By Len Chapel
Special to The Dagger
The recent passing of a friend, Victor “Vic” Leonard, got me to thinking about our first meeting, and that was on the playground at the “old” Bel Air Elementary School on Gordon Street. Somehow, my memories of the school are nearly as vivid today as they were when they were being etched into the gray matter within my head.
Prior to becoming an elementary school in 1950, it served as the home of the Bel Air High School. When a new high school was built on Heighe Street, the 1924 building began housing the students that had been housed in the building at 45 E. Gordon Street. That building became the Board of Education.
Mornings at the school meant one thing, the usual game of ‘rollie-pollie’ that took place on the playground, weather permitting, before classes began. It didn’t matter what grade one was in, it was a morning ritual enjoyed by many…well, many fellers that is. The girls were sort of relegated to the swings, merry-go-round and sliding board because the ball field was off-limits to them, so to speak.
The tall, brick building housed the first and second grades on the first floor, the third and fourth grades on the second floor, and the fifth and sixth grades on the third floor. The ground floor also had the cafeteria and steam plant/boiler room. The auditorium was at a right angle to the main building, and while the stage was at the same level as the first floor, the floor of the auditorium was three to four feet lower.
The rooms had high ceilings to help with the sweltering heat…no air-conditioning in those days. Our air-conditioning was to open the windows and the doors and pray for a breeze. The heat was provided by steam-heated radiators. I can remember when the lights were changed from the globe covered incandescent bulbs that hung down several feet from the ceiling to the florescent tube fixtures that replaced them. However, every now and again a ballast would malfunction, and when it did hot, black tar would ooze out. You could only hope none of it got on you or you would soon become the first half of ‘tarred and feathered’.
The northwest end of the building exited towards Gordon Street; the southeast end exited to a few steps, across a macadam driveway, and then down a wide set of cement steps to the playground/track/baseball field.
The office was on the second floor facing a set of doors that exited to the flag pole area situated between the school building and the Board of Education building. I remember the ‘older’ students ‘wrapping’ the flag pole on May Day when I was in the first grade, and not to let a good opportunity slip by, several of us decided to toss some small stones at those doing the wrapping. We got caught so it was off to the office for us…Mike Johnson, Ron Hooper, Alan Sutherland and myself. The principal, Mr. Sutherland, grabbed his personal ‘board of education’, a yard stick, and laid it on us, breaking it in two while spanking HIS son, Alan. And to be honest, I got to visit the office a few more times prior to 1958.
I remember quite well my teachers from the first to the sixth grades; Mrs. Bales, Miss Holley, Mrs. Waters, Miss Maisenholder, Mrs. Scarff and Mrs. Fitzgerald. There were two classes for each grade, but I remember just a few of those teachers’ names.
The principal was Hunter C. Sutherland, my band music instructor was Rufus Hedrick and the head of the cafeteria was Eva Choate. The janitor was Mr. Connor. (His wife went to school with my mother at Jarrettsville High School.) He had two sons that attended school at the same time I was there. Wonderful folks, one and all, and I would be amiss to not provide some of my memories of the very ones who helped create many of my early memories.
Mrs. Olivia P. Bales was a wonderful and gracious lady!!! She was born circa 1910 in Birmingham, AL, and in 1952 the 42 year-old red head seemed to be three days older than dirt to me. She taught hundreds of Bel Airians to count, the letters of the alphabet and how to read. I still recall the toy cars and fire trucks we used in honing our math skills. She also played a lively version of “Dixie” on the piano. After lunch we would return to our room, lay our head down on our desk and she would read a chapter or two from a book. It was also in the first grade that a ‘field trip’ meant a short walk to the post office to purchase saving stamps. Who would have thought that we first graders were helping fund the Korean Conflict/War. I last saw her one evening at the Red Fox restaurant in the late ‘80s, and she remembered me. I wonder why.
