To call Avon a town is pretty much a stretch as it has no stoplights - not even a blinking one, a tiny little post office, 2 stores, 2 churches - a white Methodist (in yesterdays photo) and a black Missionary Baptist, A cotton gin (also in yesterdays photos) and 2 schools.
When I was little they were the white school (Riverside) and the black school (which I can't remember what was called back then as I was just a child.) After integration in the 60s the black school became a special ed school and was renamed the CL Morris Center after the newly retired long-time superintendant of the county school district. And everyone attended Riverside. I went to Riverside from the time I was in pre-school until I graduated High School except for the second semester of the 6th grade. That's when mandatory integration went into effect and for that one semester Riverside was high school only.
My older brother and sister were in high school so they continued at Riverside. My younger brother and I would have been bussed to another school in a town in the far south end of the county. Those times were pretty unsettling and our parents didn't want us riding the bus so they made the decision to send my brother and I to a small private school that was not so far out of the way for Mama to be able to take us to school and then continue the circle to drop off the older children. Then in the afternoon she did the route again to pick us up. Luckily the private school's day ran from 8-3 and the public school from 8:30 to 3:30 so none of us had to go early or stay late. The next year Riverside was once again K-12 so my brother and I went back to Riverside. We were given the choise of staying at the private school or Riverside. We both chose Riverside without 2 seconds thought. Private school just wasn't for either of us!
Last night after the birthday party we were talking about schools. David's brother said one thing he was especially proud of was the fact that all of his children attened the same school system and would until they graduated. To him that was a big deal as my husband and his siblings moved often and attended many schools. My husband added them up one time and found he'd attended 17 different schools from 1st thru 12th grade! I just can't imagine that! As I said, I basically attended one school. The only school my father and his brother ever attended and the one my Mother and all her brothers and sister graduated from. It's also the one my husband and his sister graduated from. That's where I met him. :-) I wish I had a picture of the school to share but the main part of the school burned down about 10 years ago and the one they rebuilt just doesn't seem like MY school so I've never taken pictures.
Saturday's photo observation: As I was getting out of my truck yesterday morning I happened to catch a glimpse of red on the ground at my feet.
Life's not always fair is it? I love watching the redbirds in the backyard. So do the cats. Looks like this time the cat won.
11 comments:
I did 4 highschools in 4 years and my best friends, to this day, are from 2 of them - so Iguess maybe moving around isn't such a bad thing - I might not have met them... although it isn't always easy to move... Neat memories, thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
Evelyn
Thank you so much for sharing your memories Nancy, I just love reading your blog. Hope you have a great week
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)
It's been really interesting reading the memories of someone who grew up in another time and country from me. Thanks for sharing!
Nancy, your hometown sounds so idyllic. I attended one parochial school even though we moved 10 times before the 8th grade. It was the one stable thing for me.
Was your hubby's dad in the military?
thanks for sharing your story. It's interesting to read how different each of our lives were growing up.
Thanks for sharing about your small town. It was even smaller than mine, which I didn't think was possible! LOL. Sulphur had a couple of grade schools, but one junior high and one high school, so I had the same friends all the way through.
What I liked best, and what I miss the most, is knowing everyone in town. Of course, that meant that every adult in town talked to your parents when you weren't behaving properly! I got a traffic ticket when I was 16, and Mom already had three phone calls about it before I got home! LOL
(Hugs)
I went to 3 different high schools... The first one I went to for two years - the town (small - but not Avon small) made a big deal out of those who went their from k-12...
I went to different schools but the same school system and same classmates from K-12. One bldg went up to 5th grade, one middle school and finally the hs. There is a certain sense of security and stability in that.
My son in law is from Mississipi. He is an excellent husband.... Must be that Mississipi upbringing....
Thanks for sharing.
Your little hometown sounds like heaven to me! Don't like the cities at all!
Chad has been in two school systems and I, like you, stayed in one and I think moving would have been pretty traumatic for me.
Judy L.
I went to I went to 6 schools K thru 12th... I can't imagine just one!!! But, we moved every 3 years or so for my dad's job...
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