TEACHERS, PADDLES, WET PANTS & MORE ~ PART II

EDITOR: Before we get down to the continuing saga of the big guys' conversations, I have a couple of unrelated items also received recently: 

From PAUL MOTA: (Happy Birthday, Paul. It's Sunday, January 25th!)

"This is a story in a different way than the one about school in Ballinger. I wanted to relate a few memories about the house that recently burned on 6th Street. 

My mother and several sisters and brothers grew up in that house. It was moved from another location out in the country and fixed up for her and the other family members to live in. 

I was in the Air Force during most of that time so I mostly came and stayed there while on leave. Although, my family and I did stay there for about six months in 1975 after I retired from the service and before I moved to San Angelo. 

There was a kitchen table there and the breeze came in the open window and it just felt so good and so quiet and peaceful. All the cares of the world were gone while sitting there. Maximum stress relief.

I am sure my other brothers and sisters have much more vivid memories of that house. I am sure one of my daughter’s best memories of that place is how my mother would make her and all of us fresh tortillas and freshly cut french fries when we visited her. Those tortillas and fries are nowhere to be found anymore. 

Just a little story about a place in Ballinger."...PAUL

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From DOROTHY BISHOP ROGERS:

“Not a lot of news from Midland. We had a very quiet holiday both at Thanksgiving and Christmas. We were able to share some good times with our nursing home patients with filled stockings and visits. (They do love their candy!)

My husband Grady has had another round of surgical procedures. As so many fair-skinned young men of our era, he worked on the farm without a hat and sometimes without a shirt; therefore, skin cancer abounds. This round was tumors of the squamous cell carcinoma kind on both ears. They did surgery at Texas Tech last week. One ear had a complete excise at first try, but the left ear was considerably worse. They had to go in three times in order to get all of the tumor. They then cut a wedge out of his ear to pull it back together. 

This took over an hour with two doctors taking turns. Pain and sitting up in his recliner to sleep for a week has not been fun. He laughingly says he now looks like a 'lop-eared' dog, but knows I won't leave him anyway so it's okay. Ha-Ha! He really takes things so well regardless. We can hardly wait for better weather so we can do a little traveling again. He gets cabin fever, but I would cocoon all the time if I could.

I was so glad to hear that Irene is doing so well. It has been a bad year and I know she looks forward to a better 2009. As always, the news is so appreciated. Doesn't June look great?

Until next time.”...DOTTIE

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From JAMES HAYS: “You have brushed some of the cobwebs from my demented brain so I now remember having Mrs. Bridwell in the first grade. I was terrified of her and afraid to not pay attention. I later found out that I was considered an expert little phonics reader and was used to demonstrate to the first graders how to read at the mature age of 7. Mrs. Loika was married to Eugene L. My dad liked her and her family and disapproved of Eugene whom I saw only once or twice. He thought she married below her station. Funny how I remember such trivia. 

Both Grider and I had Bird Legs Louder, of course not her name to her face, named for her spindly legs which fascinated me to no end. She remarried again and changed her name or the last half of it. I remember how terrible I was the last day of school in her 6th grade class. I also remember that year because I developed a crush on IRENE, but was embarrassed because IRENE could outrun me in a foot race. 

In Mrs. Ramsey's class, 7th grade? I would catch wasps on the way to school and pull out their stingers, one of my most enviable talents, and every two or three days, slip the disarmed critters into her desk drawer and watch her scream when she opened the drawer. The janitor spent half of the year trying to find the wasp nest. The room reeked of DDT. Now I wonder why Santa Claus didn’t black-ball me.”….JAMES 

JERRY EOFF says: “I think you might have made Mrs. Ramsey cry." 

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From BILL KING: “I don't really remember Mrs. Dimmer since I went to the first grade at the Blanton school. Sounds a little familiar that Mrs. Bridwell was a teacher also. All I know about her was I never feared anyone more than her. I remember hearing the stories about Mrs. Bridwell's paddle also. I don't remember ever getting the paddle used on me in grade school even though I probably deserved it.