Miss Holley was a fairly tall and slender, dark-haired lady. She was the teacher who taught me/us how to write cursive. I remember sitting in her class December 1953 when the whole building shook from an explosion that occurred high above Bel Air. A Glenn L. Martin B-57, with two aboard, blew up, spewing wreckage all over the area. The main fuselage crashed into the field behind what is now the John Carroll School. The two managed to bail out, but one died and the other was critically injured. After school, my mother took my brother and me to the crash site, and he and I walked up to the corner of the woods where it hit. The wreckage was still smoldering. (I had a small piece of the plane for years, but eventually I somehow lost it.) Well, sometime after mid-year, Miss Holley left us. It seemed the gentleman in a blue uniform who visited every once in a while, married her and took her to England where he was stationed. I remember the day she brought him into the classroom and sprung their wedding plans on us. I have often wondered how she and her Air Force husband did over the years.
Mrs. Grace Walters was a rather old, grandmotherly type who retired shortly after I left Bel Air Elementary. I can remember her always having a smile on her face. I wonder what, other than her impending retirement, she was thinking about. Other than that, she made no lasting impression. Maybe some of her other students can remember more.
Miss Kay Maisenholder was from the old school, and by that I mean the days when female teachers didn’t marry. She was rather tall and very strict. I remember the glasses she wore, thick lens and all. She was a great instructor, and it was her first year of teaching…something I didn’t know back then. She was respected by all. I spoke with Ms. Maisenholder (I have a problem referring to her by her first name) recently, and she is still living in Bel Air. She retired in 1986 as Principal of Joppatowne Elementary, after which she cared for her elderly mother on a full time basis. I have plans to visit her sometime late this summer.
Mrs. Myrtle Scarff was born in 1903. She and her farmer husband lived in Fallston, MD, on 152 close to Pleasantville Rd. She was 53 when I was in her class, and at that time she, like most of the other teachers, seemed so very old. Today, that is not so bad seeing I’m knocking on 65. Like the others, she was a wonderful teacher. She had two sons older than me and my fellow classmates, so she knew all the tricks of the trade. It always amazed me how she would know exactly who in the class threw a spitball…and that was with her facing the blackboard. Go figure. She also loved dragging her fingernails down the slate blackboard to make a blood-curdling sound that still echoes in my memory. That, along with her pounding her diamond ring on the blackboard, she got our attention when necessary.
Mrs. Theda Fitzgerald was probably the most unlucky teacher in all of Harford County, maybe the entire State of Maryland. Here she was, fresh from a divorce, two young children to care for, and lo and behold she gets stuck with me and a few mischievous kindred spirits. There were probably twenty-some students in the class, six of which were named ‘Nancy’, so last names were often used. Theda lived with her parents on Route 1 just north of the old Bel Air Skating Rink. She often brought her son and daughter to the skating rink of Saturday afternoons, just as many parents did. I saw her a few times in later years, the ‘70s and ‘80s, but never after that. She passed away in 2008.
Rufus Hedrick was the school’s instrumental music teacher. I had him for three years as I learned to play the trumpet…one that I still have, I’d like to add. If he had a cigar in his mouth, he was a dead-ringer for Groucho Marx. He passed away in 1991.
The school secretary was Martha Yelton Wright. She was a nice lady. Maybe that came from all the ditto machine fumes she had to work around for so many years. She was residing in Fawn Grove, PA, when she passed away Christmas Day 1999.
Hunter C. Sutherland, the principal was born in 1911 and passed in 1991 at the age of eighty. He was commonly referred to as ‘Old Marble Head’ due to his hair…or lack thereof. He was extremely strict and had no qualms whatsoever about pulling out the paddle…not that any of us ever deserved it. Later in life, he became quite interested in The Society of Friends (Quakers) and Civil Rights, writing books on both topics. He also became a Quaker. Much can be found regarding him on the Internet. FYI: It was during the sixth grade that Harford County began testing integration in the public school system. Stephen Moore came to Bel Air Elementary in September 1957 and was assigned to Mrs. Edwards’ classroom. It was uneventful. He and Joan Carroll were the first two Black graduates from Bel Air High School. It was the Class of 1964.
Eva M. Choate ran the school cafeteria when I began school in 1952. Her husband, Clarence Choate, was Superintendant of Mail at the post office just up the street at the corner of E. Gordon and N. Main. I often visited with Eva and Clarence at their homes in both Bel Air and N. Fort Myers, FL. Clarence was a cousin via the Fender clan out of the NC mountains. Eva was a fine lady, a wonderful cook and learned to love orchids in her later years. She passed in 2009; he in 2003.
