Lockport Grade School, early 20th century
I attended Lockport Grade School for eight years, beginning 1st grade in 1942. Unless it was raining I walked to school: down Twelfth to Madison; Madison to Tenth; Tenth to Washington; and Washington to Ninth. A familiar sight in the 1940s was the chestnut tree on the southeast corner of Tenth and Madison next to my grandparents' house at 1010 Madison. As of summer, 2009, the chestnut tree is still there.
My grandparents' house is still there also. Although it looks to be in good condition, it doesn't feel the same. My favorite room was a sun room at the front with windows on three sides that provided a view up and down Madison street. Today the windows are gone, and a fireplace is on the front side facing Madison street. I'm sure it's cozy---but different.
My teachers were (from memory): Jean Rowley, 1st grade; Betty Murray, 2nd grade; Mrs. Rhodes, 3rd grade; Mrs. Cannon, 4th grade; Audrey Sullivan, 5th grade; Miss Combs, 6th grade; Mrs. Grace, 7th grade; and Mr. Bucher, 8th grade. Mrs. Bush was the superintendent.
A neat thing happened in 5th grade. Around Christmas, Mrs. Sullivan picked several of us who were getting good grades to do a colored chalk mural on the blackboards. It was a good feeling to be picked as part of this group and that experience had a lasting influence. In a way, I'm still trying to get good grades so I can get to draw colorful pictures.
Most of the kids in my class went to Lockport Grade School for eight years. I still see many of them in my memory. Harold Norton was a friend who lived on Fourteenth Street. His parents ran Norton TV, which was in the building that is now the Tallgrass restaurant. I hung around with Robley Heninger, who lived on Seventh Street by State Street. Ronny Johnson lived on Sixth Street just back of the school. Ronny got good grades and was also good at sports. Frank Ogren, noted for his red hair, had a huge electric train set-up in an upstairs bedroom. Frank was on the west edge of our Twelfth Street neighborhood. I also remember Roger Kloster, Ronny Winkler, Joyce Zolecki, Carol Grant, Brenda Widner, Nancy Wohlgemuth and also Mary Ellen McCarthy whose birthday was December 2nd.
We played marbles on the playground at recess. I had a cloth bag that contained my
marbles. The rules were something like this:
I sometimes stopped in to see my grandmother Julie on the way home from school, making sure to get home in time for my radio programs. Those were the marvelous days of adventure radio, where in fast-paced 15-minute segments you went along with Terry and the Pirates, Jack Armstrong---the all-American boy, and Sky King on their adventures. Since these programs were on the air in late afternoon, my father often came home at exciting moments. But he didn't get it. Instead, I got, "Why aren't you outside playing baseball with the rest of the kids?"
My dad had been a teacher and coach at Lockport High School, and he couldn't understand that I didn't want to play baseball with the rest of kids. I wasn't good at it and never would be. The radio shows had a big grip on me that baseball couldn't match.