When the community got together and built a new elementary school, they didn’t build it large enough for the fifth and sixth grade classes.
So when it came time for me to leave the elementary school (fourth grade)…I went to the old school in Osage.
This building was built in 1938 so when I went to school here it was only 24 years old. The building was a two room schoolhouse. Fifth grade was on the left and taught by Mrs. Tillie Zeller, to the right was the sixth grade class taught by Mr. Martin Cox. Mrs. Zeller was a grandmotherly type teacher…ample in all the right places and kind with an endless supply of floral dresses. Mr. Cox was very young…possibly in his first few years of teaching. He had one burgundy/maroon colored sweater that he favored…but often times wore a suit. Both classes had about 16 students…maybe 18.
We walked over as a group to the Elementary School to have lunch and I recall walking to Release Time Classes (Religion) on Wednesday mornings at Dorothy Noeske’s home.
There were swings in the school yard and one of those marvelous Merry Go Rounds you know the ones with heavily rutted paths all the way around. You would grab ahold and run like the wind and then hop on…and if you were really brave you would wrap your legs around the bars and fall backwards your hair blowing in the breeze…laughing..always laughing.
Eventually the fifth and sixth graders were sent to Park Rapids to school…not sure when.
The school became a Community Center and served the Community in that capacity for a number of years. Far Guy’s Grandmother Tracie was instrumental in it becoming a Community Center and a place for Senior Citizens Hot Lunch…her group raised funds to update the kitchen and to have the building’s roof repaired.
Times change. The township sold the building. Last winter crews were there working everyday…electricians, plumbers and carpenters. Finally it was done. There is even a deck off the sixth grade classroom.
I have not been inside. They had an open house but we missed it. Supposedly it sleeps twenty people and has a number of bathrooms.
I remember that the oak steps beyond the front door one set going to the right and one set to the left were worn from children’s feet…and the cloak rooms had their own unique smell…wet wool….and the blackboard was massive covering most of one wall in each room.
Delighted to read you call it blackboard. Since when did everyone say chalkboard instead?
ReplyDeleteOf course so often now schools have white boards which don't use chalk, so don't generate dust, but are so much more difficult to read.
Chalkboard is what the UK call it . My mum who was Brit always called it Chalkboard where I called it blackboard lol !
DeleteReally? I'm very surprised. My response is:
DeleteNo! No! Chalkboard is new in (this part of) the UK (at least). We always used to call it blackboard. No idea where chalk board came from. Honest.
I never heard chalkboard until the last 5 years. Max.
They were blackboards when they were black, but then they changed the materials and made them green - hence, chalk boards.
DeleteOh we had green blackboards at my school and black blackboards too.
DeleteI painted the inside of my front door with blackboard paint. It was great for exchanging messages with my lodgers. Different front door now - and no more lodgers. Just me and the Chef.
Your description sure brought it to life for me. I remember those merry go rounds, and I rode them just the same as you did, head back, hair flying, laughing. What memories! Now it's a fancy B&B, I guess. :-)
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! A pirate patch for Cynthia? You are an imp! But you nailed the description of the merry-go-round and the rutted paths. That's exactly they way ours was too. My favorite thing to do was lay on my tummy on the merry-go-round, slowly spin and drag a stick though the rain water that had collected in the rutted path. When the slow spinning stopped, I just used the stick to push off a little to keep turning and draggin the stick theough the water. Kid life at its best, eh?
ReplyDeleteHow interesting and what a nice building. I love the fact that they preserved it and utilized it without tearing it down. You have such great memories and you bring memories back to the rest of us.....the merry go round and the rutted paths. At our age we lived so much that our memories keep us company...the good ones anyway! LOL! Thanks for sharing "the good ole days" with all of us.
ReplyDeleteI suppose they've eliminated the worn stairs and the wet-wool smell (I can smell it now), but I wonder whether there is any trace of the school it once was. I hope there's another open house when you can attend.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, it's a good idea that they don't destroy an old building but recycle it to a good use.
ReplyDeleteAt least this building is being used and not torn down like most are now a days to make some thing new , good to see it is being taken care of to kind of helps it in it's standing of it's history that way . Thanks for sharing , have a good day !
ReplyDeleteYour memories are very similar to mine, including the merry go round. I think it's great they made it a B&B. I'd love to go back and spend a day (or night) in the Old Powers School. Hm, I wonder if it's still standing!
ReplyDeleteI'll bet it is really delightful on the inside. Think I'll check it out! Certainly better than tearing it down.
ReplyDeleteI Googled the Osage Schoolhouse. It sleeps up to 23 and rental cost is $308 to $450 per night. And I did see a blackboard in the living room! Sounds like a great place for a family reunion.
ReplyDeleteI hope there will be another chance for you to see what the interior looks like now. The cost of renting it seems steep but I guess if it sleeps up to 23 people!
ReplyDeleteOh, too bad you missed the open house. Perhaps the owners can be talked into having another one? It sure would be good for business--or a story with a history angle to it. Besides, that's a good sized vacation rental! They need to show it off again.
ReplyDelete