William Jamison's school day memories...

Denis Huston's school day memories...

School Days Memories found in 1957 & 1998 Yearbooks

While scanning through two BHS Yearbooks which Shirley (Strassner) Wilkins dropped off for my perusal, I  came across two Classmates school day memories that I wanted to share with all.  Double Click on the photos to enlarge and see what they had to say. And...I am hopeful this might motivate some more among us to email me their school day memories.

Eureka! Miss Barker's picture has been found !

Thanks to the persistence of Jean (Wee) Webb, a picture of Miss Barker has been found and is en route for further development. We plan on making a poster from this picture as our reunion is dedicated to this wonderful teacher. It would be an interesting statistic to have a count of the many thousands of us she started on our road to education during her 30 plus years in the Kinloch and Berkeley School systems. As soon as possible, I will post this picture for all to see, reflect upon and enjoy.

When you are looking down upon us, Miss Barker... remember as long as we live you will always be the Greatest and We Love You!

A sample Ballot for the City of Berkeley - 1950

The sample ballot shown tells of the local political pursuits of Berkeley City in 1950. They were all well known around town at that time. It is a memorable time for me as the Korean War began and a two years later I found myself embroiled in this war for 16 months of my life. Upon my return after two years in the Army, I found Berkeley City in a transition stage as the expansion of  McDonnell Aircraft Corporation changed the face of Airport Road dramatically. All the many fields we use to hunt rabbits on were now either built upon or paved over with black top parking lots. When I travel through the area today, I sometimes reflect on the kaleidoscopic memories of my boyhood days growing up in Berkeley City, MO. It really was a great town to grow up in!
                                                                             (Ballot furnished by Shirley (Strassner) Wilkins)

Surely many of the Alumnus have some interesting reflections or stories to share with us.

There must be many untold and interesting stories of life around BHS or Berkeley City when we were growing up. Personally, I could write a book about the wonderful years of my youth while Berkeley City progressed from a fledgling city struggling through development during the "Hard Time" 30's. It was a great place to grow up and those of us that did live in Berkeley City at that time always seem to feel lucky to have had the chance to experience life in this Era. It was a simple but fulfilling time as things weren't so "hectic" and was a bit laid back in comparison. 

Thinking back about the WW II days, I remember:
Food Rationing (Coffee, Sugar & Meat to name a few)
Gas rationing
Shoe rationing
Scrap Drives
Grease Drives (It was used to make explosives for the war)
Toothpaste Tube recycling
Tin Foil recycling
Saving our money for $25 War Bonds we bought at school

There are some I have forgotten about and hopefully the above list will jog some memories and you will send me some of your experiences or stories. I will elaborate on some of the War Year rationing in a future post but hopefully I will get some emails of your reflections. Come on, lets hear from "Yawl"! It's simple to do, just send me an email (joesow@gmail.com) with your story and I will publish it. I'm looking forward to some fresh input.

How about some stories or comments from the younger Alumnus?

I'd like to hear from some of the younger crowd as my ramblings are based upon times before "Pork and Beans". The Streetcar was important to us in Nuroad and Berkeley as we were out in "The Sticks". It was the only mode of transportation for many families who relied on the "Dinky" to connect them to the Kirkwood-Ferguson Car to make a Wellston shopping run. In the 30's and 40's, Wellston was "The Place" to shop. It was a Friday night family custom to converge on Easton Avenue to do their shopping. There was Katz Drugstore, Walgreens, Piggly Wiggly, Central Hardware, Western Auto, J & R Auto, Sally Anne, Alberts Shoe store, Deluxe Hamburger, White Castle, Muehlings Grocery Store and many street vendors trying to make a buck during the hard time 30's. In those days, you could walk the side streets and not have to be armed with an AK-47. Today, it would be a survival requirement!

So...how about some of your memories. Do you remember Ice Skating on Schweitzer's Pond, Champ's Pond and Ramona Lake? Or perhaps you have some more contemporaneous memories to share with us. I have a few stories I will save about what happened around the fire at Ramona Lake for later. Emails accepted 24/7!

Eureka! We found it...

Thanks to Dorothy and Blaine Kohler the words 
to our BHS School Song have been recovered!

            ( Does anybody know who originated the lyrics of our hallowed song?) 

BEER BEER FOR OL' BERKELEY HIGH
BRING ON THE COCKTAILS BRING ON THE RYE
SEND THE FRESHMEN OUT FOR GIN
AND DON'T LET A SOBER SOPHMORE IN...

JUNIORS NEVER STAGGER
SENIORS NEVER FALL
THEY SOBER UP ON WOOD ALCOHOL
WHILE THE TEACHERS ALL GO BURPING DOWN TO THE BAR FOR MORE...


