Fond memories of Concord Township School
Lead Summary
By
Rory Ryan-hcpress@cinci.rr.com
Recent news – inevitable as it was – brought sadness to those of us who recall the good old days of Concord Township School, later known as Concord Elementary School.
The Concord Township School in Sugar Tree Ridge was built in 1930, when the former one-room schools in the township were consolidated. After the township joined to form the Bright Local School District in the mid-1960s, the building was used as an elementary school for several years. More recently, Bright Elementary was built on Fair Ridge Road, just down the hill from the 1930 building.
On June 29, Highland County commissioners passed a resolution to award the Concord Elementary school demolition project to Advanced Demolition Services, LLC, in the amount of $62,645. Commissioners conducted a bid opening for the Community Development Block Grant project at their June 15 meeting. Advanced Demolition Services submitted the lowest bid.
Thus, a few years shy of its 100th anniversary, Concord Township School will be razed.
My personal memories of Concord are always revisited with a smile and positive reflection.
First, credit goes to Principal Loretta Dean for running a taught ship (pun on "taut ship" intended).
Indirectly, Mrs. Dean taught me the definition of the word "rowdy." She once sent a note to my parents home with me. On the way home on Harry Emery's school bus, I shared with my older and wiser sister, Deirdre, that I had good news. Mrs. Dean says I'm rowdy.
My only association with the word "rowdy" was through the old TV show "Rawhide," and Clint Eastwood playing Rowdy Yates.
As my sister knew all along, but neglected to inform me, "rowdy" describes a "noisy and disorderly" person.
As I stepped off Mr. Emery's bus with letter in hand, I proudly informed my mother that I am rowdy – and Mrs. Dean said so.
Later, after my dad got home from work, we had a little chat. Being rowdy, it turned out, was not such a good thing at Concord Elementary.
My older and wiser sister had a good laugh at my expense, of course.
In addition to Mrs. Dean, three of the best teachers – after my parents – I've ever had were my first- through third-grade teachers at Concord. In sequence, they were: Mrs. Howland, Violet Morgan and Mabel Euverard. (If anyone knows Mrs. Howland's given name, please share it.)
Mrs. Howland had a Ping-Pong paddle on her desk for disciplining unruly – er, rowdy – pupils. Yes, we were called pupils back then. Pupils were in grades 1-8. Students were in high school or college.
One of my earliest memories of Concord Elementary involved Mrs. Howland's Ping-Pong paddle. The teacher was doing her best to explain to another pupil how to tell time on the large wall clock above the chalkboard. As I recall, the hour hand was on the 11, and the minute hand was on the nine.
Knowing that it would soon be lunch time, I blurted out: "It's 10:45."
I quickly became acquainted with Mrs. Howland's Ping-Pong paddle. Rowdy Ryan strikes again.
Speaking of lunch time at Concord Elementary, the food at Concord was superior to that of any other school I attended. (Apologies to Belfast, Whiteoak and Hillsboro.)
I discovered that I really like pineapple upside-down cake as a first-grader at Concord. I suspect Nondas Anderson made it. Nondas was a second mother to all of the pupils at Concord.
My own mother shared a story that I've long forgotten – if I ever knew it. Apparently, the Concord cafeteria used to have a "navy beans and plums day" on the menu. The plums were on the side. I don't remember that particular bill of fare for the sole reason that I never ate it.
Nondas, knowing that this 6-year-old pupil would not eat her navy beans and plums, would call our 927 party line and ask my mother to bring a peanut butter sandwich for me.
My mother would bring the sandwich to Nondas, who would have it on my lunch tray without saying a word. I had no idea that it came from home. One time, as my mother recalls, Nondas was making yeast rolls in the kitchen. Rose told Nondas how good they smelled. She left with a small sack of dinner rolls.
That's how things were a half-century ago. That's how things should be today.
Before I attended school, I could read, write, tell time, tie my boots and wipe my nose. Those things were simple and basic. Concord Elementary provided encouragement to expand on those basics. Our teachers provided history and context on the importance of reading, writing and 'rithmetic.
I cannot imagine anyone having better formative-years instructors than Mrs. Howland, Miss Morgan and Miss Mabel. (She told us to call her "Miss Mabel," because few pupils could pronounce "Euverard.")
If memory serves – and it often fails – I thing J. Dwayne Hawkins and I were classmates every year from grade one through graduation, beginning at Concord, then Belfast and then Whiteoak. Other than than my brief stint at Hillsboro High School, I think Dwayne and I were classmates for a dozen years. I'm sure he has similar memories of Concord.
Around 1972 or so, Concord added a kindergarten class. I believe my youngest sister, Kathleen, was in the first kindergarten class at Concord, and I think her teacher was Nancy Young.
Voters established the Bright Local School District when there was one county superintendent of schools. The county superintendent's office was adjacent to my dad's surveying office at 106 1/2 North High Street in Hillsboro. I think John Cushing was the county superintendent who wisely chose Loretta Dean to oversee Concord Elementary and the transition into Bright Local. George Greer succeeded Cushing, and I remember a few conversations with Mr. Greer, who stressed the importance of a good education.
Mine began in earnest at Concord Elementary School.
After 92 years, it is no more. Good memories. I should have said "thank you" more often to those who looked after me, including the residents of Sugar Tree Ridge.
