September • 2010 • NEWSLETTER

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Dear ##firstname[Friend]##,

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It’s back to school for the kids this month, and our latest newsletter looks back on the good old golden-rule days you remember.

This time of year always reminds me of getting up early for preseason high school cross country practices. I took up the sport in my sophomore year after realizing my willowy, 6-foot, 132-pound frame was not going to survive another season of football (my height remains the same but the weight isn’t in the same universe).

Those of you riding the early bus to school may recall shivering in the dark on cold mornings as you begged for the sound of the bus approaching. And how quick did you get from bed to bus? I had it down to about 23 minutes, a talent made necessary by my stubborn defiance to the radio alarm.

As always, feel free to forward our newsletter on to a friend or family member. If this newsletter was forwarded to you and you’d like a copy of your own each month, just clink this link to sign up yourself.

—John Burlingham at Reminisce

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In this issue:

• Hard-Line Schooling and Country Plumbing
• Picture from the Past
• Stirring Up Memories
• Time Capsule Trivia
• Over the Back Fence
• A Thought to Remember

Hard-Line Schooling and Country Plumbing

By Jim Womack
Haymarket, Virginia

I have strong memories from my childhood in Botetourt County, Virginia, especially about our “country plumbing” and our little schoolhouse.

From 1955 until 1960, I attended a four-room country school in Haymakertown. Asbury School stood on the same spot for a long time, because my grandfather attended there as well. He once bragged of putting a goat up in the school belfry one Halloween night.

The brick building contained four classrooms and sat upon a little hill offering excellent views of the surrounding Appalachian Mountains.

The experience started each day with a bus ride on dirt roads complete with washboard ruts. There were clouds of dust during dry times and potholes of mud during the wet seasons. If you were the daring sort, the back seat of the bus provided a particularly exciting ride home, as the bouncing and swaying produced the sensation of an amusement park ride.

Once in school, we went through endless sessions of math drills, spelled and wrote definitions until they came out of our ears and recited poetry from memory. We had Bible class, too, along with geography and history.

Discipline was applied quickly with extra writing assignments, letters sent home by teachers, standing in the corner, being evicted to the hallway and policing the school grounds during lunchtime.

Once in a while, we took field trips, visiting Natural Bridge and Lexington, Virginia. One time, we all went to the doctor’s office to get inoculated with the Salk polio vaccine, and I never saw so many children cry during a field trip.

The teachers at Asbury School gave me a good start in life, teaching me self-control, manners, patience, cooperation, fair play and even some religion. The lesson we all took away was to be a good citizen and do the best you could.

Our “johnny house,” constructed of rough-hewn barn lumber, was about 100 feet behind our house on a concrete base. The rough door included a hook-and-eye-screw latch on the inside to prevent accidental exposure.

My grandfather used the privy as a refuge from the hard work of the farm. He went there each day for a constitutional and took something along to read.

As a kid, I was always afraid of falling into the pit, so I hoisted myself onto two hands. This kept me above ground.

In summer, bees and spiders took up residence in our privy, and I was always watching out for a black-widow spider ready to bite my nether regions. In the cold, dark months of winter, baring one’s bottom took brave men and women.

I do not recall when I first encountered indoor plumbing, but it was a real improvement. I now knew there was a better way to do things, and I wanted that heated, wasp-free, self-flushing, form-fitting wonder for myself. Sometimes, progress is good.

Click here to see more Nostalgic Stories.

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Picture from the Past

View larger image

Honorary Student

My father-in-law, Howard Milton Hobernicht (front row, second from right), refused to pose without his dog for this 1913 school picture in the little town of Ursine, Pennsylvania.

“Dutch,” as my father-in-law was nicknamed, was the firstborn of five full-term baby boys born to Lewis and Jennie Hobernicht. He was the only one to survive infancy, and he said his dog was the closest thing to having a brother that he ever got. He insisted on having his dog in the classroom and in Sunday school.

People of the small town knew of Dutch’s devotion to his dog and accepted his determination to have him by his side. Dutch was the only one allowed to bring a dog to school. As far as we know, no one objected to the breaking of the rules.

—Joan Hobernicht
Lake Havasu City, Arizona

Click here to see more Pictures From the Past.

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Stirring Up Memories

The flavors from school lunches in my early years of elementary school are now only faint recollections. Bologna sandwiches were okay, but I preferred peanut butter and jelly because of the sweet tooth I inherited from my mom. Being a fan of the salty-sweet, I usually chose to eat my potato chips at the same time as my Twinkie or homemade cookies.

Everything was neatly packed in my metal lunchbox, which I think had a cover of red and green plaid, probably less expensive than the ones picturing movie or TV heroes. Mom doesn’t quite recall what they looked like, either, so they probably weren’t that spectacular.

Lunch Box Pizzas

Take some time to stir up your own school lunch memories, and check out the fun lunchbox recipe presented here and other great ideas for kids’ take-along meals from our partners at Taste of Home.

—John Burlingham
Associate Editor

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Over the Back Fence

Amusing morsels and bits of wisdom overheard and read here and there.

In this 1938 newspaper clipping shared by Abner Gilmore of Siloam Springs, Arkansas, a schoolteacher is concerned with a chatty student.

Maternal Inheritance
“A good worker but talks too much,” wrote the teacher on Jimmy’s report card, which fell into the hands of the boy’s father. Jimmy returned the card to his teacher bearing this notation from his father: “You ought to hear his mother.”

Memories of a Former Kid by Bob Artley

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Time Capsule Trivia

Remember the pride of carrying new school supplies into the classroom? Try to match the product descriptions with the vintage brand names below.

1. These 1940s crayons shaped in a hexagon were branded ____.

2. ____ typewriters were known for their style, even winning design awards in the 1950s.

3. Sanford put out a popular eraser branded ____.

4. The Mead Corporation was the longtime maker of ____ paper tablets.

5. ____ became well known for its quality pencils but also makes erasers, slide rules and many other school and office supplies.

Brands: A. Big Chief; B. Faber-Castell; C. Olivetti; D. Gothic; E. Artgum.

Click here for the answer to Time Capsule Trivia.

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A Thought to Remember

The storms of our life prove the strength of our anchor.

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