A note from Joleeta (Wentz) Bishop

Hi! Bobby Pflanz and Billy Koste (your Frances Willard names) Rex and Don Kuntz,

I went to Frances Willard for 6th and 7th grade. It seemed like we were all just so happy and carefree. I remember the carnivals and every wonderful minute of my two years there. It all seemed so normal then, but now I have a hard time explaining to my granddaughters why we would ever wear a dog collar around our necks or ankles, (one meant you were available, one meant you were taken---hey,we were 12!) and certainly why would we starch our skirts and petticoats so stiff they would actually break! I still have a plastic bracelet from my time in shop, my autograph book, as well as some Valentines. My favorite things were the dance lessons that all of the 7th graders took at a studio on Prospect and the double features on Friday night.
Before the reunion I drove by the school and it looks the same except for the boards over the windows. Do you remember the doors of each classroom that opened to the outside? The stairs in front of Miss Watson's room? The lower playground? The outside is still beautiful. I remember playing baseball on the playground with Dick Kenworthy. And what happened to Bette Dunavant, Jack Pitzer, Linda Levine, Beth Ferro and Sandy Damon? Wanda Melching sent me pictures of us posing in our bathing suits on my front lawn. Those will not be posted. I remember that was the year Eisenhower ran against Stevenson. How could any of us forget Sherrill Sixta and her obsession with IKE.
I also went to Bancroft K-5. Although it was only 10 years older than FW, it was a wonderful example of 1900's architecture. About 7 years ago I had the chance to go through the building while it was still in use as some kind of learning center. I really thought I would stroke out! It was exactly the same. Does anyone remember the painting of the Pioneer Woman hanging in the auditorium? She was still there in her beautiful blue dress with the belt and the gold buckle and her arms extended to the children around her (Not Miss Hegland obviously) The lady taking me around the building said many people have tried to buy the painting. She took me in the classrooms and the glass leaded bookcase doors were still in tact as well as the blackboards that flipped and opened into a cloak room. The hardware on the windows and doors as well as the 14" baseboards always fascinated me as they were very elaborate. The gym was the unchanged with the same poles, ropes, and wooden ladders on the walls. Even the cafeteria and the bathrooms were the same. The double doors that opened into the kindergarten room still seemed big to me. But the not so great part of school was trudging up the hill from Paseo with cans of bacon grease and tied bundles of newspapers. Also, sliding down the hill from Tracy to the Paseo on 42nd street. I drove by the school in June of this year and it was boarded up and is for sale. I tried to find out more so if anyone knows anymore I would love to hear about it. It would be fun to buy the Pioneer Woman and some of the hardware. I'll pass on the ropes and poles.
Oh yes! I must digress, or however you spell it. (Writing to this blog is a little daunting given all of the English teachers our class produced. Miss Lana, I remember some paragraphs you wrote for me at PHS. Thanks again!) In the bio's we wrote for the reunion book I forgot to mention a famous person who crossed my path, or in this case lit up my sky. In the very late 80's I had lunch with Robert Redford and two other people, one of which I may have been married to. It was an afternoon I will never forget. A friend of ours was a ski buddy of his and invited us to have lunch with them.
Rex, thanks for your notes about Frances Willard. A magical time for all of us. But why did you send those pictures of all of those old guys?

Joleeta Wentz Bishop