Nannie
“Nan” Haydel Lemoine "Early School Memories"
I was born on August 19, 1931 to Lillian Barron and
Logan Haydel. My brother is Wayne Haydel.
When I started school in 1937, we rode to school in a
covered wagon. This covered wagon, driven by Mr. Alcide
Chenevert, would take us to the highway where the school
bus driven by Elmer “Boulet” Riche’ would pick us up on
route to the Evergreen High School. We lived on a dirt
road and the school bus could not go down this road, as
it would get stuck. There was no gravel on this road.
In the winter it was very cold riding that covered
wagon. Some of my classmates found that was a funny way
to get to school, but that didn't matter to me because
we were going to school. Each day was an adventure
because we had much to learn and such fun there.
On my first day at school I brought my lunch as did
everyone since there were no lunchrooms. Cafeterias came
later. Students were told to put their lunches on the
top shelf of the coat rack. I wasn't sure I wanted to
do that, but my brother came to me and assured me that
my lunch would be there when it was time to eat. He
further reminded me that everyone put their lunch there
and that no one was going to eat my lunch. It sure was
good to have a big brother to take care of me and
provide these assurances.
All of the students had good teachers, like my Aunt Lena
Haydel, Mrs. Scott, Miss Sue Goudeau, Miss Oma West,
Mrs. Beatrice Scarborough, and Mrs. Jean Tanner. These
are just a few of the very caring teachers we had.
This brings to mind how my Aunt Lena Haydel taught and
guided me in my early years at Evergreen High School.
As a small child, whenever I misbehaved, I just knew she
could fix anything. At recess, I would get a drink of
water at the fountains close to her classroom and go
over to her window. She would always come to the window
and ask if I needed anything. Of course, I usually had
a long story to tell.
Most of the time, all she had to do was listen, which
was all I needed. After a while, she would tell me I had
to take care of my problems and learn not to misbehave.
She instilled in me self-worth, values, and love.
One of the fond memories I have was going down to Mr.
Ford Robert’s store at recess. In those days there were
no closed campuses and as long as you were back before
the bell rang, it was O.K. to go to the store.
My
grandfather, Walter Haydel, was always at the store at
recess time. He would wait for me and always have a bag
of Silver Bells to give me. Now, Mr. Ford would
sometimes tell me grandpa had not come that day, but I
knew he was there and he’d pop out from behind the
counter with my candy. On days when he was not at the
store, he had arranged for Mr. Ford to give me a bag of
Silver Bells. To this day, when I eat Silver Bells, I
think of my grandpa.
These were such good days. Life was not so hurried – we
had time for each other.
I
graduated from EHS in 1948, the last year in which high
school students graduated after completion of the
eleventh grade.
Submitted
December, 2008 by Nannie “Nan” Haydel Lemoine, 1948 EHS
graduate