The Inter-City Quiz

Inter-City Elementary Trivia Quiz
This test has officially been "Dumbed down for our Engineer Alumus" :-0

What historic event did we gather in front of the flag pole for in 1st grade?
a. sputnik oribiting the earth   b. Alan Shepherd going into space   c. changing the flag from 48 to 50 stars

What did you have to do and find to get free ice cream in the Inter-City cafeteria?
a. clean your plate & have a sticker on your plate b. eat veg & pickup trash   c. Take the teachers tray & put up your trash.

Name two of the cafeteria ladies.
a. McCrary  & Jones  b. Samuelson & Smith  c. McCrary & Samuelson


What teacher at Inter-City had a child that went to Inter-City?
a.  Mrs. Giacona   b.  Mrs. Carver   c. Mrs. Greenlee


Whose family added a bomb shelter to their house?
a. the Haygoods  b. the Rymans   c. the Dicksons

What historic event happened in 3rd grade?
a..Conoly became governor   b. John Glenn orbitted the earth  c.Kennedy elected president

What was the school custodian’s name?
a. Johnny Pines   b. Lenny Pines  c. Eddie Pines

What teacher played football for TCU?
a. Mr. Ward  b.Mr. Wilcox  c. Mr. Rawson

Who was the tallest teacher at Inter-City?
a Mr. Wilcox  b. Mrs. Giacona   c. Mrs. Halbert
What historic event happened in the 6th grade?
a. JFK shot   b. the 1st Texan became VP   c. John Conoly was assassinated.

Which teacher could write perfectly in cursive—backwards?
a. Mrs. Petit    b. Mr. Rawson  c. Mrs. Halbert

Who was the art teacher in 2nd grade?
a. Mrs. Halbert   b.  Mr Petmickey    c. Mrs. Hughes

The Reunion

I hadn't planned to go to this reunion at all.  I still felt really crabby about high school not being an especially great time in my life.  I felt like most of the time I was on the outside looking in.  As the reunion notices went out I noticed more and more people from my class getting on Facebook.  Gradually they began asking me to be their  friend.  Odd, I thought, since none of them had ever wanted to be my friend in HIGH SCHOOL.  But I agreed.  They starteed to make comments about my posts.  We began to ask about each other's posts and  I made a huge discovery.  It had nothing to do with them, all I would have had to do was to say hi and talk to them--it was me.  I never allowed the door to be opened to know all these great people--people, it turns out I have a lot in common with.

That door now being open I am--for the first time looking forward to seeing and spending some time with those old classmates.  It started out as a few people from the old neighborhood getting together for lunch, Steve, his wife Kayla, me and Madeline.  Another person said, "What  a great idea, can I come too?"  So we invited her, and another and another--until it was no longer the people from our old neighborhood but rather over 50 people from our graduating class.

I am so excited, many new friends, friendships established on who we are today with no pretenses from the past.  Our starting point--growing up in the same little town.  Thanks to Jere, Madeline, Steve, Elizabeth, Becky, Lindy, Debbie, Pam and all my  "New" Class of '70 friends.

The following is a poem I wrote in a literature class, in graduate school, about my school expereince.  I started to school in 1958.  It had been 12 years since the end of WWII and the country was in a police action with Korea.  Everyone was familiar with the order that the military gave their lives and that order carried into the schools. Conformity was THE RULE.  In 1958 I fell under this way of thinking.  I was not ordered or conformist in any thing I did.  Who knew that someday boys really  would wear red pants?  I was ............................

THE CREATIVE CHILD

The creative child

Knew all about school.

Her mom was  mommy

and a teacher too.

The first day finally came,

She was excited to go.

When dropped off early,

her fears stared to grow.

Will I fit in?

She wanted to know.

Who are these kids?

Any I know?

Mrs.Smith arrived

With keys in hand.

She looked at the child,

It was not as she planned.

She told the child

"Come in, sit down,

Take a desk to the back."

The child looked around.

Mrs. Smith like to follow the rules,

Otherwise she couldn't imagine just what they would do.

She had them color a boy in blue jeans

In the creative child's eyes they could be red too.

JEANS ARE NOT RED!

The child should have known

Mrs.smith gave an F

And said, "Take it home!"

On a big piece of paper

the children each drew

squares and circles, in red white and blue. 

Those were not the colors the creative child used.

She drew flowers

like Daddy had grown

She drew them in odd shapes

of flowers she'd known.

They were pink and purple

And some color unknown

Mr. Petmickey heard

the child humming

a popular tume.

This is ART child--!

No humming in school!

In the 4th grade Mrs. Crain

filled the children with dread,

"Daydream! Imagine!

Write what comes in your head!

