The Tall and Short of It

Scouting was part of growing up in Winchester, KY during the 1960s. Every guy worth his weight in salt would start out in the Cub Scouts around age nine. A "Den Mother" she was called. That woman who lassoed a group of wild Indians each Thursday afternoon after school. A special badge of courage she earned during my days!

The picture to the right shows my brother and me at this Cub Scout period in our lives. Getting to wear that blue uniform to Hickman Street School once a week was special. At this point, Henry was just half a head taller.

At age 11, you got to move on up to that group called "Boy Scouts"...with a "Scout Master". Our troop 84 was the largest in Winchester. We would collect 50 - 60 boys each Thursday night at the large Christian Church just across the road from Hickman Street School. There was a large meeting room in the basement with lots of space to run around. Of course we did not do a lot of running being in a church and all. The Scout Law was: A Scout is - Trustworthy, Loyal, Helpful, Friendly, Courteous, Kind, Obedient, Cheerful, Thrifty, Brave, Clean, and Reverent. Wow, what a list!

The picture to the right shows my brother and me at this "Boy Scout" period. I guess you could say we were at least clean and cheerful. Henry had started his growth spurt now being head and shoulders above. My white tennis shoes show that my feet at least had started to grow. The "Tall" and "Short" of it I guess.

Our "Scout Motto" was "Be Prepared"! To do this we learned all sorts of things about first aid, safety, nature and the environment. Camping, hiking, fishing, wildlife, and the great outdoors were our laboratory. What more could a guy growing up ask for? [This of course was before my growth spurt and girls came into the picture!]

The "Scout Oath or Promise" began with the words: "On my honor I will do my best...". What a group of guys to grow up with when honor, and to do your best, was expected.

Brothers

Brothers are special. They share a part of life with you that no other person on earth will ever share. Older brothers especially will take a special place in your life. They show you how to throw a ball, which shirt to wear or not, when to run, and when to fight...all sorts of things that have to do with life and growing up, going ahead and leading the way.

The picture to the right shows Edward Turner Jones (E.T.) with his older brother Benjamin Thomas Jones. Legs crossed in tandem, hands on lap, a serious look about both, bothers sharing something together...a picture it is. E.T., with pipe in mouth, has a vest in place. [I guess he wanted to record in history that he had takin up smoking, while his older brother had not.] Brothers together in time and space. What memories they share.

Life's Challenges

Life has a number of built-in challenges. At birth, for a full-term infant, regaining their birth weight by 10 days of age is usual. Birth weight doubles by 5 months of age, and triples by 1 year of age.

Growth increases by 10-12 inches in the first year of life.

Subcutaneous tissue (fat) reaches its peak at around 9 months of age.

The head is slightly larger than the chest at birth [needed to open the door], but the chest size increases to match the head size by the end of the first year.

Teeth erupt in most infants between 5 and 9 months of age. By one year of age most children have 6-8 teeth.

Challenge after challenge face us.

The picture to the right shows me at one 8-9 month challenge...to assume a sitting position without help and to be able to maintain it with the back straight. My arms are extended [already talking with my hands before I could talk with my lips], fingers spread, and a sheepish grin upon my face. My back certainly appears straight. Legs are flexed, and it almost looks as though I could jump up and walk away. One of life's challenges caught on film. However most of the time, life does not always provide a camera.

Thank You

The teachers and students of Hickman Street School were many. Just how many will never be known. I would guess that for each year there would be at least one class each per grades one through seven. Thus for my family's lifetime, roughly 1910 to 1960, there would have been somewhere around 50 X 7 = 350 teachers. Assuming approximately 25 students per class there would be 50 X 7 X 25 = 8750 students who passed through the hallways and sat in the classrooms. What did they do with their lives? What impact did the teachers have shaping and molding these lives?

I still recall the names of all my teachers. Let's see: Mrs. Williams (1st grade), Mrs. Stevens (2nd grade), Mrs. Scott (3rd grade), Mrs. Walden (4th grade), Mrs. Gravett (5th grade), Mrs. Ragland (6th grade), and Mrs. Culton (7th grade). I never got to thank these teachers face to face, for what they contributed to my life growing up in those hallways of Hickman Street School. By now, they all are gone to that great schoolhouse in the sky. Thank you for sharing your lives with me. Thank you for helping me learn, and learn how to sit still, and learn how to grow. Thank you, the teachers of Hickman Street School.

Blow the dust off.

Hickman Street School has been demolished, lost to the dust of the mind. Having spent seven years of my life in this architectural wonder, the dust of my mind can be easily blown off to reveal the memory. Not much of this three story, U-shaped, red brick monster escaped my exploration!

My grandmother Jones (Mam maw), Dad, Uncles Eugene, Gale, aunts Thelma, Linda, my older brother Henry, and his wife Marcia all attended Hickman Street School. Of course Mam maw would have started around 1910. Dad and Thelma would have attended early 1930s. Uncles Gene and Gale, and aunt Linda in the 1940s. My brother, Marcia, and yours truly would have stared mid-1950s. That's more than half a century that my Jones family wandered around this behemoth. By the time my brother and I started, the buzz was that Hickman School was condemned and would soon be torn down. It lasted at least twenty more years!

As you faced Hickman Street School from Hickman Street, you faced four tall, white Corinthian columns that guarded the front entrance. This elevated to a rectangular pediment that extended above the third floor windows. These large, third story windows gave the principal a commanding view to the front, and to all those who past through two very large front doors. Not that I spent a lot of time in the principal's office.

The school must have been built in three phases. The left arm of the U-shaped structure was the oldest, with wide 8 - 12 inch floor boards and an ancient stairway that made all sorts of squeaks, rattles, and moans when walking up and down to the third floor. An arched double door faced to the inside court with a large stone arch frame. I suspected this section was built much before 1910.

The front entrance and classrooms must have been the second phase, where a large atrium with bulletin boards, glass cases, and a multiple-step stairway that had those fancy brass edges that were to keep you from slipping and falling.

The right side of the U-shaped building was the latest addition with narrow wooden floors, smaller windows, and a basement with tiled floors. The basement with the tiled floors housed the first and second grades. You then moved up to the second floor for the third grade. Forth and fifth grades were in the oldest part of the building. These huge rooms had tall windows, and a never ending set of black boards that I frequently had to write upon after school stating "I will not..." for what ever it was that day. The sixth grade was in the middle part, and finally, the seventh grade was located on the third floor. My sex education class was the third floor boy's restroom, where wooden stalls were carved with all sorts of education.

Hickman Street School is now gone forever. Mam maw had a copy of the newspaper article which pictured the "RAZING OF" old Hickman School dated February 1974. A new office building with drive-up facilities and parking area was to be constructed on the site. "Walls Come Down" the picture is titled, but it only takes a second to blow the dust off.