I vaguely remember being in the hallway but don't remember for what reason or who with. Very well could have been you and me. 

You said Miss Loika. Remembering back I thought she was married and was pregnant while we were in the third grade. Do I remember right or have the cobwebs clouded my memory again? I know if she were pregnant at the time she would not have been Miss Loika because she would have been run out of town on a rail. Today it would not be a big deal. I was also so afraid of her that I had the same problem in asking to go to the bathroom and ended up the same way you did. I remember moving around a lot in my desk hoping my jeans would dry because the wet part would really show when I stood up to leave the room. 

Isn't it strange about some of the things we remember? Nice to know you were concerned about me when you found out I had polio. During the time I was told I had polio I never ever had a thought that I would not make it. I guess I never heard anyone say anything about how bad it could be. My parents probably shielded me from that. I don't think I realized how bad it was until I returned home after three weeks in Shannon Hospital and couldn't walk but a short distance even with crutches. A lot of people traded at Beddo's Phillips 66 station and a lot of information changed hands there. I still remember my dad trading there and every time we stopped to fill up with gas I could get a soft drink and possibly a candy bar. Boy was that a treat.”…BILL 

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From GLENN SMITH: “Bill, I think Jerry had Mrs. Bridwell as a teacher for first grade. I never got the paddle either. I think JERRY told me that Mrs. Bridwell was much nicer than our fears of her would suggest. Is that right, JERRY? JERRY, you no doubt remember a lot of details that I have forgotten. I think Miss Dimmer got married not long after the year when some of us were in her class. I don't remember her married name And I don’t know if she kept teaching. 

I'm not certain whether it was Miss or Mrs. Loika--all this time I have remembered it as Miss. I vaguely recall her as young and not pregnant but don't trust my recollection. JAMES, do your remember? Or maybe IRENE recalls. 

In my "wet pants" episode, I ended up in the bathroom sitting on the radiator to dry out. I recall feeling like a criminal on the lam. 

I have two other second grade memories. One was the only fight I remember being in. The other was about the first book I read all the way through. 

The fight: There was a boy whose name I don't remember but who was suddenly always on the playground. He was our age but left Ballinger around the beginning of sixth grade. Every day in second grade he bullied me at recess, including a lot of shoving and insulting remarks. After a few weeks and a torn shirt, I told my mother because, although teachers were not far away, none intervened. 

‘Well,’ she said, ‘I believe I'd tell him that the next time he shoves you, you plan to hit him on his nose. Then, if he does it again, hit him straight on the end of his nose just as hard as you possible can.’ Next day he shoved me. 

‘I am going to hit you on the nose for that’, I said, feeling nearly too scared to get the words out. 

’YOU ARE NOT!’ he yelled as he shoved me again. ‘YOU'RE TOO YELLOW.’ 

I clinched my right fist, planted my feet, and from somewhere found unusual strength and hit him on the nose. As he went over backward into the West Texas dirt, blood spurted all over his face and shirt and pants and the ground. By the time two teachers reached the scene, dirt had caked on the blood. He looked like a war casualty, still screaming with lots of tears. I'm surprised I didn't get a dose of Mrs. Bridwell's famous paddle, but one of the teachers grabbed me by the ear and sat me on a short post with the admonition that "we don't fight on the playground." The other teacher directed the bully to sit on a nearby post. The two teachers then stood not far away and shielded their mouths behind hands and tried not to laugh but they giggled anyway. After about fifteen minutes I was allowed to leave the post but he had to stay seated. He never bothered me again. 

The book: Someone not in our class--maybe a fourth grader--had a biography of the Lone Ranger. The boy wanted to get rid of it, in fact he wanted to give it away. I accepted it because no one else seemed to want it. Took me about a week to read all of it. I had learned to read at the end of first grade. Tonto and the Lone Ranger were much more interesting than "See Spot Run." When I finished it, I took it to recess where an older kid bought it for a quarter. 

