Junior High And The Friends You Shared It All With

Pat Brown, Evelyn, Liz Ballard and unknown in front of the Waynesville Junior High building 1968

Back in the late Sixties I attended Waynesville Jr High with the best friends a girl could ask for. Donna, Maureen, Candy and I shared some of the best days of our lives in that two story building. We sat before and after school on the hard cement wall ledge and dandled our legs and drank coke out of a little cup. Back then things came in "moderation". Super size wasn't heard of. We got our Coke and Sprite out of a machine that dropped down a small five ounce cup and then poured it full of your "two" choices. Sometimes the cup would drop down upside down spilling your precious soda down the drain. There was a machine in front of the principals office that carried new pencils (I loved new pencils) and note book paper. We all wore mini shirts and dresses and bell bottom pants. On weekends we wore hip hugger blue jeans with boys shirts tails. We were cool. There was a white foot rail in front of our school and we hung out there a lot with a few boys who could play a guitar like nobodies business. Randy Willits and Kellis Williams entertained us all.
We played girls basketball in those days and I think I was a Rover. Back then a Rover was a person that could play both sides of the court. I loved sports almost as much as I loved dancing. "Sock Hops" were held in our gym where all the boys and girls took off their shoes and danced the night away in their socks to real live bands. We slid all over the floor. A lot of good times were had in that gym from sock hops to white elephant sales to basketball games. We even had this gigantic ball we played where one team pushed on one side and the other team pushed on the other, each trying to get this huge ball across their line. It was a blast.

Mrs Dye was our Home Ec teacher and I enjoyed her class till the dreaded day she sent me to the Principals office for the length of my dress. You see the night before I had spent the night with my much older sister and away from my mother's eyes I had hemmed a mini dress.....HEMMED A MINI DRESS! What was I thinking? Anyway she bent down to my desk and said I needed to go to the Principals office. I remember taking that long walk up from the Home Ec room around the corner to the Principal's Office. Mr. Hardman (I believe that was his name) asked me to put my knee on the chair seat and said my dress needed to touch the seat to be allowed. I was so embarrassed as I did what he asked, knowing full well my dress was nowhere near that seat. I had to call my sister to come and get me! I was so embarrassed. I don't think my Mom ever found out about that day for I know it never happened again! Besides that one unfortunate incident Junior High was a blast! We were just coming into our own and everything was new and exciting. It was also a life altering time too. My father died when I was in the 7th grade and my best friend's parents divorced the same year. When I turned fourteen my other best friend Janie passed away from a fast growing cancer. She was the most kindest and gentlest girl I have ever known. We adjusted to these blows and in our lives and shared many wonderful times in that old school house.

I had the chance to go by the old Junior High School a month ago and couldn't resist the urge to stop. I pulled to the curb where all the school buses used to park and walked up the the big front steps where all of us cool kids used to sit and dangle our legs. I tipped toed up to the door window and peered inside. Nothing had changed! There was the big cold cement steps that lead to the second floor and the double doors to the gym....our gym! Those were wonderful times and hard times but I wouldn't have missed them for the world. I still stay in touch with Maureen and Candy and email Donna almost everyday. I can still hear the echo of our laughter as we walked down those halls, young girls and boys teetering on the edge between childhood and adulthood. Those innocent girls and guys are now teetering in their fifties with children and grandchildren in their lives but it's always fun to go back to those days of sock hops, coke cups and mini shirts. Till next time just remember...never hem a mini! Aunt Onie