at least that was the legend.

Looking back in time through my adult eyes I can only imagine that he was sympathetic but stern given the situation, and Teacher must have been embarrassed for letting her classroom get out of control. It may have been the first time but it wouldn't be the last time that a classroom of rain-bound kids let off a little steam, or that a teacher lost control. Those times were rare but very memorable for both the students and Teacher.

Best wishes, Miss Merchant, wherever you are!

Safety Patrol

I looked forward to being old enough to be on the Safety Patrol at Riverside Elementary. I think you had to be in the third grade and you had to be selected.

Safety Patrol was serious work. You wore a white sash and belt which took some training to learn to put on correctly, and a hat. The Safety Patrol was responsible for two things: raising the flag and ensuring that students made it safely from the bike rack and the traffic circle to class.

As a Cub Scout I was especially well qualified for flag duty. It was my favorite because I knew how to fold the flag properly, so I was often in charge. Yes, I was the Barney Fife of the Third Grade.

The bike rack was tough duty, especially in the rain. As dedicated Safety Patrolmen we bravely stood out in the rain to make sure kids parked their bikes correctly and used the sidewalk up to the school building. We also watched for cars turning into the crosswalk.

Next to flag duty, the traffic circle was a great job. You got to open car doors, wave cars through that were taking too long and you were responsible for the smooth flow of cars and students.

But, perhaps, on reflection, the best part of being on the Safety Patrol, better than flags or the bike rack or the traffic circle was going to class late. We worked for five minutes after the bell, then filed into the Principals office to stow our belts and hats, then leisurely strolled into class. It was always cool to come into class a few minutes late and not get in trouble for it.

Yes, we were so special!

Come Home to Riverside

Come home to Riverside Elementary where you learned to read, learned to play and launched yourself into the World.

Riverside Elementary! Remember the annual school carnival? Remember State Fair? Remember Field Day. Remember the cafeteria.

OK, forget the cafeteria. But, who could forget the "wonderful" meals we ate in that steamy auditorium? Boiled corn, splats of spinich, crispy fried chicken and the ever present dinner roll.

Years ago in a galaxy far, far away, we used to sneak dinner rolls back to the classrooms in our pockets. When the teachers weren't looking we'd squeeze a dinner roll into our pocket, extracting all of the air out of it. Later, in class we would take furtive bites out of our compressed rolls, keeping an eagle eye on the teacher least we be discovered.

Nothing tastes better than an illicit squashed roll eaten in class unknown to the teacher.

Ambrosia.

Riverside Elementary School

Hello Everybody!

This blog is dedicated to the 50th Anniversary of the opening of Riverside Elementary School in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Here we will document the many stories that were created in the halls, rooms and playground of this wonderful school.

I am your guide and caretaker, Bill Farrell, who entered First Grade in the year Riverside opened and who was one of the few to attend all six years and be part of the Originals in the graduating class of 1963.

Riverside graduates on the Internet, I command you to find us. Email me your stories and recollections and I'll post them here.