Remember the snack store that was at the edge of the elementary school ground? I took the 25 cents there after school and spent it all on an unthinkable amount of wax whistles and drinks and candy and gum. I couldn't hold all of it in my arms and both hands. Shared that with two classmates, but as usual I don't recall who. We three had enough goodies to make us stuffed, almost sick. 

I still think of that as the most satisfying intellectual experience of my life.”…GLENN \~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

From IRENE PIEL BATTS: “GLENN, I think I remember that Mrs. Loika was pregnant while we were in elementary school. She was Mrs. Eugene Loika. I believe her maiden name was (Mary Ruth) Duke -- maybe John Duke's aunt. And I think you're correct that Miss Dimmer married. Seems that she married a man in the Bridwell family. Am a bit shaky on this last one, though.”…IRENE 

From GLENN: “Thanks IRENE. I have a hunch that Mrs. Loika was a nicer person than I thought she was. It would be annoying to have someone walk into class late every day. Of course the solution would have been for me to get my father to drop me off at school before going to the creamery with the milk. I did ask him to do that but for some reason it didn’t happen, or it didn’t happen soon enough.” ...GLENN 

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Once more, JERRY EOFF chimed in: “Y'all keep talking about that big paddle but no one has mentioned the fearsome ELECTRIC paddle that was stowed somewhere on the premises.

You guys had bum luck with your teachers I have no tales of fear specific to any of mine. Mrs. Bridwell commanded respect, but I have some good memories there too. 

I didn't have Miss Loika but it seems like it was she in the first grade that came and slapped my hands soundly for drawing swastikas on the planes that I drew getting shot down by American planes. Even a few months after the war was over I thought that was out of line considering they were getting shot down. I don't know why she was even around to do it. 

Miss Morgan was just there. All I remember about it was that her room was on the second floor and the windows faced the main building and blocked the view out. Some of my best education came from looking out the windows. Mrs. Tisdale's room looked out toward the high school and I first learned that the angle of the sun changed shadows on brick walls as the season changed. I learned a lot about building construction out Mrs. Louder's windows while they were building the new Jr. High wing out them. There was a whole world to be seen out study hall windows in high school and with the windows open you could always tell by the smell when the river was flooding. Did I mention that I probably had the lowest grades of any person in history that got into dental school?”...JERRY

BILL KING responds to this: “JERRY, I have remembered the talk about the electric paddle over the past years but it had slipped my mind recently. I wonder if the thought of that paddle ever stopped anyone from pulling some of our stunts? Probably not, since in most cases we acted and then thought about the consequences, if we thought at all, and by that time it was too late.

I also remember being in a classroom and watching them build the new Jr. High wing. It might have been in Mrs. Louder's room also but I can't remember. I was totally fascinated by the construction since I had never seen anything like it before. I remember those construction guys hauling wheel barrows of cement up a narrow plank from the ground to the area being built. I think they were mixing the cement in individual mixers also. Those guys earned their wages.”…BILL

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More from BILL KING: “GLENN, I don't remember anything about your fight but I do remember one kid leaving Ballinger, I think during the time you are talking about. His name was Johnny Cowan but I don't remember him being a bully.

Do any of you remember Dwight Davis that was in our class maybe even in Jr. High? Many years ago I was on a company trip and was changing planes in Dallas Love Field and someone got my attention from an upper level. We remembered each other but were both on a schedule to catch a connecting flight and didn't have time to exchange information.

GLENN, I remember the store across the street from school. We called the street the bus lane. If I remember correctly we call the store "The Stand". It was a very small place and the area we placed our orders was inside of The Stand, but it had a dirt floor. I think the area where the food was prepared had a wood floor. The Stand was operated by people by the name of Green I think. An older couple and their son and maybe another person were always there. You could take a quarter and go to The Stand and get a burger or hot dog with chili, a drink, candy or push-up and be stuffed. After eating in the lunchroom for a while I would get tired of the food and take my lunch money and pig out at The Stand. I would like to hear other stories about The Stand.”…BILL

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More from GLENN: “BILL, I do remember the name Dwight Davis. I have a picture of his face in my mind, but I don't know if I am remembering right. I recall him as a nice person.