If we have any of the words wrong, please send us any corrections.

Another Streetcar Memory!

Do you remember the wild gyrations of the Kirkwood-Ferguson streetcar heading for the Kinloch junction when passing Ramona Lake? It seemed the motormen liked this stretch of tracks as they could really "Put the Pedal to the Metal" and rock and roll at breakneck speeds past Ramona Lake. Those old streetcars would really wobble from side to side and often I felt we would be tossed into the lake at any time.

Remember the "Dinky"?

Remember the "Dinky"? The rickety old red streetcar that ran from the Kinloch junction to Wabash Avenue. It connected to the Kirkwood-Ferguson line at the junction; which then rattled it's way to Wellston or even further into the bowels of St. Louis. It took several transfers to progress downtown to Famous Barr, Scruggs and the downtown movie houses.

Many of us remember the cranky old Irishman "McGuire", the motorman who shuttled "The Dinky" back and forth on the 3 1/2 miles of track numerous times a day. There was a stretch of this track that gave Ol' McGuire a fit! The "Stella" stop had a deep cut through the terrain and the top of the streetcar was about even with the top of this cut. Several of my acquaintances figured that if they stretched a rope across the tracks, it would be above the streetcar roof but would be properly placed to knock the trolley off the wire and shut down the streetcar. The trolley provided the electrical power to run the car but without it...it stopped. Untold times at night, McQuire would be tooling along and all the sudden his lights would go out! He knew he had been had again! He would get out of the "Dinky" and fumble around in the dark trying to find the trolley wire to regain power (all the time cussing a blue streak). After several near misses and sparks flying, he would get back in and head towards the next stop, Airport Road. Often when he applied his brakes at this stop, he would find the car failing to stop...he knew he had been had again! The same ingenious acquaintances also found that if they greased the tracks at this point, the car would just slide past the Airport stop until it ran out of the greased track. Often different stretches of the track were selected for "greasing". The streetcar tracks ended at Wabash Avenue and this too was a favorite area to "grease the tracks". I suspect McGuire spotted his laundry many times during his tenure as Berkeley City's favorite motorman.

Another favorite prank pastime was the RR track crossing at Wabash and Graham road. It was determined that when a steel bar was placed across the RR tracks, the crossing lights and bell would signal STOP! The "Perps", as they call them today, would lie in wait for a car roaring down the hill on Graham Road. At the precise time, the bar was placed, the RR signal would signal STOP and often the sound of tires screeching to a halt were heard. They would then stop and wait and wait with no train in sight. Finally, they would dash across the tracks realizing they had been duped.

I have many stories like this of the pranks that were in vogue in those days and now they can be told as many of the "Perps" have departed to the happy hunting grounds. I will protect the few of us who are still on the right side of dirt.

Photos for BHS Classes of 1957 & 1958 - Thanks to Shirley (Strassner) Wilkins

Berkeley Junior High School - 8th Grade Graduation (1953)

 Berkeley High School

Class of 1957

Berkeley Junior High School - 8th Grade Graduation (1954)
Berkeley High School
Class of 1958
(Click on Photo to enlarge)

Today, Shirley Wilkins stopped by with Troubadour yearbooks from 1957 and 1958. I scanned the above photo of the 1953 - 8th grade graduation class (Berkeley High School Class of 1957).  This photo also appears on the Classmate Photos page (click on the tab at the top of the blog to see this photo and more).  As I peruse each of these yearbooks, I will post pictures and interesting stories gleaned from these yearbooks. This will give a presence of the classes in the later '50's. Much of my memories came from the Dark Ages of the '30's through the 50's. This will permit me to accentuate your Berkeley High School memories beyond my days of ol' BHS. 

I'd like to hear from all who care to share some interesting story of their school days or moments of history that happened in Berkeley City, MO. My days go back before "pork and beans" and might get a bit boring. So, please help me to come up with some contemporary information, instead of just my reflections from the Jurassic Age.

I am sending out an "All Points Bulletin" to help find the lyrics of our School Song "Beer, Beer for ol' Berkeley High". I am unable to fully recall all of the lyrics and would like to publish them on this blog for those among us that have forgotten them too! 

Please email me if you come up with these "hallowed" lyrics for the school song!

Good news...Check Out the New Lower Price!

With George Tayloe's input, we were able to negotiate a lower price for the reunion. The Reunion Committee met today with "The Columns".  We were able to get a reduction in price, which is a welcome relief. Hopefully this will make it easier for all to attend the reunion. To see updated information and price, go to the BHS Reunion Information page, by clicking on the tab at the top of the blog or you can (click here). Plans are progressing well. A lot of thought is being given to this reunion. For many of us, it has been far too long since our last gathering. Our aim is to make it an outstanding reunion. The clock of life seems to run faster with each passing year!

