Hickory Grove Elementary School

The Hickory Grove Elementary Years 1958-1965 (K-6)

4th and 6th Grade President

Softball League Champion, World Series Softball Champion

School High Jump Champion, 5th Grade and 6th Grade

Safety Patrol Captain

School P.A. Announcer

Kindergarten: Mrs. Panks (who played piano in class…very fun!) 1st Grade: Mrs. Snyder; 2nd Grade Mrs. Morrett; 3rd Grade Mrs. Lendt; 4th Grade Miss Fetrow; 5th Grade Mrs. Boettger; 6th Grade Mrs. Cole. We had 37, yes 37 students in Mrs. Cole’s 6th Grade class. You couldn’t even walk around the class, we were like sardines! I remember her saying “If I get one more student, I’m outta here”. About an hour later, the principal brought in a new student into our classroom. I remember saying, “Mrs. Cole…are you leaving now?”

The original Hickory Grove School t-shirt I wore when I went there. We used this same logo for the 40th anniversary of the school in 1998. Loved Hickory Grove…it had a hill which was great for sledding in the winter!

School had not one but two “beanies” you could wear…I don’t think I did wear one. My high jumping ribbons for 5th and 6th grade.

Kindergarten with Mrs. Panks who is not in the photo. The girl in the middle with pigtails is Linda Fenner who lived across the street from me on Barrington Rd. We played together a lot as kids. She was Catholic so after Kindergarten, she went to Catholic schools, not Hickory Grove. Hickory Grove opened in 1957 so I started there in it’s second year.

2nd Grade with Mrs. Morrett.

3rd Grade with Mrs. Lendt. The man is Principal Hargett.

Young people don’t know this but our phone numbers started with the first two letters of a word, in our case, the word was FEDERAL…so you would dial FE and then the last five numbers.

4th Grade with Miss Fetrow (typo on photo).

5th Grade with Miss Boettger.

6th Grade with Mrs. Cole. We had 37, yes 37 students in Mrs. Cole’s 6th Grade class. You couldn’t even walk around the class, we were like sardines! I remember her saying “If I get one more student, I’m outta here”. About an hour later, the principal brought in a new student into our classroom. I remember saying, “Mrs. Cole…are you leaving now?”

School photos: Upper left-1st, Upper right-2nd, Lower left-5th, Lower right 7th.

I picked the trombone because you could make a cool sound by making the slide go down and up. Here’s me in 6th grade performing for the class. I wasn’t very good at it and dropped the trombone by 9th grade.

The Halloween parade ended up outside for some reason. Looks like I borrowed some antique clothing, hat, goggles and gloves from my Dad for my costume.

Parade made a big loop and returns back to the school. Who’s idea was that?

My 6th Grade teacher Mrs. Cole in front of the Halloween bulletin board. I made the Frankenstein character…kept it for years before tossing it.

First day of 6th grade with my Safety Patrol belt on. We lived at Franklin at the time.

My Dad was a Captain in the U.S. Army during WWII. I was the Captain of the School Safety Patrol. Cool!

My Safety Patrol belt…yes, I still have it.

The Safety Patrol supervisor selected me to be the Captain of the Safety Patrol students. My photo is at the top of this bulletin board as Captain…unfortunately the photo is blurred. As Captain, I got to announce the bus arrivals on the PA system…my first experience in broadcasting!

Our Little League team playing out of Hickory Grove baseball fields. I’m in upper right. I pitched three innings a game, outfield for 4 innings. Most boys played Little League baseball…youth soccer wasn’t offered yet.

With Richard Coy and my Al Kaline bat.

My Cub Scout badges.

I Love You…made in Kindergarten for my Mom.

Those seven years at Hickory Grove Elementary School…Those were the best days of my life (line from Summer of ‘69 by Bryan Adams)

Candles in the window for the school’s 40th year celebration in 1997. Principal Jim Felix was the best…really enjoyed working with him as I was the chairperson for the 40th birthday party. Jane Lowell was PTO president and was also great to work with. We had a Beatles tribute band (Shout!) perform and Elvis even drove in from Kalamazoo to perform!

Showing off my T-shirt that I wore as a Kindergarten student in 1958 at Hickory Grove. We took that same logo and made new shirts for the birthday party.