Most of the children

Sat stiff and confused,

Their thinking was ordered

They needed some rules.

But the child loved the challenge,

She just couldn't miss,

She wished each day in school

Could be just like this.

Creativity was scary

They needed order back then---

So the creative child

Just never fit in.

                                                                 Jan Greenlee Hayes

Sooner

When I first saw Sooner crammed into a tiny cage at the mall, I felt so sorry for her.  She was obviously too large for the tiny cage.  When I asked the lady if I could see her, she said, " That mean dog??  I don't know why anyone would want to see that dog!"  Once she was out of the cage she was the happiest puppy. Already 3 months old, she was very skinny and starved for attention. 

Austin, my son had been wanting a dog forever.  The next day I took him to see her.  I had thrown the cat carrier in the back of e truck--just in case.  Once again, when we asked to see her, the lady told us she was a really mean dog.  Once in the puppy room her personality came alive, and she seemed like the perfect happy little puppy.  She was a Blue Heeler, also called Australian Cattle Dogs, and full blood.  I twas an additional $200 to get her papers so I delcined and so started Austin's love affair with His Dog.    Austin was 18, and going to South Plains College.  He was living at home and the understanding was that when he left, Sooner was to go with him.  He promised she would go with him.

She was  darling puppy.  Her right ear flopped over not yet able to stand up on its own.  She had white "Bracelets" around each of her front ankles.  We accidentally left the front gate open on the second day but there was Sooner sitting faithfully guarding the house.  A couple of months later Austin decided to move into an apartment and although he had promised to take Sooner with him--she stayed at our house.  She had gotten so attached to Austin that no matter how much attention we paid to her, she was always looking for Austin.  He would come home and take her for rides in the back of the truck which she dearly loved.  We had begun to notice a quirk, Sooner was terrified of thunder.  She would scratch furiously at the door and when we let her in she woudl go to Austin's room, and put only her head under the bed.  When we would try to get her out she would snarl and bite and snap.  It would usually be 24 hours before we could approach her.  Unfortunately is would be 6 years before she and Austin would actually live together again.

Sooner was not  happy living with Jim and me, although we tried very hard to bond with her.  She made it distinctly clear that she did not like me, Jan, feeding her.  When I would have to feed her she would snap at me before I could get close enough to the bowl to put the food in.  When Jim was out of town I finally got to where I would open the door and just throw the food on the patio to jeep her from snapping at me.  I could occassionally pet her but only in Jim or Ausitn's presence.  When Sooner was 2 years old we added another puppy to our household.  Austn had assured us that Sooner would be going to live with him shortly.  Tristan was a lab, border collie mix.  He unfortunagly had gotten the bad qualities of both breeds.  He was hyper, clumsy and had no memory evidently.  When he was about 6 months old Sooner started to bite his beautiful little brown nose.  Unlike most dogs he seemed to want to just go back for more and more abuse.  His pretty nose started to look like the caulifower ear of a boxer.  We tried putting Sooner in another part of the yard where they couldn't get together but that caused  her to start to bark. 

The one day we came home from church and noticed the gate was open.  Tristan was gone.  Sooner however was sitting at the back door like the guardian of the house.  For weeks we hunted forTris but no one had seen him.  I called the pound every day, checked at the Humane Society adoption day on Saturday at PetsMart but no Tristan.  Sooner continued to be nice to the people she liked and bite or snap at those (me) she didn't like.  

In 2007 my mother died and within 6 months my father had also died.  Since it was so hard to keep up two houses I told Austin that he could move into my parents house--for keeping it up and doing the yard.  He was thrilled because now for almost the first time he and Sooner could be together.  Sooner quickly took over the place.  She slept on the floor by Austin's bed, and if her bed wasn't there--she moved it.  They lived there for two years and she was the happiest she had ever been.  She did have a kennel she would get in, but if anoyone besides Austin, ever trie to close the door she would bite them.  She seemed to remember that tiny cage in the pet store.

In Janary of 2010  Austin was transferred to San Antonio, and had to move to an apartment.  Jim and I had gotten a Border Collie puppy the summer before.  Her name was Skye and she was only  6 months old when Sooner once again returned to invade her space.  Sooner seemed to respect that fact that Skye had been there first this time and for awhile they seeemed to tolerate each other.  When  Skye played with her toys Sooner would  get agressive and snatch them away from her.  Sooner didn't want them, just wanted to take them away from Skye.  Skye seemd to understand that Sooner didn't like her and with her quick moves and ability to run, managed to stay out of Sooners way.  Once again the feeding problem surfaced.  As She had done with Tristan,Sooner would eat her food and at the same time not allow Skye to eat-they hd separate bowls.  She could take a bite and look to see if Skye was eating, then charge Skye and take over her bowl, as Skye would circle around to Sooner's bowl the whole routine woudl be repeated again.  We started to bring Skye in so they both could eat alone. 