Comments, Comments, Comments . . . We Love Comments!

Did you know you can leave a comment after each post?  When a blog reader leaves a comment on a post, it provides the Reunion Committee with useful feedback. Additionally, blog readers can also view comments that classmates have left on the blog post, thus providing interesting reading. 

Not sure how to leave a comment?  Here's how:

Tutorial - How to Leave a Comment on a Post

Step 1:
Look at the bottom of the post (see area circled below in the image).  If you need to see the image below larger, hover your mouse over the image and click.  A window will open, allowing you to see the image larger.

Step 2:
Now you will see a box appear like the one below.  This is where you will type your comment. Type your comment into the box; see example below.

Step 3:

Now that you have your message typed in the box, you are ready to submit your comment.  First you must click on Select profile (see image below).  Your profile is the name your comment will be posted under.

If you have a Google Account, click on Google Account.  Your comment will then be posted using your Google username automatically.

What if you don't have a Google Account, or don't want your Google username to appear with your post?  Click on Name/URL.

You will be prompted to type your name in the provided box. Once you have your name typed in, press the Continue button.

 

Step 4: 
Now you are ready to finish the comment posting process.  Click Preview to see a preview of your post as it will appear on the blog, or skip the preview and click on Post Comment.

Step 5: 
You must fill in the word verification section, before you can post your comment. This step helps to keep our blog spam-free.

 After you have typed in the word verification, click on Post Comment.

 

Success! Your comment has been posted.

Things to remember:

Your posted comment will be seen by all readers.  If you want to keep a comment private, send a private email message to joesow@gmail.com.

To get back to the home page after you post your comment; click on the word Home at the bottom of the page, or click on the Home-Blog tab at the top of the page.

Give it a try!  We love comments.

*If you would like to print this tutorial for future reference, click here
 

Reunion Price Information

Since the Columns "doubled booked" us on our date, we negotiated a rock bottom price for our reunion at "The Columns". The criteria we have always used in making decisions about this reunion is to keep costs down as many classmates are on fixed incomes. I personally visited 5 possible sites for the reunion and found all had much higher prices than what we were able to negotiate at "The Columns". The NEW price per person is [$25 per person or $50 per couple] which includes a delicious Buffet Dinner.  Walk-in's will not be admitted. 

We are now accepting reservations .  Paid reservations will not be refundable.  Once we commit a headcount, the Reunion Committee is on the hook for the cost of all reservations. A cut-off date for reservations will be around April 15, 2012.

"The Columns" is a first class facility and have their own kitchen for the food preparation (no catered rubber chicken).  I have attended several affairs there and found the food, facilities and service excellent. We aren't looking to impress anyone with fancy table embellishments, as the purpose of this reunion is to reacquaint ourselves with old friends, keep costs low and offer a quality buffet dinner.

Since most people have digital cameras today; we will spare the cost of a photographer, which runs the price up quickly. You can select who you want to photograph and enjoy it better than a canned group photo; where heads are about as big as a pea and unrecognizable.

We will have some awards and special gifts, which will be made and furnished by the Reunion Committee at no cost to all. Maybe something for the "Oldest Classmate", the "Classmate Who Traveled the Farthest" and any other categories we can come up with. Any suggestions, please drop me an email at joesow@gmail.com.

Coffee, tea, water and soft drinks will be available as part of the package. No alcohol bar will be available, as that really adds to the cost and many of us are on medications that forbid it.

Our aim is to provide the most "bang for your bucks" as possible. I have checked with several other Class Reunions and the cost per person was considerably higher. Elaine did a good job of driving a hard bargain for us. Things are beginning to fall into place and the list of classmates planning to attend is growing daily. Keep checking regularly to see who is coming!

And...how about emailing me some stories of your recollections of your first grade experience with "Miss Barker". I'm sure there are some interesting stories lurking out there!

New help is arriving each day!

Today I was lucky to connect with Tom Smith, Shirley (Strasser) Wilkins and Denis Huston who have all worked on putting together reunions in the past. Their help in getting the word out will really help. I'm hopeful they will be able to give us some suggestions in planning the best reunion yet. Fred Rubel also has been a big help in sending notification to the email addresses he has from previous Class of '59 reunions. 

As of this moment, we have people who are planning to attend the reunion from Classes '43, '44, '45, '46, '47, '50, '51, '53, '54, '57, '58, '59 and '60. My estimate of Alumni contacted is around 60 so far. With the networking of Tom, Shirley, Denis and Fred...things might start to take off. I am posting peoples names who are planning to attend the reunion as I receive them.

It was a welcome surprise to hear Imogene (Behle) Freeman ('43) and Bud are interested in coming to our reunion and encourage them to help spread the word. 

