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.