We moved from Bel Air to White Hall in March 1958 and began attending Jarrettsville Elementary, but after spending the seventh thru tenth grades at North Harford High School, it was back to Bel Air for my final two years.
I still see and/or correspond with several of my classmates from elementary school, although many miles separate most of us. It is enjoyable to exchange phone calls or emails, and more than likely somewhere along the way, the topic turns to those early school years spent in the ‘old’ three-story brick building on Gordon Street.
I miss the school, and whenever I’m visiting Bel Air, I can’t drive down East Gordon Street without thinking about those impressionable years spent there. I, as well as so many others, owe a huge debt of gratitude to those who educated and guided us along our early pathway of life. I wish to thank them, especially those still with us.
Hey Len I had Mrs. Bales and Miss Maisenholder too. Although in 6th grade I had my first male teacher, Mr Potter.
I also remember Mr Sutherland who was the principal and all the school staff.
How did you remember so much about all those people? I can hardly remember yesterday but thanks for the nice article. It was wonderful to reminise about old times.
Janet, thanks for the kind words. The other 6th grade teacher when I was there was Mrs. Edwards. As for remembering, I feel I was blessed with a good memory…just like the one my father had.
Phil and Jerry are both correct. The photo shows what WAS Bel Air Elementary until the new high school was built on Heighe Street. The elementary students then went to the other building and 45 E. Gordon became the Bd of Ed.
Margaret Jean, I’m glad you enjoyed the article because I enjoyed penning it with the same fervor. I find that when one cobweb is removed, more data is sometimes revealed. However, the fact it is dusty and covered with cobwebs sometimes leads to a mistaken memory. I blame that on old age.
Ruth and I both worked for the Bd of Ed in that building. Terrible working conditions. By 1968 the roof leaked, little or too much heat and each office had a separate ac unit.
It shows the window A/C units in the Bd of Ed photo, but by looking at the snow in the parking lot, I doubt if any were on the day that picture was taken.
I knew Ruth worked there, but didn’t know you did. I live and learn.
I worked there June 1968 to April 1970, then Ronnie came along and Ruth qualified for my job.
The picture at the top of this article shows the former Harford County Board of Education building, which was Bel Air High before the building the writer is reminiscing about became the High School (and later, Bel Air Elementary).
The building pictured above (45 E. Gordon Street)was used as Bel Air Elementary School starting in 1924. The building was converted to house the Board of Education administrative offices in 1951.
There aren’t many readily available pictures of the building the writer is talking about — You’d have to dig though a BAHS yearbook from Pre-1950
This articale takes us back in time, I also had most of these teachers.I also witnessed the plane explosion over C. Milton Wright. the school was’nt there then.I did see one parachute open.
Grateful to Len for submitting this article about the “Old” Bel Air Elementary School. Prior to reading I had some memories of my first through third grades classes there but many more memories came to mind after reading Len’s article this morning. I posted a reference on Facebook thinking many old classmates and friends who also attended the Old Bel Air Elementary would enjoy Len’s writing as much as I.
Len, I’m amazed at your memory;thanks for your submission. Dagger Readers – We would love to hear your school stories or other first hand accounts of Harford County history.
Hey Len, This reminds me so much of my more youthful and younger years as well. It’s great that we can still look back and remember what life was like when there weren’t the complications as there are today with the kids. We didn’t care about Nikes and who wore what, just good learning and clean fun. Great Read..
Thanks, Eileen. Isn’t it amazing we somehow survived our adolescence years without all the vitamins, modernisms, etc.?
Len,
Thanks so much for the memories.
I “graduated” from Bel Air Elementary in 1956 and went on to attend the Bel Air “Junior-Senior” High School. My two brothers attended high school on Gordon Street in the mid-to late ’40’s.
Mrs. Walters was a good teacher who saw the potential in her students and ran a tight ship. Mrs. Edwards remembered her students long after they left and could even remember their names; as a retired educator I wish I could have as good a memory. Mr. Sutherland knew every student in the school by name, not an easy feat when one does not see the students regularly in the classroom. Remember the office with the creaky wood floors? Miss Yelton, later Wright, was there forever before she retired; I believe that she had no children of her own so the school family was hers as well.