Again, the ol' clock on the wall tells me that's enough for tonight!

New "Stuff" on our Blog!

Thanks to Betty Lou (Williams) Eden; we now have an 8th grade graduation picture (1946) posed in front of the old BHS, posted in the Classmate Photos section. Take a look and notice the dead pan expression on all of our faces (click here, or click on the Classmate Photos tab at the top). This class continued and emerged from BHS as Class of 1950. Sadly, at least 5 have passed away. The little gal on the bottom left is Lorna Finley, my wife. We will be married 60 years, April 2012.

Also, take a look at the picture of Everett (Skip) Oesch. He was the first graduate in 1938 of BHS and he was a "Class of One".  Not many schools can duplicate that performance!

Another comment was submitted by Patsy (Combs) Hornaday of her first grade memories with Miss Barker.

More and more of our classmates are being dredged up from the contacts that I've made. Today, I received a disappointing email from Bernard Ousley stating he will be unable to attend. I was really looking forward to seeing Bernie after all these many years. Fortunately, our list is growing and so far it looks like about 60 people are planning to attend. I'm optimistic we will more than double that figure once the word spreads about this reunion.

I would like to find a representative from each class that have had reunions in the past and hope they could help in notifying their classmates too! Or send a list to me (via email) and I will follow up. Networking is the best solution to getting the word out to all.

Check back often to keep up with the latest developments.

The Red Schoolhouse and BHS Reunion Blog has Updates

New pages and updates have been added to this blog.  Be sure to check out the new tabs, including:  Our Memories of Miss Barker, Who's Coming?, and Classmate Photos.  Just click on the tabs at the top to see these new features and updates.

If you have memories or photos you would like me to share on this blog, please send them to me via email at joesow@gmail.com. Also, if you have any ideas for the reunion, please feel free to make suggestions and we will consider them. Our Reunion Committee, Elaine (Combs) Noble, Jean (Wee) Webb and myself are working hard to present the best reunion possible. This will be the last reunion for many of us and we want it to be the best too!

We would love to get some feedback about the blog, please leave a comment by clicking on the comments below.

(I owe a debt of thanks to our Blogmaster, my daughter Diane, who keeps this blog in a state of work in progress and up to date)

It's Official: Reunion is set for May 27, 2012

The Reunion will be held at "The Columns" in St. Charles, MO. We firmed up the Contract Monday. More information to follow so please check this blog often and new things are happening almost daily for our Reunion on May 27, 2012.

Your help and assistance in passing the word about this reunion will be appreciated as one of the hardest parts of a Reunion is contacting all the Alumnus. If you find someone, have them contact me via email - joesow@gmail.com and I will add them to the list to keep them informed and in the loop!

Stay tuned Folks, we are going to have a great time at this Reunion and a lot of plans are underway to make it a great "Last Hurrah" for many of us.

Joe H. Sowders

I just hung up the phone talking with Coach Schnell and he will be in attendance. Little by little we are whittling away at finding folks and friends.

Welcome to our "Last Hurrah" Reunion: May 27, 2012, St. Charles, MO

THE LITTLE RED SCHOOLHOUSE AND BERKELEY HIGH REUNION  

Classes of 1938-1960

It has become apparent that our ranks are thinning exponentially and a combined reunion for all from 1938 to 1960 are included in this reunion. We are dedicating this Reunion to "Miss Barker" who many, many of us started in the first grade with her as our teacher. (If anybody has a picture of her, please send it to Joe H. Sowders - joesow@gmail.com)

The instigators of this idea of a combined Reunion started with email chat between Pat (Combs) Hornaday and Joe H. Sowders. From there, Pat got her sister Elaine (Combs) Noble interested and since then, Elaine and Joe have been fast at work putting this whole affair together. At this moment it is in a rather nebulous state and attempting to finalize a venue for the gathering. "The Columns" in St. Charles, MO is an ideal Banquet Center and very handy to Motels and the Airport. We are in the process of negotiating with them to establish a reservation for May 26, 2012.

Once we have a firm meeting place, we will them formulate further plans as to the monumental  task of getting the word out to the multitudes. Elaine is optimistic that we could conceivably get 150 to 200 Alumni gathering at this Reunion.  The biggest task ahead of us is getting the word out and locating all possible Alumnus. I have located 15 so far. We are attempting to enlist help in networking helpers to find as many people as possible. It seems each time I contact somebody, I get another lead which can be followed up to spread the word.

I find this quite exciting as our school was unique in that many of us started in the first grade and completed our High School together. We were practically "Family" after all those years.

The ol' clock on the wall "sez" it is time for me to think about bedtime and hopefully tomorrow, we will have more information for all.

Joe H. Sowders

joesow@gmail.com