We in the meantime had started to build a new house.  It was downsizing from the hosue we were currently in, and also had about 1/3 of the yard.  At that point we told Austin, you need to get into a position to take Sooner with you.  It will just not work with both dogs in the small yard.  He assured us he would.  But everytime we tlaked to him he had not found a way or place to be able to tak her with him.  Her agressiveness continued to escalate.  She showed more disdain for me and further more the snapping and biting had started to emerge even with Jim.  Now when it thurndered she would pound at the door.  When Jim would go out to feed her, she would rush him, almost knocking him down and go for the bed. If anyone evern came in to the room or the attached bathroom, they would be met with her bared teeths and fierce growls.  I was afraid of her and would close the door until she yipped to come out.   We continued to tell Austin that he needed to come and get her, he never seemed to be able to work out a solution.

We moved into the new house in August of 2010.  I had come to the conclusion that two dogs in a tiny yard was going to have to some way work. I ordered two new doghouses, that looked like Snoopy's from Hayneedle.  When the houses arrived, we arranged them in the yard with the backs of the houses together and food bowls in front.  That way Sooner could not see Skye and vice versa, Sooner would be able to eat without seeing Skye, and could go into her house without seeing Skye.  Sooner however soon realized this was the plan.  She started to eat then, charged around the houses to Skye's food.  Skye would back up in fear as Sooner finished Skye's food.  One day it was raining and both dogs were in their houses.  Suddenly Sooner charged out fo her house and into Skye's house pinning Skye to the back of her house.  When the dogs emerged Skye ran to the back of the yard.  Sooner stood proudly by Skye's house.  Skye never went in it again.  When it rained Skye would be happily wagging her tail in the rain while Sooner sat snug in her house with her nose out ready to chase Skye away from the empty house.

Skye was very good hearted and seemed to understand Sooner's quirks.  We had been in the new house for a month.  Jim went out to feed the dogs.  The new routine was; he would feed Sooner first and then Skye--then he would stand by Skye until she finished eating so Sooner wouldn't take her food too.  Jim put Sooner's food in her bowl, she started to eat.  He walked around the doghouses to the other bowl. As he began to pour it into Skye's bowl, Sooner charged around the house, grabbed Skye by the back of the neck and started to shake her.  It was apparent that her intention was to kill.  Jim jumped into the fray immediately and pulled Sooner off the pup and then Sooner turned and began to attack Jim, biting him on the foot.

After consulting two vets, the humane society and the animal shelter we decided that Sooner had to be put down.  I had never had to put a healthy, smart animal down.  Jim and I were both so torn.  We had come to the point that we were both afraid of Sooner.  Jim loaded Sooner into the truck, tried to call Austin and took her to the animal shelter.  They advised us that we could not take the chance with her anymore.  One of the vet's told me that animals, like people could have mental illness.  Sooner was obviously one of those dogs.  It had probably started back at the pet store in the too small cage,  being fed too seldom.

Skye hiding from Sooner behind the new doghouses.

So Sooner--we really did love you.  If only you could have seen that and loved us back. I never met an animal I didn't love--but I also hadn't eve met one who couldn't love back. Bye Sooner.

The Red Tiffany Lamp

The college scholarships Faye had hoped to earn for college, were now a forgotten dream. Her family had moved at the end of her junior year in high school to Prairie Valley from Prague. No one at Prairie Valley High School had known her long enough to see her many talents. In spite of a flawless academic record she hadn’t even graduated with honors. Nothing could deter her from the goal however. Dressed in the brown tweed suit her mother had made, with her mother’s nicest brown leather handbag, Faye watched as her dad slung the battered old leather suitcase into the back of the truck. Then waving to her teary eyed mom, they took off down the road to meet the bus to Ada and East Central College. She would have gone all the way to Norman to the University of Oklahoma had she a little more money.

Faye had carefully counted her graduation money putting back enough for her tuition. With the rest she could buy her bus fare, eat one meal, and stay one night in a boarding house—unless she found a job that included room and board—in that case she could eat dinner too. Registering for college, finding a job and place to stay was going to be a big order for only one day.

The bus ride to East Central College in Ada, Oklahoma was hot and dusty. Upon arrival she found the registrar’s office and ran for her classes—registration consisted of getting a “Ticket” for each class she wanted to take, finding the table of that class, seeing if it had any open places and signing for it. It could be a long process since a class you needed might be at the same time as another class for which you had already given a ticket. Seldom did a freshman register and get all the classes he or she wanted. This however was summer school and it proved to be quicker and without all the frustrations of fall freshman registration.

