Some Memories of Mead & The Mead School 1919-1923

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Some Memories of Mead & The Mead School 1919-1923
Hazel Elmquist Bullock 

From a letter written for a Mead Jr. High School class project in 1980 that focused on the history of Mead. 

After walking for a mile and a half to a two room school house, (Highlandlake) from grades two to six, the Mead Consolidated School was like a journey into wonderland to a stringy twelve year old girl. To get to ride most of the way on a bus was more than anyone could wish for. Of course the timing had to be right or there were sour looks from the other riders if the driver had to wait, or worse still, papa to deal with if you got left. 

Mr. and Mrs. Gammill were at the head of the school and they will always be remembered as a very kindly and impressive couple. At the beginning of each day the whole school would file into the auditorium for a period of songs and devotions. If I remember correctly, we sang, "America The Beautiful" every single day or at least nearly so and I have blessed the Gammill's for that over and over. It's a thrill to be able to sing all of the words from memory and to understand what they mean! 

Following the Gammill's, a Mr. and Mrs. B. V. McCready came to the school. B. V. McCready, (in my shy opinion) stood for law and order. When he barked, "JUMP", you wondered if he meant a standing broad jump or a running high jump. The only thing to do was to engrave the rules on your heart and in your head and then try to follow them! his wife, Marvel, was truly a marvel. She seemed to have endless energy and was a very talented person. She introduced many kinds of art, oil painting, water color, china painting etc. she was a musical genius and had, in a very short time, music of every variety. She taught slide trombone, saxophone, trumpet, piano, voice etc. the school became a hub of entertainment, with everyone participating. 

There was no radio or TV to compete with and even theatres were few and far apart. (Just for fun I must add that the sophisticated kids were singing, "It had To Be You" and "Three O'clock in the Morning," while timid as I was, I've never forgot hearing a couple of the teachers singing the duet, "Whispering Hope." 

A never to be forgotten thrill was to hear a radio for the first time. A teacher, Mr. Griebling had built a set and to be privileged to put on ear phones and hear music from Denver! Imagine! Capturing music out of the air with a contraption called a radio! That had to be the ultimate in technology! 

Football was coming to the front, but the field consisted of a couple of goal posts and a level area of gravel, lined with white lime, and mud taking over at times. protective apparatus for a player was a helmet and shoulder pads. Many hefty farm boys who were in shape from hard work on the farm and others who did hard work were in shape without to much special training and a threat to all comers! 

Girls Gym clothes 1920-21The girls were involved with volley ball and basketball. Their uniforms were black bloomers with acres of material in them, a white middy blouse with a sailor collar and a black tie. a wonderful way to get completely fried. A bikini at that time would have unglued a whole country! 

World War l had brought about many changes, everywhere, Mead included. Many homes had sent sons to the fronts, never to return. But the war was to end all wars. Not long after the end of the war, the terrible Spanish Influenza epidemic struck. Not a single home was left unaffected, either by the death of someone in the immediate family or a relative possibly living hundreds of miles away. Schools and businesses were often closed to try to avoid the spread of the dreaded disease but it seemed to be no relief until it had run its course. There were few vaccines and wonder drugs. Kids were allowed to play and mingle with the kids who had measles and chicken pox so they would catch the disease and get them over with. Unlike diphtheria, typhoid fever and other often fatal illnesses, measles were considered a "childhood must" 

Electricity had blossomed into the cities and most towns but there was no rural electricity except those who had their own Delco system. If kids were bored they never dared to say so for there was no end to work. In the spring it was planting and cultivating, in the summer it was gathering early fruits and berries also with vegetables to be canned and cared for, in the fall it was more canning and drying to say nothing of butchering, baking, washing, ironing, repairing or replacing. Oh yes, and churning which could be of all the homey chores the most aggravating. Everything had to be just right, the consistency, the temperature and the temperament of the churner! 

But any break from the everyday routine was an occasion. Singing and dancing with everyone contributing who could play a few chords on a banjo or guitar, whether in someone's home or hay loft in the large barns of the day, brought friends together with fattening food like you wouldn't believe! Or, a trip to Snyder's (or Snider's) Drug store and ice-cream parlor to order a Tin Roof, one of their specialties. It consisted of an enormous scoop of real ice-cream, an enormous blob of real chocolate syrup and an enormous serving of real peanuts, generously spread over the whole confection. Life was good and you could be so lucky! 

Automobiles had replaced the horse and buggy and the affluent farmers were beginning to use tractors in the fields. However, the beet crop was still a hand labor crop and the work was hard and the days were long. 

Roads were being graveled according to usage. Many side roads were impassable at times. Dust in the summer, mud in the spring and fall and frozen radiators in the winter were a way of life! Airplanes, with nothing but predictions of doom, did nothing but keep on getting more plentiful and better. Dreams overcame doom and the world would never be the same. 

Change was the order of the day. Perhaps one of the most changed of all items is the dictionary! Thousands of new words have spouted with our new way of life. Everyday words we now use would have been completely foreign then! For example, plastic, atom, condominium, Prestone, TV, computer, saran wrap, x-rated, flight plan, microwave, organ transplant, open heart surgery, polyester, rayon and the list goes on and on. 

Mead School, you have contributed to all of the advances in education and learning and may you never cease doing it!
Hazel Elmquist Bullock - Mead, CO 1980 

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