OBITUARY OF A BELOVED BUILDING

OBITUARY OF A BELOVED BUILDING
 
 
I went to the old North Heights School today, June 29, 2015, and said my goodbyes. It is to be demolished soon. I understand the rationale behind its razing, but my heart is saddened to know so very many will never know nor care about the building that once stood on the site of the new CTE Center. It disturbs me that the building will be torn down with no recognition for its long contribution to Del Rio’s literacy.
 
I believe the school building started serving our community in 1907. Mama told me it was the first school built north of the railroad tracks and was originally referred to as ‘The Hill School’. After all, it is on a hill, was in North Del Rio and therefore, North Heights became an appropriate and descriptive name. Three generations of my family received their elementary education there. The oldest member was an uncle born in 1898 and the youngest is one of my sons born in 1969. Family members included my mom, her siblings and their children, my sissy and one of her children, and me and my sons. Many lifelong friendships for each generation came to life there.
 
I realize it is just a structure but it houses wonderful remembrances of people and events. My mind’s eye can still see our principal M.S. Mooney walking the halls, and I will never forget all the loving and top-notch teachers who were a credit to their profession. Cora Payne taught second grade to me and my mom, as well as other family members. I loved her. Her room was on the first floor immediately on the left when you walked through the front door. Bessie Fricke’s was on the right. She was my fourth grade teacher. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention my other teachers Virginia Edwards, Malvana White, and Zelma Madison. Each provided knowledge to me. Not only reading, writing, and arithmetic but they offered life lessons as well. We respected our teachers, held them in high esteem and wanted to please them and make them proud.
 
Cherished memories were made within the walls and on the grounds of that old school. The annual Halloween carnival was a celebration attended by most of Del Rio. The Davenport brothers entertained with guitar and song in the auditorium while a Mexican food plate was dispersed out of a lunch room window. In my day, the lunch room was located in the main building on the west side near the back side entrance. The Fish Pond, Cake Walk, Bingo, Sweet Tooth Booth, Country Store, horse rides, on and on; all gave fun for ten cents a ticket.
 
We didn’t have organized P.E. but we ran and played twice a day at recess. The breezeway in the back was a cool shady place to play jacks. Marbles, tops, yo-yos, baseball, dodge ball, basketball, swings, a jump stride, chinning bars, jumping rope, hop scotch, etc., all provided exercise. We weren’t allowed to play on the fire escape but on weekends the neighborhood kids could climb it by holding on to each side, pulling and walking ourselves up. The slide down was exhilarating. I have the vivid memory of Mr. Mooney coming to our home on one occasion and telling me I needed to go clean off my chalk graffiti from the slide. I had written “Laura loves Denny”. I was mortified. Many years later, Mr. Mooney and I recalled and laughed about it.
 
I remember the boiler room for heating, the windows opened wide to bring in the air, going home for lunch (one block away), field day, holiday parties catered by our room mothers who provided delicious home baked goods, P.T.A. meetings in the auditorium featuring the Rhythm Band or a class presentation that had been perfected by numerous practices. Even the bats swarming out of the attic were entertainment at dusk.
 
My prayer will be that the generations of students who benefit from the new building will have the same feeling of home that I felt when I was in the ‘old North Heights’ and on its grounds. May the CTE building serve as well for as many years as that old beloved building did.
 
Laura Davis Wolff
North Heights student 1950-1955

Comments

Submitted by live on

Yes Laura,,Very well done indeed...brought back some really fun memories. And...the boys even participated in jacks with golf ball instead of the rubber ball. I can remember Jimmy Burkhead showing me how to sharpen the point on my top to be able to split the other tops in the circle. Tommy and I use to go to the school to play on the slide during the summer for a fun thing to do. Field day was always fun. High Jumping, Chin Bar, Baseball throw, etc...blue ribbons, red ribbons, white ribbons. Yes...we had so many fun time in North Heights. It was in a very different time. After school, we would go to Star Park and play football and baseball. I can also remember the safety patrol. A safety patrol boy on each corner of the school to make sure the kids got across safely. And there was a captain of the patrol,,to make the rounds to be sure all 4 patrol boys were on duty. At one point, I was the Captain, but was relieved of duty for not making the rounds. Reason being, Betty Lou was Bob's and my girl friend. Bob and Betty lived North of North Heights and I lived South of North Heights. Bob was walking with Betty every day after school while I had to make the rounds,so,on day I stopped making the rounds and was able to walk Betty home with Bob. That ended my Captain Status. Hmmm,wonder what lesson there in this. Hey...we were kids !!! Oh what fun times we had. And what great friendships we developed and still have today. I will not forget the great friendships that we also developed going to the new 5th and 6th grade school south of the tracks. Kids from the south end meeting with the kids from the north end. Love ya all...Carl