Faye stopped by the Student Union building for lunch, but instead saw a sign telling where applications were being taken to work on campus. This was especially exciting since campus jobs usually included room and board. She got to the counter to find that they had stopped taking applications for the summer but she could fill one out for the fall. Disappointed, but still encouraged, since this would mean her fall employment was almost assured.

By now it was after 3 PM and Faye still had to find a job and place to live. Since she had not eaten, she still had her lunch money and one night’s room in her purse. As she walked toward the boarding house she had seen earlier in the day, she saw a sign posted in a yard on Silk Stocking Row (where all the large houses were), “Caregiver Needed, Room and Board”. The house was beautiful and neatly manicured.

Up the long walk she went, and knocked on the door. A man possibly in his early 40s answered the door. He introduced himself to her, invited her in, and began to tell her about the job. “You will be the sole caregiver for, my mother, the elderly Mrs. Lee. She is in extremely poor health and needs help with all of her daily activities. She is quite precise in her needs and a bit on the unpleasant side. You will be needed to aid her at all times with time off only on Sunday and during your class time.” Faye didn’t even think. She told him she would take the job. She was tired of lugging that heavy old suitcase and finally she could take off her shoes and relax. Mr. Lee let out a big sigh. “Shall I show you to your room?” She nodded.

They walked through the elegant old house, through the extraordinary garden, to the back of the garage to a servant’s room. It was clean and nicely appointed. She put down her suitcase and began to relax when Mr. Lee turned and said, “Take 15 minutes or so and meet me in the parlor, I will show you what needs to be done tonight. And where you can prepare my mother’s dinner”. It was just the beginning of a summer of very long days.

Faye’s summer was indeed very long—and the long days continued into the fall. The campus job did not materialize for the fall but rather for January. Faye was just glad she had a job, even if it was an unpleasant one. Mrs. Lee didn’t like Faye anymore than Faye liked her. They did have a good working relationship, but Faye’s only study time was when the unpleasant old woman would go to bed in the evening. Sometimes Faye felt that Mrs. Lee stayed up as late as she could just to spite her, holding her glass of milk and nodding, awakening just before she would drop the glass.

Walking back to the house after class on a Wednesday, Faye noticed at a distance, a sign in the yard of the old woman's house. “Caregiver Needed, Room and Board.” Shocked she ran into the house to find Mr. Lee sitting quietly in the parlor. “I am sorry to alarm you like this. I know of your integrity and hard work. I trust you inexplicably with my mother, but she insists that you have stolen something from her. She can’t remember what it was but she thinks something is missing. I cannot reason with her on these things. I will have to let you go.” Biting her lip to keep from saying something she might regret, she thanked him and headed out to her room. Her head was spinning, where would she stay tonight? She had money, but it was what she had saved for spring tuition. As she packed her things, there was a knock at the open door.

Turning around there was Mr. Lee standing with a large box. “I have seen you admire this red Tiffany lamp. I feel so badly for letting you go, but my mother—she is so unreasonable—she imagines these things. I want you to have the lamp-perhaps you can sell it and have enough money to finish the semester.” She looked at him in disbelief. “He is throwing me out in the street with my suitcase, no place to go, and he is giving me a stupid lamp???” He saw the frustration on her face. “I will have it sent to where you will be staying.” She continued to pack—“I will be at Mary’s at least for the next few days. I hope, she thought. Mary would be surprised!  "Here is the address—you may send it there,” she said as she scribbled down the address.

She walked the 3 blocks to the boarding house where Mary lived. Graciously the land lady said Faye could stay with Mary provided she pay per week as Mary, which she did. The red Tiffany lamp was delivered and although the room was small and cluttered with all the earthly belongings of two college girls, there on the bureau sat a most elegant Tiffany lamp. As the word spread about what had happened to Faye’s job, the professors in the Home Economics department kept her busy with baby sitting jobs for the rest of the semester. She decided not to sell the lamp until she absolutely had to.

Photographs of Faye and Bill Greenlee beside the "Tiffany" lamp.

NOTE: The lamp remained in Faye Emerson Greenlee and Bill Greenlee’s house for the remainder of her 86 years of life, passing it down to her daughter Jan Greenlee Hayes, who later passed it down to Faye’s granddaughter Erin Emerson Hayes Burt. It was rumored Mrs. Lee was the niece of the Civil War general, Robert E. Lee. There was no proof however, only the word of Mrs. Lee and her son. Although Mr. Lee said that lamp was a Tiffany lamp, there was no identifying mark as proof of it being a Tiffany.

From TALES MY MOTHER TOLD ME, by Jan Greenlee Hayes