Fifth Grade Memories - Campton School

I wanted to find my fifth grade picture of Denise Manzer.  She was in Mrs. Jauhola's class with me and a close neighbor - she on the upper end of Charles, me on Banks across from her end of Charles.  I will write about Deenie once I find that photo.  Meanwhile, here's a pictures of Mrs. J:

I thought Mrs. Jauhola was a real stylish lady.  I believe the ensemble in the pic was robin's egg blue - a matching skirt and sweater.

Mrs. J. absolutely loved art.  We spent hours and hours for weeks and months constructing paper mache dinosaurs or, in my case, an extinct mammal, the woolly rhinoceros.  The project never seemed to end.  On the last day of school before the Christmas break Denise and I carried home quart jars of gooey paste used for the project.  We buried the jars of goo under the snow in our backyards. If left in the classroom it would have rotted during vacation.  Once vacation was over Denise and I carried the jars back to the classroom and the art project continued.

Fifth Grade: A World Outside Silver Bay Intrudes

The Japanese earthquake, the tsunami and the nuclear reactor crisis all bring up memories of fifth grade, the year I learned the term radiation. Mrs. Jauhola's class.  Campton Elementary.  Silver Bay, Minnesota. School year 1961-62, during the Cold War.

Here we are:   Mrs. Jauhola and her Fifth Graders, living in the safety and comfort of Silver Bay and reading about bomb shelters in the Weekly Reader.  One day Mrs. Jauhola warned us about snow.  We should not lift our heads to let the soft white flakes fall onto our tongues.  The snow might contain radioactive particles.  We could die.   The world, suddenly, was a more dangerous place.

Two Young Neighbors on Charles Circle

This photo is taken in the backyard of 37 Charles Circle in Silver Bay.  That's where my family moved after leaving the Silver Bay Trailer Court (photos of trailer court are included in a previous blog post).

I'm almost positive that the taller, shirtless young man is our neighbor James Tweeto - now with a TV show on the Discovery Channel - FLYING WILD ALASKA. The Kelley Class of 1969 includes his eldest sibling, Bruce.  The young man with the striped shirt may be a younger brother.
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At the point where the lawn seems to end there's actually a long slope that goes down to the woods and the "crick."  After reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek, I thought, "Hey, maybe what my family and neighbors call a 'crick' is also known as 'creek.' "  This same ribbon of water ran behind Campton School. 

The expression on my face in the pic is not a smile. I had run and jumped - too exuberantly - into the pool and sprained my ankle.  The onset of pain and the click of the camera were simultaneous. No doubt I was showing off for the family member who held the camera.  

Silver Bay and the Dog Named Boots - Conclusion

So, brought up on episodes of LASSIE  - during which I had to hide behind a chair during the climax of the show, not knowing if Lassie and/or Timmy would survive or die - and episodes of RIN TIN TIN, a super dog that could leap and fly across canyons and rivers to "get her man," when the judge of the dog competition in Silver Bay asked if Boots knew any tricks I shook my head and mumbled "no."

Daddy, behind me, whispered, "He knows how to shake hands."  Oh, Daddy, I thought, all dogs can do that.  But the judge smiled at me and said, "Oh, let me see."   I told Boots to sit as I bent down and put out my hand.  Boots lifted a paw and I shook it. The judge nodded, made a note of this event in her judging book, smiled at me again and moved on to the next dog.

The judge's smile stayed in my mind.  Boots was handsome, well-behaved and wearing a bright red bow.  Why shouldn't he win a prize? 

Time for the announcement of winners.  When it came to the canine category I held my breath. When Boots did not win third place or second place, my heart beat so quickly... Then first place was announced. Boots did not win that, either. I was stunned.  All our hard work for nothing.  Well, what could I expect from a dog that couldn't even jump out of a shallow cardboard box?  But wait....   

Another prize was going to be awarded - the dog that knew the most tricks.  And there you have it.  Boots won and Daddy and I brought home a croquet set, courtesy of S & Q Hardware. So don't underestimate your dog's abilities. And remember, when in competition, it doesn't hurt if one of the judges was your Sunday School teacher.