The cafeteria in the basement was renovated when the school changed to elementary. I can remember that in first grade in 1950 we have to eat our lunches for a time in the old B of E building next door because the cafeteria was not yet ready. It served students very capably; Mrs. Cooley was in charge at the time. The old boiler would rumble and slightly shake the floor when we passed by it. The alcove served as a good spot for Brownie and Girl Scout meetings.
Remember the student flower shows in the gym each autumn? ….the smell of chrysanthemums and zinnias?
The maypole, done by the sixth graders, is certainly a memory, along with serving in the safely patrol. The old playground was the former playing field and track for the old high school; I remember spraining my ankle on those steep long steps when in first grade.
The plane explosion took place when I was in fourth grade. I had Mrs. Andrews and our windows facing east provided a ringside seat. We didn’t actually see the explosion but the memory of tho plane wing slowly spiraling to the ground like a leaf in autumn haunted my dreams for years. I believe pieces of the plane were found on my family’s farm outside of Bel Air, where Bynum Run Park is now.
Other who attended “Old” Bel Air Elementary, please share your memories, too!
Emily,
I don’t remember the Autumn Flower Show, nor was I into flowers back then, but in later years that all changed when the wife and I began raising orchids. She, however, has always been a flower lover/grower. With me it has been within the past 15 years or so.
I remember the Safety Patrol, especially at the crosswalks at the corner of E. Gordon and Franklin Streets.
Was Worley your father and Gene one of your brothers? I remember those names. Also, if your husband’s family namesake came to MD from NW NC, we are kin…then again, so was half of Harford Co. back in the 40s and 50s. My genealogy research ties me to many of those I went to school with at BAHS and NHHS.
Len,
My safety patrol duties seemed to be confined to the hallways and perhaps playground. Only sixth grade students were eligible to be patrols; as a reward we were given a trip in the spring to Washington, DC.
Life seemed a lot simpler then, and certainly much less complicated!
Worley was my father’s cousin; Gene and his brothers are my cousins. My family owned the farm on Churchville Rd., between the edge of John Carroll school property and Fountain Green, with some additional property on the other side of the road (where I grew up). My husband was from upstate New York (the original family name was Androus because he was Greek).
Yes, I too am related to a number of Harford Countians on both sides of my family. My mother was a Cronin from Aberdeen.
My mother, Katherine Endslow, started the cafeteria as a PTA project. She lived until this past January – her 103 rd year.It was entirely volunteers. I recently sent Dale Hess a picture that showed him at the cafeteria as a high school sophmore. (The cafeteria also served the high school- until later there were only 11 years in school. That changed with the class of 1951) Until the cafeteria, to get hot food, you had to go across the street to the store for a hot dog. That was next to Dr. Hopkins offide – he was the person who with my father coached the track team .( my father, who had had a career with the New York Athletic Club, was also the baseball coach. If you folks remember the May Pole, perhaps you remember the annual Christmas play. And remeber the holiday trip – the walk over to the armory to deliver commemorative flowers. That was during the war years, and patriotism was important. And the Miss Maisenhalder you mention was in my high school class. Her father was the pharmacist at Boyd and Fulford.
Thanks for the additional information/memories.
We walked up to that store many, many times. We also went to the one owned by the Smiths (Everette’s parents) that was at the corner of E. Lee and N. Main.
Thanks, Len,
I attended BAES from 1950-56 and have wonderful memories of my time there. Thanks for taking your time to remind us.
Len, What a wonderful trip back in time. Do you remember the two of us wrappping the maypole? My Mom made my skirt in light blue complete with a “50 yard sweep” (crinoline). My skirt stuck stright out and barely fit while weaving “in and out” the maypole.
I so remember being in love with you, and David Munhall and Mike Robinson, sometimes all at the same time, sometimes different years. We all had the same classes through elementary school I think. I know you and I did, I’m the thridone from the right in the back row, and you’re 4th from the left in the back row.Dave and Mikeare in the front row. Right?
