SCHOOL DAYS . . . SCHOOL DAYS..

Cherry Tree Grade School (31) -2 Room school (Grades 1-4 except the added 5^th in 1948-49 due to overcrowding at Mt. Gay Grade School.

Attending first grade at J. B. Ellis got me off to a rather rocky start as the teacher’s kid (more about that later).  My education was off to a smoother ride as I entered second grade at Cherry Tree Grade with Sally Gore (37) as my teacher.  Each morning there would be a slight delay as I waited for Gene & Ethel Mae Coffey (36).  Mrs. Coffee would be braiding Ethel Mae’s hair into pigtails .  The three of us would then head out to school.  Our reader in second grade was "Jim & Judy Rides," I believe, and we loved to hear Miss Gore read us stories like "Little Billy Goat Gruff.  

Our Principal was Lucille VonPéchy.  She taught the 3^rd & 4^th grade.  Mrs. VonPéchy wore a smock (pink, as I recollect) with convenient pockets to place her hands while talking to us or to retrieve her whistle.  Her whistle was used to announce the end of recess.  At the bottom of the tall classroom windows, she had installed little curtains to prevent us from daydreaming and being distracted from out books. Wow, Lucille!  Wasn’t that a little over handed?  Mrs. VonPéchy would help shape our lives forever.

Mrs. VonPéchy was quite the" handyman."  One day she asked if anyone who was going home for lunch could bring her back a plane to smooth the rough edges of her desk   She was snagging her hose most every day.  I proudly volunteered and promptly brought back my Dad’s plane when I returned from lunch. Embarking on her little project, she exclaimed:  "This thing wouldn’t cut hot butter!." Almost immediately she cut her finger on the plane. It wasn’t funny at the time.  

Mrs. VonPéchy disciplined us to line up in front of the school to pledge allegiance.  I can still see her playing the old upright piano as we sang "Ten Little Tadpoles Swimming in and Out."  My mind jumps back to the installation of the gas heater which replaced the pot bellied coal burning stove as well as the building of book shelves under the classroom windows. These activities took place during our school day—nice distraction from the books. Then there was the day a hush feel over the room when someone came to get Beulah Samson (116) due to the death of her mother.  We were all saddened that our classmate had lost her mother.  Beulah and I have been close friends since second grade and are still in close contact and we often reminisce about the days at Cherry Tree Grade School and how it shaped our lives.

Death would affect our lives again that when Charles Tiller (86) died unexpectedly from infected tonsils.  Mrs. VonPéchy asked for volunteers to act as flower bearers at his funeral at the Pilgrim Holiness Church and I was among the volunteers.  Riding in the open pickup truck to the cemetery, I couldn’t help but think back about the little skiff the year before when I had chased Charles home and threw a rock at him.  The rock went through the front window of the Tiller home. That was followed by my delivery of a new window pane and an apology.  Of course we were on good terms at the time of his death, but that childish act was to haunt me for a long time.  

During recess with games of hop scotch, volleyball, "skin a cat," the monkey bars, etc., friendly C & O engineers waved to us and we thrilled to the occasional toot of their locomotive whistle. The sight of the intimidating, rugged looking Posey Griffith, truant officer, was enough to scare the dickens out of all of us. He would make rounds to check on the attendance of students such as Dickie Bill Hood (100) or Thomas Ripley (98).  This also brings back memories of smelly tennis shoes worn by a couple of our more deprived peers.  Although many of us were poor without being aware of that fact, tennis shoes were just not a part of the normal school apparel in that day.

Miss Sterling visited weekly (in the afternoon, immediately after recess) for a flannel graph Bible story.  In addition to Baby Ruth, Snickers, 3 Musketeers, Payday  and Zagnut bars, there were those popular candy cigarettes, candy lips and candy mustaches as well as wax flutes which we purchased at the door of  the 1^st & 2^nd grade cloak room in Miss Sally Gores’ (37) room. The money would eventually go for new playground equipment.  

Although Mrs. Lucille VonPéchy was as "tough as nails," we all loved her and I believe she is the main reason we look back on Cherry Tree Grade School with fond memories.  Lucille Von Péchy helped us develop into the fine citizens we have become.  Former students who would return to visit with Mrs. VonPéchy delighted in spreading the rumor of the "electric paddle" at Logan Junior High School.  Some of us were gullible enough to believe this rumor and we dreaded the transition we would need to make after 5^th and 6^th grade at Mt. Gay Grade School to attend the Logan Junior High School on the hill in Logan
-----Robert McCormack

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