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Hold On I Know I Wrote This Down Somewhere, Canada
Just a quiet country boy who believes in remaining calm at all times even though there are times when a little excitement is necessary. I also believe in living each day to it's fullest because when it's over you can never have it back and it makes one less you have coming. I was married to the most wonderful woman in the world, my late wife Ellen. She will always have a place in my heart. I like cooking, dining out, traveling, shopping, gambling, blogging, bling and I love my truck cause she's pretty and fast. Oh and let's not forget food.

June 23, 2010

Doo-Wop At The Sock Hop


Well I figured how to get my Jukebox going here on my blog and that brought back a few memories. Actually it's a Playlist to most but the one that I decided to embed had some oldies but goodies on it and that made me think of the Jukebox and that brought to mind the Sock Hops. Dances were quite different way back when I was just a youngster going to school in a small town USA. The school I went to was from the 1st grade to the 8th. As you entered the school, the principal's office was on the left and directly in front of you was the cafeteria / gymnasium /autotorium / whatever it was needed for. There was a stage there also. Off to the right were a couple of classrooms. The first was the 3rd grade with Mrs. Roberts and next was 2nd grade with Mrs. Wilkerson. Mrs. Wilkerson's son Charlie and I went to school together  from the 1st grade until the 12th and Mrs. Roberts husband was the school bus driver. I only rode the bus a few times because my cousin would drive her kids to school and they picked me up on the way. Their farm was next to ours and in fact my grandparents had bought their farm off my cousin. He was the son of one of my grandmother's brothers who had a farm a few miles away along with another of her brothers who also had a farm a few miles away. I guess my family owned close to 700 acres all very close to each other. Anway not to get off track let's get back to the school. Then the 1st grade class with Miss Ryan which was next to the stage just off from the cafeteria. As you progressed down the hallway you came to the 4th grade with Mrs. Dyson and then Mrs. Barbara. Every morning I would here this music but never knew what it was until I got to the 5th grade with Mrs. Barbara and then I discovered the source. She would have a music session everyday where she played an old upright piano and everyone would sing. The one part of the music I heard came from these black plastic flutes everyone had and learned to play. I still have mine to this day. She is the one that went to my grandparents and told them I seemed to be musically inclinded and that they might want to consider having me start playing an instrument and join the band. My cousin next door had 2 daughters they thought might play music so they had purchased a clarinet for one and a saxophone for the other. Neither of them took to the music scene so the instruments were just stored away. I ended up with the saxophone and played it all through school and beyond. Still play today. At the end of the hall was Mrs. Dyson. Not the same as the 4th grade but an older lady who taught 6th grade. The school only had 2 hallways, one on each side of the cafeteria. Down the other hall which I could never wait to get to was the 7th grade with Mrs. Dalrymple, the 8th grade which was split up between Mr. Timberlake and Mr. Carpenter. Of course you had the library and the kitchen next to the cafeteria on the left. Small place but to us back then it was big. Have I lost any of you yet with my ramblings?
As I was about to get to we had dances there once in awhile but there was no band, no DJ, only a jukebox with 45rpm records in it. It was so cool playing those songs of the fifties and dancing in the 1big room in the school. There would be soda pop and ice cream for everyone. Today that just wouldn't be cool but to us it was the greatest.
Mr. Carpenter taught shop and ran the FFA Future Farmers of America along with some teaching in the 8th grade. Mr. Braithwaite the band teacher taught me from the 5th grade on until I was out of high school. Back then our school was small and there weren't that many students from each community playing instruments. Mr. B taught at 4 different schools on different days throughout the county and when we had a parade the band members from all the schools got together and marched and played. It was called the United Hughesville School Band. Pretty neat eh? Those were good times back then and I consider myself fortunate to have experience such a lifestyle. No drugs, no murders that I remember but there may have been one or two somewhere along the line. It was a quiet time and a peaceful one. The place now is so congested and so different that there isn't much resemblance of the way it was but that's the way with a lot of places like that. I believe they call it progress but I can't see where it has improved anything. Life there will never be the same simple existence it once was. Heck back then everyone knew everyone and now I doubt if some people even know who lives down the street from them. I see that here and to me that's a shame after coming from where I did.
Man that seems like another lifetime to me. I've often thought about those times and how from the time I started school until I graduated it really did seem like another lifetime. Heck after getting out of school and going to work I probably missed 15 years somewhere along the line and it didn't seem to take any time to past by either. I can remember so many details of that quiet life and after that I can't remember half of what happened.
Wow have I been rambling on or what?? Guess I had better get my butt to bed so I can get up for work in the morning. I'll continue on with some more of this on my next post so until then goodnight all and I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

6 comments:

Cindy said...

Your grade school sounded so much like the one I went to, except the principal's office was on the right side. We played those little flutes too. We called them Tonettes. Those were the days, huh? Thanks for the memories of the good ol' days at Wis Dells Grade School.

Joe Robinsmith said...

Wow, what an incredibly cool story. Thank you for sharing.

JennyD said...

Curtis, all I have to say is WOOOOOHOOOOOO! You goooooooo my bestest of brothers! As soon as I heard the player rev up, I was sock hop bound. Get yourself over here! Let's cut a rug!

(I've got you on "follow" for sure!) MUAH! Let's get all of spaces over here. Oh, by the way, next time I talk to you, please tell me how to add the player, little pics, etc. It's killin' me and I'm really screwing it up. Serves me right for being a non-blogger for more than a year, huh)

Sally said...

I love your stories, Curtis. Oh yeah, the 45's, and juke boxes. One year for Christmas my daughter gave me a miniature one, and I LOVE it. Hunter and I dance all the time to the oldies!! :)

carol t said...

You went to a BIG school! I'll write a blog about my school so you can see how sophisticated you really were.

Anonymous said...

I wonder, on that stage in the gymnasium, did your classmates ever present plays?

As I read, I remembered my own school years and they weren't too different from yours as you remember them. Yes, a lot of great times, for certain.