I remember being some kind of “bus patrol” person. I know I wore a badge on a strap that crossed over my chest. I also remember Mr. Justice Brewer drove our bus and his son, ? name,(wish my memory was as good as yours), would wear a mirror taped to the top of his shoe, then when all the girls walked by to find a seat, he’d put his foot out, we’d have to step over and he got a “peek”. I felt it was my duty as an official “bus patrol” to report him.
I also remember having to sit on stage in the auditorium on a stool with a “dunce hat” while my older sister Pat took phys ed, or something like that, below the stage. Everyone sa me. How awful!
Mr Sullivan was strict but also kind. I was an angle in a play once and we had to stand for a long period of time. I kept passing out in practice and he carried me up the steps all three times. Finally he said “have the angles kneel” which we did. I so wanted to be The Virgi Mary, only because she got to eat the dates.
I too remember the plane crash and we went as well to the crash site. I wished we hadn’t.
You talked about “steam radiators”, do you remember Mrs. Bales putting the “wet pants” of our classmates on the radiator to dry through nap time? My seat was right next to a radiator, so I remember well. I think it was you Martin Hoover…lol (sorry if I’m wrong)
I remember see-saws, and that thing you pushed around and then jumped on and held onto metal pipes. I also remember my first grade bus “The apple Bus”. Does anyone remember Mr. West, a taxi cab driver?
Emily, didn’t your farm use to be a BIG dairy farm? I think my dad treated your animals.
Len, thanks again for sharing. Keeep writting about the “good ol days”. Love, Sug
Sug, I’m so glad you read and responded because I knew you shared many of the same memories seeing we spent the first six years of education in the same classrooms with the same teachers.
Yes, I remember us unwrapping the May Pole, and although you didn’t mention it, you wore the dress to impress me. Wasn’t puppy love grand…even when you shared it with David and Mike. Story of my life.
As for 32 folks in the photo, here are a few names: David Munhall, Mike Robinson, Shirl Rhoades, Betty Jean Boggs, Nancy Hagan, Nancy Rannenberger, Nancy Bennett, Nancy Gorrell, Albert Barnes, Paul Persinger (deceased), Bill Preston (deceased), Alan Sutherland, Carol Dixon, Penny Craig, Mike Johnson, and so on. I won’t specify who is who for privacy reasons, but you correctly labeled our positions.
Sug, thanks much for reminded me of the stench created by those pee-stained pants Mrs. Bales placed on the radiator…one I was so desperately trying to forget.
I had spoken of dust and cobwebs causing problems, well I was spot on…
I received an email from a reader who knows the lady which I remembered as Ms. Holley, and gave me her married name. I then looked up her phone number and gave her a call…and am happy to report she is alive and well and living in Bel Air, MD.
Her maiden name was Jenkins. She married a Mr. Holley who was in the Navy and not the Air Force. She did, however, move away as I remembered.
She told me she had two children, but later divorced and remarried. I believe she said she had two more with her second husband. The latter husband passed away a few years ago.
She didn’t remember me, so I guess I behaved in her class. It was good to speak with her after 57 years.
What a great article! I went there in 1975 but I had Mrs. Bales also. She would line us all up at the end of the day and kiss us on the way out imangine that now. I’m trying to remeber the line up from when I went there: 1st Mrs. Bales, 2nd Mrs. Thrush, 3rd. Mrs. Brown, 4th Mrs. Quinter (Killed in an auto accident mid year if I remember right)5th. was Mr. Hardey for half the day he was also the Assistant Principal, I can’t remeber who he split the day with. 6th. was Mr. Ladis outside in a portable. Mr Dillanger (spell) was the Principal, we called the costodian “Fonz” I don’t remeber his real name. I remember the “cool” job to have was the crossing guard at Gorden Street, and when you were in 6th gade you could eat in the “alcove” during lunch
I’m glad you enjoyed.
The truth of the matter is most folks have similar memories of their early school years, be it us at BAES or those at any of the thousands of elementary schools scattered across America’s landscape. They, too, have a ‘story’ they could write…and many have.
What we learned during those years will stay with most of us until we are lowered into the ground, hence my ‘thanking’ those who helped mold me/us.
werent there deaths there?>??????!?! i really wana know