Kindergarten

Back Row:  Claudette Gilmore, Loren Knoll, Tom Fike, Mike Callahan, Scott Rumpel, Bob Hickey, Don Teller, Roy Lamb, Todd Goodson, Mickey Reasoner, Eric Benson, LaDonna Lamb.

Front Row:  Tina Curry, Carol Woolum, Brenda Edwards, Brenda Groves, Pam Margason, Shelly Vergobbi, Paula Haux, Karla Wirta, Mary Ann Eggart, Cathy Hamblin.

This is a photograph from my kindergarten class.  I went to kindergarten at the old Kellogg Junior High School building in the school year 1968-1969.  It was the only year my brother, sister and I were all in the same school building at the same time, because my brother was in 9th grade, my sister was in 8th grader, and I spent half a day, in the morning, at this school for kindergarten.  This school was located where Main Street and Division Street come together in uptown Kellogg.

Our teacher was Mrs. Dorothy Clark.  Mrs. Clark is still a friend of my mom's and they occasionally get together for lunch.

I think because when I turned five, I experienced so many different things, is why I remember so much from my kindergarten year.

Here are a few examples:

I remember having red snow boots with black fur trim.

I remember standing in line to get a drink, and BE and BG being mean to me.

I remember going outside to catch snow flakes on a black piece of paper.

I remember doing a program at the end of the year based on the different holidays.  I think I had to memorize something about a toy at Christmas. Yes, it was a poem about a top.

I don't remember being able to read in kindergarten, but I have been told I could read, but would refuse to read out loud to others.  But Mrs. Clark knew I could read because she would give papers to me to hand out, and I could read the student's names.

I remember going to Tina Curry's house each morning, because her mom babysat me that year.  We would carpool to kindergarten with Roy and LaDonna Lamb, who were twins, and live close to Tina on Caledonia Street in Kellogg.

Tina just shared one of her kindergarten memories.  She said everyone hated us because we had pixie haircuts.  I don't have that particular memory about kindergarten.  I'm not saying it didn't happen...I'm just saying I don't remember that happening.

When I was five, it was the one year I took dance lessons from Betty Damiano.  I remember learning a dance to "Here Comes Suzy Snowflake".  In the spring, the big end of the year dance recital had a Noah's Ark theme.  My dance class were "Love Bugs" and "Fireflies".  When we did our dance as Love Bugs, we sang the song "Give Me A Little Kiss".  (I can still sing that song word for word.)

The great thing about living in a small town because later my daughter Molly took dance and voice lessons from Betty Damiano's daughter Joni Bartel.  One time I went to Molly's rehearsal and Miss Betty was there playing the piano for the rehearsal.  Once she realized who I was, she remembered that I had taken dance when I was five, and she could list off every students who had been in the class.  She is an amazing woman!!

As I look at the photograph of my kindergarten class, I am amazed at how many of the people I have fairly regular contact.  And most of the people in the photograph still have family living here in the Kellogg area, even though they have moved away.

Of the 22 children in this photograph, 15 of us graduated the same year (1981) from Kellogg High School.

Two of these children have died, Cathy Hamblin and Mary Ann Eggart.

Tina Curry and Brenda Edwards are part of a group of friends that get together each Christmas for a gathering.  But I usually see them more than once a year.

Four of us in the photograph live in the Kellogg area.  Quite a few more would be added to that list if we included the Coeur d'Alene/Spokane area.

There are only three people in this photograph that I have had no contact with since I think grade school.

I like the fact that I can look at this picture, and 45 years later I could name all 22 people in the photograph except one.  And that one, I knew the first name, and was close on the second.  I just had to get the last name verified.

My daughter Coco has a bit of similar experience with a group of students she attended pre-school with when she was four years old.  There is a large majority of students in her preschool class that will graduate with her this year from Kellogg High School.

I like that continuity.  I like that there are families here in Kellogg that stick around.

I like that some things never change.