It was an ordinary day. Looking through a variety of old books when I came across a painting of the square in Neffsville, Pennsylvania. Neffsville is to the North of the city of Lancaster and South of the town of Lititz, Pennsylvania. I have no idea how old the painting might have been or whom might have painting it. Being that it was a copy, it was still in great shape. In the center of the painting is the traffic light that still remains in that location today. I can remember going to the nearby Manheim Township High School which would have been to the left in the painting. If coming from the location as shown in the painting, you would have turned left at the traffic light and traveled about 100 yards before you would have reached the high school on your left. The corner store pictured to the rear left of the light was our stopping place most mornings after we had exited the school bus. We would buy our daily gum and candy before we headed into the Jr./Sr. High School which was about a city block behind the building on the far left. I can still remember the notices that were read from time to time in our homeroom telling us not to make visits to the corner store before school began. Most never paid any attention to the announcements. Eventually the store was torn down and a Turkey Hill Minute Market replaced it in the same location. All were devastated! I went to the old high school until my Freshman year when a new High School opened a block or two behind the old high school, which then became the 7th and 8th grade building. I can still remember joining the football team when I was a Freshman in the new High School. I was a skinny guy, but I had one advantage...I could throw the football fairly well. Therefore I became one of the Junior High quarterbacks when I was in 9th grade. One of my biggest thrills was getting a chance to play a few minutes on the High School football field during halftime of a Varsity game. Only problem was we were playing the other half of our own Junior High team. My good friend Jere was also a member of the Junior High team. My biggest problem was that I only weighed about 110 pounds and never went any farther than 9th grade. I did get to play a bit more when I joined the baseball team. Not long after my sophomore year, when I had just turned 16, I quit sports and took a job at the local Acme Supermarket which was few blocks from my home in the last block of North Queen Street and two blocks from Jere's house. I quickly earned enough to buy my first car, a 1953 Henry J. Took it often to my friend to help me work on it, since Jere was a great auto mechanic. He helped keep my car in running condition until we graduated and I was able to buy a better car. To this day, the square in the town of Neffsville remains much the same as it was when we went to Jr. and Sr. High School. The old school where we went to 7th and 8th grade is still there and still in pretty good shape. It serves as an elementary school today. The high school where I graduated from, and later taught Industrial Arts in for 35 years, is also in great shape and holds the same grades 9-12. Jere also returned to the high school and taught Industrial Arts with me, retiring with me in 1999. He still worked on his cars from time to time in his metal shop in which he taught and helped me with my car from time to time. I ended up teaching Graphic Arts and Photograph until I retired while Jere eventually became the head of grounds and maintenance department for the entire school district and kept the entire school district running. When ever I see photographs or paintings of the square in Neffsville, PA, it brings back memories from my time in the Manheim Township School District. Good memories...never to be forgotten! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.
No comments:
Post a Comment