SCHOOL DAYS
School was eagerly anticipated. The one-room school was only a quarter mile from our home. I was not allowed to attend because I was too young. The disappointment was so great that I remember very little of that year. I do recall a week-long visit to Uncle Walter's home in Mishawaka. Aunt Alta is my father's oldest sister. Uncle Walter was better known as Dr. Christophel. They had twins, Verna and Vergil. Aunt Alta managed somehow to enroll me in a class, probably kindergarten, which I enjoyed greatly. I made a little Easter basket from colored papers to take home for Easter. Of course, Aunt Alta's whole family went with me for dinner. It must have been my birthday, for there was a cake decorated with a little chicken which I thought Dad had made for me.
I started school the next year. Melvin Plank was my teacher. I did well enough in spelling that I won a book for being the best first grade speller. I also remember the only punishment I ever received in school. We were given play clay. I was proud of my long snake, turned around to show it to the pupil behind me, then had to go to the front of the room to show it to everyone.
Logan County was one of the first counties to consolidate schools. We were driven by bus, which we called "the hack," to a school several miles distant. There were two grades to a room. Three members of the Plank family were teachers, and I think I had Bertha, Bessie and Melvin the first three years. Hilda and I were in fourth and third grade room together. I excelled in Reading, Art, and Language. Arithmetic proved to be my difficult subject. I could understand no reason for learning the multiplication tables. This exasperated Dad. One day I stayed home with a cold. He set a new pair of chocolate brown shoes in front of me. When I learned the nines table, I could wear them. The more he fumed, the less I could concentrate, and it was years before I finally learned them. I must have worn the shoes later.
I was a friendly person and possibly too talkative. For Valentine's Day, the classes made valentines to pass around. I made some for most of the boys, as well as the girls. In each one I printed, "Roses are red. Violets are blue. Sugar is sweet, and so are you." I got in trouble for that innocent venture.
Sometimes we had box socials to raise money for school equipment. Each girl filled a box with food suitable for a good lunch. The boxes were decorated and secretly placed on a table. The boys would make bids, hoping to buy a favorite girl's box. He had to share the supper with the one who supplied it. I am sure that occasionally, a girl would give her favorite friend some clue as to which box was hers.
CHRISTMAS
For gifts, the three older sisters received a chain with a pendant, which we called lavaliers. With the jewelry we received a beautiful silver colored chest for our treasures.
GRANDMA KURTZ
Our Grandma Kurtz, nee Elizabeth Byler, a buxom little lady, seemed very stern. Here rebukes at our antics were kind. She became an excellent example for hard work, for she was seldom idle. Her rooms were immaculate, her table always properly set, and her meals very delicious. When we were priviledged to eat with her and Grandpa, the meals always started with a prayer. She never failed to have a dish of maple syrup beside the plates for dipping in our buttered bread.
Grandma worked tirelessly keeping her garden free of weeds and preparing vegetables and fruit for winter.
We were enlisted to help wherever we could. We had strawberries, apples, pears, peaches, and cherries to pick. Grandma said she liked to have me help with the cherries because I was not afraid to climb to the high branches. We had both white and purple mulberries, which is a very bland tasting fruit, but we saved everything. The mulberries could not be picked like other fruits. We placed sheets on the ground under the trees. Some brave child would climb up to shake the tree and we gathered the fruit from the ground.
We could help with cooking apple-butter. Gallons of apple slices were prepared the evening before. I think we added cider for cooking the apples, it was almost a full day to finish the job. We found it tiresome to stand beside the big iron kettle, pushing the long-handled wooded stirring paddle around and around.
We watched Grandma make her own soap. She made her own lye by dripping water through a barrel of wood ashes. Combining the lye and the fats to finish the soap was too dangerous for us to help. The butchering was done later while we were in school.
We caught some of Grandma's enjoyment for doing jobs well, for she often sang her lively hymns as she worked.
Grandma's help when our last sister, Zella, was born in February 1915 cannot be estimated. Zella became her special little granddaughter the rest of the time.
One day I tried to help with Zella's care by taking her outside. I fell on the steps, but kept her safe in my arms. I could not get up. Mama came to retrieve Zella, then had to carry me inside. I rested on the sofa for a long time and was able to walk again.
I saw a side of Grandma that my siblings do not want to believe. One day when all the relatives were visiting, we played hide-and-seek. Since we were allowed to hide anywhere in the big house, I chose Grandma's kitchen. As I opened the door, Grandma called out angrily and told me I had no right to be there. I saw her slip a circle of heavy cord over my cousin Vergil's body, then throw what looked like an egg into the cook-stove. I sensed something evil because of her anger. I learned later that it is a form of healing, called powwowing, which is an unaccepted practice in Christian circles today. Vergil died when he was nine years old.
WORKING ON THE FARM
Let's Go.....
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