My first and second grades were spent in Buttonwood School, just a hop and a skip up the street from where we lived. It was a square building, housing grades one through eight. It seems to me that each room had two grades. Going to that school was very good for me. My memories are precious.
When it came time for us as Roman Catholics for our First Holy Communion, my brother and I needed instruction in the Catholic faith so we could receive communion. So we spent two years at the parochial school down the little hill to 'downtown' Plymouth. Larksville and Plymouth were located adjacent to each other. We lived on the very edge of Larksville. He and I had to walk to school and then back home. It seems to be quite a distance because we were very young. It was perhaps almost a mile to our school, St. Stephen's School. Nearby was St. Stephen's Church, a Slovak church, perhaps.
On our walk to school we passed the Lance Colliery, the bridge to Lynnwood across the river, the Polish National Church, Bull Run which was a big intersection with a street leading to the town of Larksville farther up a hill, Woolworth's 5c and 10c Store on the same side of the street, a couple of movie theaters, a couple of furniture stores, and many more buildings.
It was third and fourth grades for me, and second and third grades for Joe. There was the regular saying of the Rosary, I don't remember what time of day, perhaps the first thing in the morning. We had to stand in the hallway as a large group to say the Rosary, and I would frequently be so tired of standing for such a long time. I had a heart murmur as a child and I wonder if that is why I was so tired.
Spelling was one of my favorite lessons. We would have a spelling bee very often, and had to spell all of our words. That was fun for me. I'm sure we also had lessons in which we were taught about many of the saints. I don't remember other classes, but I'm sure that there were others. Perhaps I didn't care for those subjects.
One weekend our family went to visit my maternal grandparents and family. That was always a lot of fun for me, my grandmother had young children during the same years my mother did, so there were three kids our age to play with. Three of my older aunts were so interesting, some in their early 'teens'. We may have stayed overnight, or just for the whole day of Sunday, sometimes overnight on Saturday.
My teenage aunts were doing the nail polish thing. How special! They put polish on my fingernails, also. Wow! Such excitement! I felt important, of course.
Another thing they would do was to listen to the Hit Parade on Saturdays. If the girls would go out for the evening to the local dance, they would give my Grandma a sheet of paper and a pencil, and begged her to write down all the songs of the Hit Parade while they were gone to the dance. She would be ironing clothes with the radio right there, with the piece of paper very handy. We younger kids would be playing quietly, having fun, at the same time. From time to time I would see her writing on that paper.
Back to school on Monday, my brother and I. As soon as I got into my classroom, Sister came to my desk, handed me a pair of scissors, and demanded that I scrape every single bit of that nail polish off my finger nails! What a shock that was to me! Apparently I did not know that wearing nail polish was forbidden.
Recess always was a nice experience, because I could play Jacks. I really loved those jacks. We would play Jacks on the concrete steps in front of the school, or on the sidewalk. The little ball which was about an inch in diameter had a good bounce to it. You 'throw' the jacks out onto the surface, and bounce the ball, pick up a jack and catch the ball before would bounce again. Then you pick up two jacks before the ball would bounce again, and then three, and so on. It does take a little practice before you can be very good at it. I still have my jacks!
I wasn't fond of running games, or racing, or ball games where you must run bases, because I would get a 'stitch' in my side.
One of my very favorite things to do was to read. I've always loved reading, even unto this moment! The Bobbsey Twins! Oh, how much I loved that series of books. I would read the book in about two days, and then I would have to wait until I could get to the library again. Tuesdays and Thursdays were the days that I could go; or perhaps were the days that the library was open.
One day when the parochial school was not in session, I visited the Buttonwood public school and I was so thrilled to be able to sit in the back of the room where the books were located on shelves. I remember books like The Gingerbread Man, and other books of that genre. It was blissful to be so close to those books and pick them out to read while I was visiting. It may have been the first and second grade room.
I'll see you at the Corner Post...
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