"Three Years In a Teacherage" is part of a 9 chapter serial fiction piece written by Wanda Molsberry Bates. To see all chapters, please select this link -
Three Years In a Teacherage .
The school had a number of money-raising events each year. The first one in which I participated was a box social preceded by a program given by the school children. Each teacher was expected to plan for and coach her students in presenting some kind of entertainment. I was filled with enthusiasm and was determined to show the community something special.
My efforts had an unforeseen result which I came to rue (especially in retrospect after I became a parent). I chose to teach five of my girls and one boy the words and music to a song titled "Mr. and Mrs. is the Name," and we added some dance steps to go with it. I spent many evenings at the sewing machine in the home economics room sewing a bridal gown, four bridesmaids' dresses, and head dresses for all of the girls. The fabric was cheesecloth, left white for the bride and dyed pink for the bridesmaids. Sewing ruffles and bows on that sleazy material was almost more than I had bargained for.
Surprisingly, I was able to find a boy who would serve as the groom. I felt that our part of the evening's entertainment was a huge success and I hoped that my skills were appreciated, at least by the parents of the participants. I was not so pleased with the results when in days to come I spotted the "bride and groom" slipping around corners or walking around the playground holding hands. I was sorry that I had unwittingly started a too-early romance.
Following the program, the decorated, lunch-filled boxes brought by the ladies and young girls were auctioned off. All of us teachers prepared boxes, covering them with crepe paper and ribbons and topping them with artificial flowers. I used purple paper and silver ribbon for my shoebox, and we filled our boxes with fried chicken, sandwiches, and cake. Ownership of the boxes was a secret, but often a young girl would blush or look embarrassed when her box was held up for the bidding and its owner would be revealed. Sometimes, however, a young man would make a wrong guess and be disappointed when he did not bid on the box belonging to his girlfriend. There was some exchanging of boxes. I was somewhat uncomfortable when my box was bought by one of the eighth grade boys, Andy Nelson, as I thought it might be an embarrassment to him. L.P. said in a loud voice, "Better pass that on to Howard or Tom, Andy." However, Andy bravely sat beside me at one of the desks while we ate. But he did make quick work of the refreshments and soon disappeared.
Another tradition at GTP was the home talent play. Althea and Irene had been involved in several previous productions so they made the selection and did the casting for the first play of the year. Since Gwen was plump, she fitted nicely the part of a house maid who got stuck in a window at one point in the play. I was proud to be given the lead and the male lead was given to Howard. Althea directed the play and Irene and L.P had parts along with some members of the alumni. The script called for a mild love scene or two and Howard and I thought we should handle those as the professionals (which we hoped to be considered) and should play the scenes without hesitation or embarrassment. When the young brother of one of the cast members attended a rehearsal he was quick to pass the word to Howard's girlfriend. Shortly after that, Howard turned in his copy of the script and withdrew from the play. Another of the alums was recruited to play the part
of the male lead. At L.P.'s suggestion, some editing was done which was
designed to prevent further gossip. The play went off as planned, and I felt very glamorous in the part of leading lady. One potentially dangerous situation arose when a wall began to move as Gwen attempted to climb in a window, but quick action by Arthur, the custodian, who was back stage, prevented a catastrophe as he held up the wobbling wall until others in the cast found some boards which could be used as braces.