The cars on railroad tracks antics sound like things some of us talked about, but I don't remember. I think a doctor drove his car down the Abilene Southern tracks to cross Elm Creek to deliver a baby. Does anyone else in the class recall that story?”…GLENN 

EDITOR'S NOTE: I think RODNEY FLANAGAN was born at home. He told me something about the doctor having to put his car on the railroad tracks to get to their house in the country. It was December, so the bridge may have been iced over. Anyway, RODNEY's dad helped in the delivery. If my memory is fuzzy on this one, please correct me RODNEY. 

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JERRY EOFF said: “I guess I married the whole county! Dwight is another cousin courtesy of Shirley. Shirley's aunt on the Fry side married Foy ‘Buster’ Davis, and Dwight is his nephew. The last load of stuff I brought back from cleaning out the Eighth Street house had his Scout Handbook in it. Not sure why I had it. I see him at the occasional funeral. They moved to Rocksprings from here. Not sure where he lives now. Mary Ellen was Buster's daughter. Someone might remember her from the first grade. I think she is a year older and they moved to Hobbs after our first grade. 

Push-ups were fine inventions. Eugene Green had The Stand. He invited me out for some insubordination that I didn't realize I was committing. Seems like I did that every once in a while including once to Mr. DeShazo (so much for sainthood). Later I did an ID photo for Gene’s application for a job in Abilene. There were also two stands at Jr. High. Mrs. Hamner had one. I don't remember who had the other. One was across Eighth Street from the playground, the other across from the Eighth Street entrance to the new wing. I suppose they were the vending machines of the time."...JERRY

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From BILL KING: “JAMES, I remember Eugene Loika being married to Mrs. Loika. I believe Irene said her name was Mary and that sounds right. I also remember Eugene standing around talking to people on Saturday afternoon and comments about him being a big talker and not much of a worker. I probably heard that from my dad.

I also remember ‘bird legs’ Louder. I don't remember anything about her except what we called her. I had forgotten who we called ‘bird legs’ until you connected the dots for me. (EDITOR’S NOTE: I remember hearing Miss Smith called ‘bird legs’ in high school.)

JAMES, I am glad you brought up the 7th grade teacher Mrs. Ramsey. I could visualize her but couldn't remember her name. I think the whole class was very unkind to her due to her reaction on many things. The wasp thing does sound a little familiar to me. She appeared to not be a very strong or stable person and the worst thing she could have done was be a Jr. High teacher. I remember something about her husband being in very ill health and she had to take care of him so along with dealing with us she probably had a difficult life. As I remember when anything in her class went wrong she would walk around the room crying or go to her desk and put her head down in her hands and cry. She lost control of her class early on and most everyone played on that. With our life lessons learned we would have been more kind today but we were Jr. High kids then.

In Mrs. Ramsey's class I became more aware of what war does. I had five brothers in WWII at the same time but they all came home safely. Then came the Korean War. As many of you probably remember, KENNETH DOTY came from a large family of about 10 children if I recall correctly. We were told one day in Mrs. Ramsey's class KENNETH had lost a brother in Korea and that left an impression on me. I couldn't really grasp what that meant since I had not had to deal with death in my family at that time. That had to have been total hell for KENNETH and his family. If I am not mistaken KENNETH lost another brother in Korea during that same year or soon after. Maybe some of you can add to or correct me on this.”…BILL 

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More from BILL: “JAMES, you touched on the polio again so I just wanted to bring back some more memories. Three in your family had polio during the main epidemic. I just wanted to be first so I started a year ahead of you guys, but my brother was admitted to Shannon eleven months to the day, July 1949, after I was, and he has memories of the staff talking about the possibility of him not making it either. They didn't know he was aware of what was going on. He survived with minor problems.

