Afton Star Enterpise: I remember Afton, 3

As a bitty girl of five years and one week, I started Primary School with Mrs. Downing. I was in the afternoon class. I remember Phyllis and Phillip Fleming and Sharman Wyatt, Doug Froit, Ann Crandall, Marsha Hartsook, Blythe Amos and Ron Berdine probably were “afternoon‘ kids too. I liked kindergarten well enough but I had some adjustment to make. I was used to having two sisters with me everywhere I went and six other siblings telling me what to do and now, here I was on my own -- in a land of strangers! I was light-headed and disoriented for weeks.

For the Austin children to get to the Afton Elementary, we walked up Hwy 169 for three miles. Every day. Rain or Shine. Okay. Okay, it was 3/10 of a mile but to a 5-year old in 100 degree heat or below zero temperatures, it seemed like miles! I was never alone walking to school as there would be three or four of us little Austins in the elementary each year and maybe Jerry Jones and the Hoffman girls might join up to walk with us.

So, the teachers passed me along each year -- up a grade to Miss Lamb, Mrs. Stalcup, Mrs. Carey, Mrs. Mathes, Mrs. Ames, Mrs. Hammons . . . I liked all my teachers but in studying on this, I think Mrs. Mathes was my all-time favorite. Mrs. Edith Hammons was the band and Mrs. Obie our vocal music teacher and I greatly enjoyed the music classes but had a tin ear.

One Afton Elementary rule I never understood was when the country kids rolled up to the school each morning and poured out of the bus, they got to go straight to the playground and get busy playing. The town kids would trudge three miles through harsh elements just to get to school and then we stood at the Methodist Church watching the country kids play. We had to wait for the First Bell before rushing over to play for a few minutes until the Second Bell rang. As town children, we considered this ‘Cruelty to Children‘.

I enjoyed school days when we could stay in for recess and play with puzzles and games. I liked holiday parties and games like “7 Up” and the outside “Duck, Duck, Goose”. Red Rover, Red Rover? Well, now . . . Red Rover and dodge ball were character builders, for sure. Days with snow on the ground, if we had our boots and gloves we would slide on our feet down the snow-packed hill by the new building. Never a day went by without plenty of fresh air and exercise.

I loved playing inside in the basement lunchroom on wet days but that didn’t happen very often and what was even more rare, was ME getting to stay and eat school lunch! I loved any school lunch I ever met. With eight or nine of us in school, there was no sense in buying lunches (my Mama‘s words) so we all walked home at noon. Mom always had a sandwich ready with soup or vegetables and fruit and I would gobble it up and lick the plate. Thank goodness for school milk breaks or I wouldn’t have had the strength to get back home!

I do remember Afton. I wish some of my classmates did . . . I am hoping to hear their memories!