Brownies. I would really like to thank all the girls in the H3 class for inviting me to become a Brownie. It made me feel accepted at Oxford. I had come from Morris E. Dailey Elementary School in Fresno. Even in 1951, Fresno was still an Army Headquarters for post WWII soldiers. We had to share our 2-bedroom house with an Army couple and their small child. We also were put on double session -- I attended school from 8a.m. until Noon, and another batch of kids attended the afternoon session, thereby missing a lot of education due to the short school hours. When I arrived at Oxford, I was put in the H3 instead of L4 because I had read only Streets and Neighbors and not More Streets and Neighbors. The Brownies I remember the most are Penny, Dorene, Shireen, Judy, and Mary. Penny's, Judy's, and Penny's mothers were either Brownie or Girl Scout Mothers.
Bike Riding. I taught my younger brother Keith to ride a 2-wheeled bike on the Oxford upper terrace . No one was around that weekend and there was nothing for him to hit or damage, so what does he do but crash into the drinking fountain clear across the terrace near the Boy's basement. The drinking fountain was the only thing on the playground, and it was hooked to the wall. Keith couldn't figure out how to use his brakes. The entire time I asked myself, "He's not aiming for that drinking fountain, is he?" In his twenties, Keith was among nine bicyclists who rode their pedal bikes from Oregon to Massachusetts, and he still rides his bike to work in Denver.
Love's Variety . This is where I bought one-cent bubble gum, trading cards, and Necco candy. Even though the prices of trading cards were all the same, some were "worth" more when trading. A single trading card of a highly-rated movie star or sports figure would trade for perhaps three regular cards. At Oxford we traded cards along the bank (slope area between the upper and lower terrace).
English. As a youngster, my mother wouldn't allow me to say words like "two times," "dark black," or "round circle." I still don't know the difference between twice and two times. But I have eliminated the words "stuff," "junk," and "thing," and replaced them with the actual subject. She was harder on me than my teachers were at Oxford. Who would ever expect me to become a technical writer?
Music. Singing in Mrs. Rutherford's class was very special. She played the piano, as I did at that time, but she could play, sing, and watch the class sing all at the same time. My favorite song was "On the Road to Mandalay, where the flying fishes play." Nowadays, when I'm in a good mood, I sing that song while driving.
Acting. This paragraph probably should be called "Singing," because I really never became an actress. In the 5th Grade, I tried out for a part in Pinnochio with my younger brother, and in 6th Grade, I tried out for Cinderella. Both times I was put in the choir for failure to get a part. My brother and I still know all the words to "Cinderella, Cinderella, all I hear is Cinderella, from the moment that I get up, Still shades of night are falling, there isn't any letup, I hear them calling calling, go up and do the attic and go down and do the cellar, you can do them both together Cinderella." The practices were not held at Oxford, but a parent met the children at Oxford and transported them to a place I can¹t remember at all.
Fire Escape. I used to climb to the top of the fire escape on the south end of the Oxford building along with several other classmates. We'd throw hundreds of leaves from a certain tree in the area over the rail. The leaves would twirl all the way down to the pavement, then we¹d go pick them up again and repeat the process. I never found out the name of these leaves.
Painting Murals. Robert Claassen and I were chosen to paint a mural together. We were on our hands and knees in the hallway smearing poster paint on long butcher paper. It must have been for an upcoming activity of some sort. Robert was painting a swimming pool and asked me if I liked swimming pools. I replied "yes" even though it was a lie -- I didn't like swimming because I wore glasses. He was very pleased with my response and said, "OK, when we get married, we¹ll have a swimming pool."
Other Activities. I signed up for ice skating lessons
through the clubhouse at Oxford. We would meet at Oxford and be driven
down to Iceland on Ward St. I took lessons until I was required to have
my own special skates and short poofy skirts -- my parents thought the
price was outrageous, so I stuck with roller skating.
I used to beat Robert Claassen at tether ball until he
grew taller than me in the 6th grade. I also took piano lessons from
Mrs. Elizabeth Camp on Walnut near
Penny Brogden's house
. Many other classmates studied under her. Today
I still skate and play the piano. The best thing about dance classes
upstairs at Oxford was watching Shireen and Martin dance together. They
were so perfect and I admired them. Two chosen captains picked their
kickball teams. I loved to play kickball, but I'm sure they don't use this
selection process today. Lucky for me I was athletic and wasn't picked
last. I went to clarinet practice in the cafeteria with Ann-si.
Between us was a slightly younger boy named Lawrence. During Oxford days,
Lawrence died of leukemia and his chair remained empty. That system didn't
seem right either. I was saddened everyday not seeing him.
Hall Monitors. I was assigned to hall monitor duty
more often than to cafeteria monitor duty. Hall monitors left the classrooms
about a minute before the loud recess bell sounded. We stood on the landing
of the staircase and watched that our classmates "walked" down the stairs
single file without running or talking. They may have lined up by seating
rows or height or surname. I remember it being very systematic. Mrs. Rutherford
merely had to peak her head over the rail and everyone obeyed. I often
wondered what in the world I would do if one of the boys ran down the stairs.
Surely I wouldn¹t have said one peep -- I was so shy. The solid wood
hallways and stairs were so clean that they shined and were a bit slippery.
One boy found a way to slant his shoes so that he could actually slide
down
the stairs on his shoes. I liked to watch this and didn¹t
do anything to reprimand him, yet week after week, I was assigned hall
monitor duty.
Dictionary Practice. Miss Swain gave us a word each day to look up in our dictionaries. It was a speed contest. Not only did I not know what the word meant, but had no idea how to spell it. Just as I found the first letter, David Gordon found the word and read the meaning outloud to the class. The game was just not fair at all with David Gordon in the class. The harder I tried, the more frustrated I got.
Mathematics. Mrs. Rutherford gave the class a very
forceful speech toward the end of the 6th grade semester when she said,
"If there is anything you don't understand, you better ask me now or you
will fail at Garfield." I wasn't about to even raise my hand after
those words. Mrs. Rutherford had just gone over various Math problems for
the umteenth time and had several equations on the black board.
Martin Stryker
raised his hand and said very seriously that he didn't
understand what the two dots and a slash were for. I thought, that's division
of course, something we've been going over all semester long. But I learned
a big lesson from Martin that day that has carried me through my life --
I always ask questions because I know I'll be in big trouble if I don't.