Old timer's School

My sister sent me a link to a site about all the schools that have been closed or consolidated. That got me thinking about my school years. I suppose everyone does now and then. My earliest recollection of school was indeed from the building my sister was talking about. That building was torn down years ago.

First grade (no Kindergarten), Cropsey Grade School, teacher Mrs. Brucker. There were lots of Bruckers in the area. One family of Bruckers lived a 1/2 mile west of Cropsey. They had three boys near my age. Paul, Dick and Tom, who is an attorney in Fairbury now. Dick was killed in a farm accident a couple of years ago. I spent many hours with Dick and Tom on their farm. We lived in Cropsey on the west side so I used to cut across the corn field to reach the Brucker's house. Many mornings in the summer I would arrive before the boys were awake and their mom would allow me to wait inside on the floor reading comic books till the boys woke up. Playing in stacks of hay in the second story of the barn was a favorite. Making tunnels between bales and chasing each other thru them was great fun.

We moved to Paxton in the fall of my 2nd grade year. I recall being the new kid in class who knew no one. Not fun at any age. Another school that is gone is the Paxton High School, the building is still in use for grades 7-8. Now consolidated with Buckley and Loda, Paxton moved to a new building the fall after I graduated. Anyway this website has some history about my school, mainly sports teams. I did not see anything about the golf team, in which I participated. So I sent in a few recollections to add to their data.