Thanks for the memories, West Ward

West Ward kids ... since 1925 that has meant the lucky kids who attended the brick building on West 4th Street. I was a West Ward kid, as were most of my best friends. I can hardly believe that this is the end of the road as a schoolhouse for one of my favorite buildings.

My association with West Ward was a little rocky at first. I didn't seem to want to stay.

Several times, Mrs. Mullally, our kindergarten teacher would have to call my brother, Brad out of Mrs. Creasman's fifth grade and he would walk me home in tears. I don't remember what he would say to me in those 2 1/2 blocks. Needless to say, he was not thrilled to do this, even though it got him out of class for a while. Why they even let me go home is kind of a mystery to this day.

I vaguely remember bringing the flowers to school as shown. It looks like I am holding goldenrod and pussy willows. Now, that's not exactly what we had growing in our yard but hey, I just noticed that Linda Leibrandt Taylor is holding lots of Goldenrod and she lived on a farm ... I think I know where I got my them. Janet Rutt Hepp, now a teacher, is holding some roses. Her grandmother always had pretty roses. Dick Rima, who now keeps Heritage Hills looking so nice all the time and Harold Carlson who now is a rural mail carrier are still McCookites too, but that's all the kids in the photo who are still here. Only 11 of those 26 kids stayed to graduate with our class in 1965. A few live close -- Shirley Bonar Butz in Holdrege, Ricky Martin and Russel Moorhouse in North Platte, but the rest are scattered. West Ward kids though, wherever they are.

Mrs. Mullally just moved from McCook to a Lincoln retirement home closer to family. I used to visit with her when she was in the Townhouse in the old Keystone Hotel. "I like it downtown," she used to tell me when I'd ask her why she was in the lovely old brick on Main Street instead of one of the newer fancier retirement apartments by the hospital.

In Mrs. Traphagan's class, I remember a train trip to Cambridge that the class took in the spring. I loved trains. Margaret Decker Roedel was my second grade teacher and I still get a chance to visit with her at Highland Park. Esther Hainey was another favorite. Last time I moved, I came across a watercolor of a purple iris that she had painted. Rene Creasman and I shared our love of family and local history. In my adult life she would always greet me with, "There's one of my star pupils." It never failed to make me blush. She loved Ben Nelson more than she loved me though, I know it. Now, there was a star pupil! Mrs. Creasman lived in McCook until a few years ago then moved to Sidney to be nearer her daughter and recently passed away.

One incident that everyone seems to remember was the time that Janet Rutt Hepp got sent to the principal's office. She was barreling in from recess -- from the bright light into the dark hallway. Blinded by the light change and probably talking too, she ran right into Mr. White, the custodian, knocking him to the floor. That's quite a direct hit. Anyway, she got sent to the principal's office over the incident but still swears she was totally innocent.

On the east side of West Fourth Street in the corner brick building was Nelson's Grocery. That was our main supplier for red wax lips and black wax mustaches. I remember envelopes of Lik-m-ade that I'd tear shorter and shorter so I could get my tongue in to slurp up the sour powder on my way home.

So now that its life as a schoolhouse is over, what to do now with the building that has served so many so well? The parking on the playground has always come in so handy during really big performances at Memorial Auditorium ... it would be nice to keep that available. A park with grass and trees south of the school would be nice ... there's a good start with the trees already established there. It would be an ideal place to combine the city/county law enforcement, adding a modern jail facility that would meet all the codes. There's plenty of office space ... maybe some of the crowded city offices from the auditorium could relocate there too. There are a lot of possibilities. We better get our creative juices flowing and come up with some adaptive reuse ideas before someone suggests just bulldozing the whole thing down.

What a wasteful shame that would be!