____________________________________________________________________________ I too have fond memories of North Heights. I arrived just a few days into the school year in 1947 and was assigned to Mrs. Whites class. She couldn’t let me in the class unless I could say my A,B,C’s AND count to 100. I had no idea she wasn’t serious. With what I’m now sure was a VERY shaky voice I recited both the alphabet and my numbers. Mrs. White has remained in my mind all these years since. Second and third grade teachers I believe were Mrs. Payne and Mrs. Edwards but I’m not sure. My 4th grade teacher was Mrs. Fricky, and she also stays in my mind all after all these years. I cannot remember my 5th grade teacher but believe Mrs. Madison was my teacher in 6th. As for the fire escape that we were NOT supposed to climb. Well of course I would NEVER have done something like that…except that my older brother John dared me to climb it so of course I HAD to do it. And naturally I fell while climbing it. I thought I had broken my front tooth off when I fell but when my Mom took me to the dentist and he looked in my mouth he said, “nope, she didn’t break the tooth, it was just pushed up into her gums. I’ll put some wire around it and it should hold. When the wire falls off that means it will probably be OK for a while”. My Mom ask how long was a while. He said Oh, probably 8 to 10 years. (How he came up with this number I’ll never know. That was in 1952… 1n 1987 my tooth started turning black and I had to have it pulled and a bridge put in!!! I remember Mr. Mooney. At one time it was thought that he was going to retire. All students were asked to contribute to buy him a gift. For some reason he didn’t retire and I can remember my Dad talking about “that tie we donated for and then he didn’t retire”. He Halloween’s spent at the school were always a big affair. The games we played were so much fun and my Mom always donated at least one cake (homemade of course as I’m sure were all of the others donated). Yes, PE back then meant physical exercise and we did it because we wanted to, not because we were told to. Our parents were the first “grown-ups” to teach and guide us, but from the 1st through the 6th grades that was also done by the teachers of North Heights and I for one am glad I had that guidance in addition to that from my parents. I spent all of my school years in Del Rio Schools and while I didn’t know it then I was one of the fortunate ones that went to a school where classes were small enough that the teachers had time for every student and all of the teachers seemed to truly care for their students and had a desire to teach them. I’m not rich as in “money” but the memories I have of all of my school days in Del Rio put me way above the wealthiest in the land with all of the fond memories I still have of those days. I always told my two kids, “you can get married a number of times, and have a house full of kidos but you can only graduate from high school once, so make the best of your school years. Both my son and daughter graduated high school and kept in-touch with some of their teachers for years after graduation. I believe my time in the Del Rio school system played a part in that. Good memories, passed on usually have a bearing on other lives you touch. Barbara (Winn) Mangum classes of 1947 through 1959 ___________________________________________________________________________

Submitted by maggie on

Laura -

Thanks for the memories - made me cry to remember. I was there from 1949 - 1954, and also have many fond memories. That's where I discovered basketball (5th grade) and spent all of my recesses on the court. I continued playing throughout high school and later. I share your hopes that future generations will enjoy the new building as much as we enjoyed North Heights,

 

Submitted by Ginger Mc on

Hi Laura, such a well written article on our old neighborhood school! How we loved that school and teachers! You managed to bring back a flood of memories for everyone who attended. It was always cool in that courtyard and perfect for playing jacks. Since we lived only a block away, we spent a lot of time on that playground and fire escape after school hours. We even had enough neighborhood kids for abreviated baseball games. Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.

Submitted by Randy Smith on

so, north heights is gone now? Sad...I was there for 3rd--5th grade...ms calk for 3rd, ms hartwick for 4th, and mr. hill (he of the raw hamburger and paddle) for 5th...I also remember the cake walk...and Big Red Chief in the auditorium...and tether ball...and music lessons...

memories...