By Dave Bailey, Sr.
Dearie do you remember going to school? Do you remember school names?
Harmony Street School – the old wood school named after the street. West Harmony that looked like a fortress and was west of Harmony Street School? Do you remember Broad Street...first a high school, then sixth to eighth grade – named for Broad Street. Remember Barber Avenue School named after... you guess!
Remember Pershing named for a World War I hero? Lafayette for a Revolutionary War hero – what happened to those streets? And finally Re Hi – high school. It was the place to be for ninth through twelfth grade. Do you remember those great schools – all torn down now except one.
Do you remember Dick and Jane? Run Spot Run? Coloring in the lines? Recess, Dodge Ball, Red Rover, Farmer in the Dell, Tag? Do you remember playing eraser tag on rainy days? Remember bringing a nickel for chocolate or regular milk?
Dearie do you remember names like Mr. Dohner, Miss Hewitt, Mrs. Featherer, Miss Wainwright, Mrs. Strimple. How about Mrs. Simpkins, Mr. Boone, Mrs. Stewart, Miss Clunn, Ma Peterson, Mr. Brooks, the Davidsons, Nurse Harbeson and Mrs. Donaldson. Ah the remembrance can send chills...
Remember the old furnaces, coal being delivered, janitors like Mr. Wrench. Dearie do you remember the outdoor bathrooms and cinder-covered playgrounds at Harmony Street School. Remember those great old blackboards, penmanship cards on top, desks with ink wells, and pendulum clocks keeping time for our day?
Dearie do you remember moving up a grade or staying back, red cards for being bad, staying after school, musicals for the choir, Christmas programs, reading from the Bible, the Lord’s Prayer and flag salute? Remember fruit rolls, a guy wearing a dress to school – a trip to Washington with the safety patrol?
Do you remember eighth grade graduation and moving into high school? Then after four years, graduating one June Day from Re Hi – and knowing it would never be the same again?
Dearie do you remember school? If so, you’re much better educated than I.
Written for the 10th Anniversary of the Historical Society of Penns Grove, Carneys Point & Oldmans, May 13, 2010.