Jim’s Journey
– a recollection of a journey through time throughout Western Clinton County 1934 – present day as told to Tracy Embick.
First of all – Happy New Year to all my readers. Well, it’s the end of 1939, December to be precise and we moved from Cross Fork to Renovo. As you can imagine, moving from Cross Fork I thought Renovo was a big city. Moving was a big deal. I missed all my friends; I didn’t think it would ever be the same. We moved in with Sam and Esther Long (that’s Violet’s mother and father, for those who knew Violet).
I really was excited; Mrs. Long had a beautiful flower garden and indoor plumbing, even one in the basement. I was really impressed and thought they were rich.
After all the excitement of moving I had to go to school. Remember what I told you about Cross Fork School? Our vacation was September through February, now I had to skip vacation and continue until May – what a bummer I thought.
I met nice folks in South Renovo. South Side School was a little different here; not one teacher but each grade had a teacher. Miss Dechant was our teacher. She introduced me to all the kids in the class and we would become lifelong friends.
Our classroom was located on the second floor. I remember one day when she was out of the room, Frank Summerson was hanging from the window sill on the outside of building. We all ran over to the window to see Frank hanging from his fingertips. About that time Miss Dechant came back into the room and we ran to our seats, leaving Frank hanging. She asked us where Frank was and we told her. She quickly ran to the window. She got some of us boys to help pull him back in. I grew up with Frank and we became friends.
Once every two weeks we had band practice which was new to me. I remember asking Leo Confer what I would be playing and he told me the sticks. So I beat the sticks to time and the other instruments such as triangle, cymbal, tambourines and others I can’t think of now. We all had fun, but what a racket we made. Later on in life, I did play the drums and became fairly good at it.
Joe Hall was the school caretaker/janitor. He kept all the rooms cleaned. I’m not sure how he did it all, he was an old man at that time. But he fired the furnace, took all the ashes and put out back of the school, kept the school very warm in the winter.
Some of the teachers I remember are Ms. Hime, Ms. Dechant of course, Ms. Attick and Ms. Eckendahl. When I was in 7th grade, Ms. Hime had me draw a picture of Santa and his sleigh with all the toys. I must of done a good job because she kept it on the blackboard until Spring.
I remember the collection of different rocks in the glass case in the Main hall. I spent a lot of time admiring them.
Some of the people I remember living “on the green” in South Renovo were Jim Regis, Walter Darren, The Browns, Pattersons, Barlocks, Paynes, Ralings and Regis again, Johnson, Brown, Getz, Wilking, Stibe and Evancho. Another friend Johnny Erickson who lived “on the green” nears to me. We did a lot of hiking. He loved to go to New York for summer vacation. We all lost a good friend one summer when he was in New York – he dove in the water and hit his head on a log underwater. I will always remember him.
Until next time, thanks for listening and coming along on my journey.
