Growing Up in Elmwood

School Play 1955

This looks like a puppet play at Elmwood School. My brother is on the top left. He was the 1955 6th grade class.

Elmwood School Class of 1955

This is the 1955 6th grade class of Elmwood School.

Accident 1962

This was an interesting evening. In the early morning hours for May 28, 1962 this is what our house looked like. Some young men were drag racing up W. Colvin St. - a direct result of being made one way - and lost control as they came around the curve at the creek bridge. My mother was ironing school clothes for the next day and heard the noise coming up the street. She headed for the front door when she remembered that in her haste she had left the iron down and returned to set it upright. As she returned to the front door and was about to open it, the car hit the house. If it had not been for the iron and the intervention of the Good Lord, she would have been on the front porch and probably under the car. At one in the morning there were firemen and policemen all over the house. The fireman had to shore up the front porch because the attic came over the upper porch and the weight could bring the whole front of the house down. A year later to almost the exact date, it happened again to the house directly across the street!

Elmwood School 1922

Did you know that Elmwood School was only half the size that we remember. This is a picture that my mother had saved that was published sometime in the Sunday Rotogravure. Do you remember that? Anyway, my mother, born in 1916 went to Elmwood School when it was like this. She had Miss Langley for a teacher in third grade about 1924. My older brothers also had Ms. Langley as did I. My younger sister missed having her by one year when she retired about 1964.

T. Roosevelt Jr. High 1964

This is the 1964 9th grade graduation picture of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. High School. It was taken on the bleachers out on the the track field. Yes, I'm in there but I'm not telling where. How do you like the hairdos? Notice all the girls are wearing dresses or skirts and look at the boys - ties! Roosevelt is now Danforth Magnet School. My daughter's fiance is a counselor there now. Small World. He says the same bleachers are still there. The day that John F. Kennedy was shot they choose to not tell us until the end of school. They announced it over the loud speaker after we left class. I could take you to my locker where I stood that day - if it's still there.

Giant Snowman 1961

This picture was posted on the front page of the Sunday Herald American on January 8, 1961. We had had a snow storm and the neighbor kids started building a snowman and it got bigger and bigger and bigger until it was two stories high. My brother is on the ladder. The younger kids were using "flying saucers" to bring the snow to the yard and my brother lifted it and packed on to the snowman. How come the kids these days don't have this kind of fun?

Onondaga Park Fountain

These pictures were found in the belongings of my aunt. They are lower Onondaga Park on South Ave and dated 03/14/1948. They are not great pictures but it gives you idea of what those wonderful fountains looked like in the winter - a ice volcano sprurting water. Do you remember Star Pond. How beautiful. How about sliding down the big hill across from Star Pond. I was never brave enough to do the two hills. One of the best "sleds" was a giant piece of cardboard.

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First Communion at St. Anthony's

Oh my look at all those children. In this class there are 80 boys and 78 girls. Talk about baby boomers! This is the way St. Anthony's looked before they enclosed the stairway. That's Msgr. McAvoy at the top. Bet he wasn't happy with the two little girls in the front row not facing forward. This is my oldest brothers class. The pictures below are my second brothers class, followed by mine. Do you remember the long walk from Elmwood school down South Ave and down W. Colvin St. to St. Anthony's for Religious Education classes. Not a fun walk on a cold windy winter day. Who was in charge of getting us there? Was there an adult or a safety patrol? We all trooped together in line and no one dared cutting out. I remembered wishing I could just go home especially since we walked right by our house. Try to get them to do that today. Probably against some kind of law now. Of course, you St. Anthony kids got out early on Tuesday afternoons thanks to us public school kids.

1951

1952

1957

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1951

1952

1957

Girl Scouts

So this is Brownie Troop #136 Elmwood School 1958. I unfortunately don't remember the name of our leader. Some of the name of the girls in the photo are Carla and Lois Bliss, Barbara Mathewson, Rosemary Dunford, Charlen "Cookie" Santangelo, Leona Bulriss and of course me Judi Reagan Durling. Any more that you recognize?

Here we are again in 1959. Some of the same girls as above and also Jackie Brown, Karen Rydell, Janet Meade, Carol Barlett, Kathy Hertkorn and Linda Ely. My mother always put my hair ina pony tail and the little beanie hat didn't fit very well over the pony tail so she cut a round hole in the back of the beanie for the pony tail to go through. Also, Brownie meeting day was the same as gym day for me. Do you remember wearing the lovely blue gym suit under your clothes. It was under my Brownie uniform. Our Girl Scout troop was # 72 and our leader was Mrs. Phillips - mother of Patty and Penny. She was a great leader and we did alot of camping thanks to her.

Larger images under the cut.