A great school and a great community. Such are the wheels of progress.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.
The Concord Township School in Sugar Tree Ridge was built in 1930, when the former one-room schools in the township were consolidated. After the township joined to form the Bright Local School District in the mid-1960s, the building was used as an elementary school for several years. More recently, Bright Elementary was built on Fair Ridge Road, just down the hill from the 1930 building.
On June 29, Highland County commissioners passed a resolution to award the Concord Elementary school demolition project to Advanced Demolition Services, LLC, in the amount of $62,645. Commissioners conducted a bid opening for the Community Development Block Grant project at their June 15 meeting. Advanced Demolition Services submitted the lowest bid.
Thus, a few years shy of its 100th anniversary, Concord Township School will be razed.
My personal memories of Concord are always revisited with a smile and positive reflection.
First, credit goes to Principal Loretta Dean for running a taught ship (pun on "taut ship" intended).
Indirectly, Mrs. Dean taught me the definition of the word "rowdy." She once sent a note to my parents home with me. On the way home on Harry Emery's school bus, I shared with my older and wiser sister, Deirdre, that I had good news. Mrs. Dean says I'm rowdy.
My only association with the word "rowdy" was through the old TV show "Rawhide," and Clint Eastwood playing Rowdy Yates.
As my sister knew all along, but neglected to inform me, "rowdy" describes a "noisy and disorderly" person.
As I stepped off Mr. Emery's bus with letter in hand, I proudly informed my mother that I am rowdy – and Mrs. Dean said so.
Later, after my dad got home from work, we had a little chat. Being rowdy, it turned out, was not such a good thing at Concord Elementary.
My older and wiser sister had a good laugh at my expense, of course.
In addition to Mrs. Dean, three of the best teachers – after my parents – I've ever had were my first- through third-grade teachers at Concord. In sequence, they were: Mrs. Howland, Violet Morgan and Mabel Euverard. (If anyone knows Mrs. Howland's given name, please share it.)
Mrs. Howland had a Ping-Pong paddle on her desk for disciplining unruly – er, rowdy – pupils. Yes, we were called pupils back then. Pupils were in grades 1-8. Students were in high school or college.
One of my earliest memories of Concord Elementary involved Mrs. Howland's Ping-Pong paddle. The teacher was doing her best to explain to another pupil how to tell time on the large wall clock above the chalkboard. As I recall, the hour hand was on the 11, and the minute hand was on the nine.
Knowing that it would soon be lunch time, I blurted out: "It's 10:45."
I quickly became acquainted with Mrs. Howland's Ping-Pong paddle. Rowdy Ryan strikes again.
Speaking of lunch time at Concord Elementary, the food at Concord was superior to that of any other school I attended. (Apologies to Belfast, Whiteoak and Hillsboro.)
I discovered that I really like pineapple upside-down cake as a first-grader at Concord. I suspect Nondas Anderson made it. Nondas was a second mother to all of the pupils at Concord.
My own mother shared a story that I've long forgotten – if I ever knew it. Apparently, the Concord cafeteria used to have a "navy beans and plums day" on the menu. The plums were on the side. I don't remember that particular bill of fare for the sole reason that I never ate it.
Nondas, knowing that this 6-year-old pupil would not eat her navy beans and plums, would call our 927 party line and ask my mother to bring a peanut butter sandwich for me.
My mother would bring the sandwich to Nondas, who would have it on my lunch tray without saying a word. I had no idea that it came from home. One time, as my mother recalls, Nondas was making yeast rolls in the kitchen. Rose told Nondas how good they smelled. She left with a small sack of dinner rolls.
That's how things were a half-century ago. That's how things should be today.
Before I attended school, I could read, write, tell time, tie my boots and wipe my nose. Those things were simple and basic. Concord Elementary provided encouragement to expand on those basics. Our teachers provided history and context on the importance of reading, writing and 'rithmetic.
I cannot imagine anyone having better formative-years instructors than Mrs. Howland, Miss Morgan and Miss Mabel. (She told us to call her "Miss Mabel," because few pupils could pronounce "Euverard.")
If memory serves – and it often fails – I thing J. Dwayne Hawkins and I were classmates every year from grade one through graduation, beginning at Concord, then Belfast and then Whiteoak. Other than than my brief stint at Hillsboro High School, I think Dwayne and I were classmates for a dozen years. I'm sure he has similar memories of Concord.
Around 1972 or so, Concord added a kindergarten class. I believe my youngest sister, Kathleen, was in the first kindergarten class at Concord, and I think her teacher was Nancy Young.
Voters established the Bright Local School District when there was one county superintendent of schools. The county superintendent's office was adjacent to my dad's surveying office at 106 1/2 North High Street in Hillsboro. I think John Cushing was the county superintendent who wisely chose Loretta Dean to oversee Concord Elementary and the transition into Bright Local. George Greer succeeded Cushing, and I remember a few conversations with Mr. Greer, who stressed the importance of a good education.
Mine began in earnest at Concord Elementary School.
After 92 years, it is no more. Good memories. I should have said "thank you" more often to those who looked after me, including the residents of Sugar Tree Ridge.
A great school and a great community. Such are the wheels of progress.
Rory Ryan is publisher and owner of The Highland County Press.