| Norseville School Experience 1949-50 PICTURES PAGE INDEX HOME Return to Norseville School 1949-50 Class Picture |
What follows is a first-hand account and experience of a Norseville School student. This account is for school year 1949-50, the last year the school operated. Gary Hanson, found in the class picture of that school year, shares his experience as follows: I only went to Norseville for the 1949-50 school year. I remember waiting for the neighbor kids to come down the road to walk with them to school. I know we bundled up pretty good. One thing I do remember, when I was little there was no such thing as long underwear. We had long brown stockings with a garter belt!! It was a white strap over both shoulders and waist with clips attached to the warm stockings. Why I remember that I don't know, maybe it was the garter belt thing. We would carry our lunch, either a karo syrup pail or lunch box with a thermos of milk in the box. They had a hot plate for the bigger kids to warm up their food. All I remember is cold hamburgers and/or brown sugar sandwiches. We sat in a row by class and the teacher would have us come to the front for some lessons. Sometimes she would speak to the bigger kids and you could listen to her. I guess sometimes we learned more from information for the bigger kids than our own class work. I remember our Christmas program as all of us kids sat in front and I remember I must have started fidgeting and I saw my Mom signal me to be still. The bigger kids would help us so I think that gave the teacher more time for the older students. We always went out for recess and noon time to play. The teacher would come out and ring that little bell. There were about four or five outlying schools that closed that year. They had an auction at each school on the same Saturday. They had the auction at one and then moved onto the next school. I remember my job was to wait at the school as people came in to look at the items until the auction later in the day. Then, Art Olson bought the school as it was by his farm. After that we went to school in Strum. Gary Hanson Gary Hanson's wife, Corrine, attended a similar small school for about five years. Cleghorn School and Cleghorn Village are about six miles northwest of the Norseville School location, as the crow flies, also in Eau Claire County and close to Eau Claire city. Cleghorn is in Pleasant Valley township. Here is her account: We had a one room school with between 45-50 kids (first grade to eighth grade). We did not have water in the school, so it was the 7-8th grade boys job to walk to the water pump about 100 yds from the school, pump the water by hand and carry several pails into the school. We had a "bubbler" which was a large pottery pot with a spout on it. When you pressed the button the water would stream up so you could get your drink. Also, sitting by the bubbler was a wash basin, where you could wash your hands. In the winter the boys would carry a lot of water to an area in the school yard, and make ice. During recess we would ice skate and play games on the ice. At Christmas time we would put on a Christmas program, with songs, skits, and each receive a gift from the person who drew our name. All the parents and grandparents came to the program which made it a "packed house." Such excitement!! We did not have school buses, and I walked the 1.4 miles to school, however, my Dad worked shifts, and when he was able he always gave me a ride to school. I have many fond memories of those years! Corinne Hanson Posted 30 August 2010 Fred Matson |