Silver Bay and a Dog Named Boots, Part 3

So back to the competition.  Mrs. R., the judge, finally got to me as stood there on the pavement in front of the Rexall store. Daddy was slightly behind me. The Pomeranian named Boots was next to me on a leash.  The dog was on his best behavior and very patient as the judge petted him and looked him over.

At the big New York dog show I've seen on television a judge always watches the dogs trot around a circuit.  But in Silver Bay, there was none of this.  All the people stood in line with their pets and the judge came by, looked at the animals and asked some questions.  When Mrs. R. (Romer? Reemer?) came to me she asked me the dog's name and maybe how old he was.  I probably explained that actually he was my sister Karen's dog.

But there was one question I know she asked:  Does Boots know any tricks?  I shook my head.  Mom, Daddy, Karen and I all agreed the Boots was kinda dopey - he couldn't even jump out of his very low cardboard box.  Tricks?  No, he didn't know any tricks, I said.  Then, Daddy whispered from behind me.  "He can shake hands."

Shake hands?  Didn't all dogs know how to do that?  I'd seen Lassie and Rin Tin Tin on TV.  Now
those dogs knew how to do tricks.... (to be concluded soon).

Silver Bay and a Dog Named Boots, Part 2

Certainly someone else in the Kelley Class of 1969 remembers this grand event held in the Silver Bay Shopping Center, 1958 or 1959.  (If it was in 1959, perhaps businessmen or the City council or a group of Silver Bay citizens were trying to take our minds off the Steelworker's strike that seemed to go on forever and sent my family back to the farm.  I will certainly write about that later.)

As far as this animal contest - Daddy convinced me to take Boots.  And we spent the morning of the competition making the Pomeranian look as beautiful as possible.  We bathed him and brushed him and he actually seemed to like all the attention. Mom did a lot of sewing, in fact she was apprenticed to a dressmaker in Minneapolis in her teen, so she had all kinds of ribbons in a sewing basket. We we chose red and tied a big bow around his neck so you could barely see his collar.Boots was as handsome as I'd ever seen him.

We lived on Charles at the corner of Banks so the Shopping Center was just up the hill, past the woods and the green steel municipal building.  I think we may have walked up to the event for I recall walking through the parking lot that was nearly full.  There were a lot people with their pets. There were probably cats. Maybe rabbits, too?  Hamsters? Tropical fish?  Turtles? But I only remember dogs. There were so many of them.  And this sense of hopelessness came over me.  Boots would never win a prize. Not with this many dogs competing for a prize. 

The judging took place on the cement walkway in front of the line of shops.  I stood with Boots on this sidewalk, near the entrance of the Rexall store.  There were many dogs on either side of me.  Most were with adults owners.  Daddy stood behind me.  The judge was a lady I knew.  She was one of my Sunday school or Bible school teachers.  Her name started with an R.  Maybe Mrs. Reimer?  Roemer?  She went down the line of dogs, slowly, looking at each carefully and asking questions... (to be continued)

Silver Bay and a Dog Named Boots, Part 1

This is my sister Karen's dog, a Pomeranian named Boots.  He's the second dog in my life, the first dog was a working Shepherd mix that herded cows and lived in our barn in Harris, Minnesota.

I don't think people bought beds for dogs then.  We couldn't just go to a Walmart or Target and buy one, spending time deciding the size, color, softness, etc. Boots napped and slept in a cardboard box.  When he was bad, someone would say, "go to your box" and he obeyed.  He weighed no more than fifteen pounds.  The box was maybe 14"X 24".  The important detail was the depth, the cardboard sides were no more than 7 inches high.  He would jump into the box on command or on his own.  But when he wanted to get out?  Someone would have to lift him out. 

He's not much to look at in this photo - it's cropped from another photo and the only one I could find of Boots. But in the spring or summer of 1958 or 1958, the Silver Bay Shopping Center hosted a "Best in Show" animal competition. Entering Boots in this contest was Daddy's idea... (to be continued)