During the summer of 1949 the epidemic was in full swing. During that time movies, schools, churches, swimming pools and almost any gathering place was closed for a period of time. People even hesitated to shake hands. People were also scared out of their minds. DDT was used without control to kill just about anything and it's a wonder people didn't die from it. People were obsessed with mosquitoes, and fly control and foggers were used to fog out DDT. One type of polio was the bulbar polio that attacks the brainstem that controls breathing, swallowing and other vital functions. For bulbar polio someone could possibly be confined to an ‘iron lung’ to keep them from dying. If power were disrupted to the iron lung, the hospital staff would have to manually pump the respirator to keep the patient alive. One of the iron lungs is now on display in the Fort Concho Hospital building in San Angelo.

JAMES, do you remember Dr. Spencer and the therapist Lanier Bell and a very large black guy that also did physical therapy? I have tried to find out the black guy’s name but can't. They were the best, tough but gentle. I have tried to retrieve information about me and my brother from Shannon archives but none exist. I contacted Dr. Ralph Chase here in San Angelo for assistance and he told me that records during that time most likely were kept in the shirt pockets of the doctors and therapist and were never officially recorded.

A thankful polio survivor.”…BILL

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JAMES responded: “I remember all too well my brush with polio. I was tortured every 4 hours with ice-cold shots of penicillin until it finally broke me out with an allergy to it. After I was free of fever, they sent me to a ward with five other boys and switched the torture to Kinney Packs developed by a nun whom I was convinced at the time she was a demented sadist. I realized later that she was a saint. It worked like this: The physical therapist, I remember Miss Smyth, would pin me down with clever wrestling holds while an assistant kept me from escaping on the other side of the bed which was no great shakes as I was weak as a kitten from the polio, and then from a steaming pressure cooker on wheels they would pull out hot pieces of old army blankets and wrap my arms, legs, and torso nearly scalding me and finally removing them after they ‘cooled’ as much as they could in July in San Angelo. Happy tenth birthday, James. But it worked, and I had little or no residual problems after about 6 months. Grider did well after his first two or three days and my dad had a slight weakness in his shoulder for a few months which recurred when he had a slight stroke 28 years later.

I was in the hospital with a boy from Winters named Buddy Dyess. I found out later he was closely related to Edwin Dyess, an Air Corps pilot who was a one man air force in the early part of World War II, until he got the last P-40 shot out from under him and was captured at the big surrender. He escaped from the Bataan death march and got home just to get killed in an accident stateside. Medal of Honor and Dyess AFB named for him.

I remember very well a year later on the 25th of June 1950 when the Korean War broke out. Nobody could find Korea on the map because the maps still had the Japanese name for Korea on them. I was one of the first to find out where it was, and for a couple of days I got to show some adults where Korea was. A Ballinger boy, Billy Jack Middleton, was captured in late 1950 when the Chinese entered the war, and I marched in the band in the parade when he was repatriated in 1953. His mother, Mrs. Middleton, was the high school librarian.”…JAMES

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EDITOR: Well, everyone, I hope reading all these reminiscences brought back a lot of memories for each of you of your years spent growing up, whether here in Ballinger or somewhere else. If you wish to share any of those memories, send them on! And if you have answers to any of the guys' questions, either email them personally (remember email addresses are in your handbook, or you can copy it off the emails I send to the class.), or send it to me to publish.

Again, I'll remind you that you can doubleclick on any photo to see it enlarged. If you doubleclick on the slideshows to the left of the blog post, it will send you to the web albums where you can view each picture with captions underneath. You may enlarge them there, too. You may also change the music that is playing by clicking on the forward or back arrows.

Of course, you can also go through the archives to see all of the past blog submissions. Just click on the week you wish to view. 

Until next time, let the "good stuff" happen!

Peace and love,

Marilyn