Margaret De Lean Recollections
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"As I say "way back" -- that's just what I mean -- approximately 70 years ago when our Mom started taking half of her brood to Sunday School. The other half wasn't here yet -- but very shortly there we were -- our Mom and her four little girls. "In those days, no one worried about a parking lot and yellow lines, for everyone who lived in town walked to church. Sunday School was the highlight of the week, gaily we assembled, dressed in our Sunday best. In summer, it was white embroidered or organdy dresses with never less than two stiff petticoats beneath. We wore long white, light blue, or pink stockings which matched our ribbon belts and the big ribbon bow in our hair. On our feet, we wore strapped patent leather or white slippers. In winter, our clothes were darker and our shoes were buttoned shoes with black patent lower parts and red or brown upper parts. Clutched in our hand was a clean white handkerchief with our collection tied tightly in one corner of it. Not a dime and not even a nickel, but a shiny penny -- our tiny contribution. But what a lot of candy that precious penny would have bought in those days. "Our opening exercises were held upstairs, and then, we went downstairs to our various classes where we diligently learned all the books of the Bible, the Lord's Prayer, the 23rd Psalm, and the ten commandments before promotion day. Our only diversion from serious work was sewing cards when we sewed punched cards with colored thread and then had some Biblical picture. "In winter, we froze unless we sat close enough to the old pot-bellied stove where we roasted. And in summer, somehow, we didn't mind the heat at all, we just sat and fanned with folding fans which were furnished by the Bailey Furniture Store. "In our memory recollections, the teacher who stood out predominately in our minds was Mrs. Marsh, and the superintendents were Mr. Multhaup and George Kunze. Later, they had a superintendent for classes downstairs, and our Mom was the first one, and as some of you probably remember, she was in that office for some thirty years. "Special occasions, of course, included the huge Christmas tree standing in the corner of the
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church on Christmas Eve. Everyone received a gift from his or her teacher and a big sack of candy from Santa Claus who came jingling down the east aisle to pass out the gifts. In those days, he didn't come ho-ho-hoing down the aisle, instead his bells jingled and jangled and he had a word for every wide-eyed kid on the front rows."Memory lane could stretch on and on, and nostalgia can carry one away on many tangents -- so, let this be the parting of the ways -- precious memories of days many, many years ago will still linger on in the minds of those who lived them." -- Margaret De Lean 
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Transcribed by Cheryl Siebrass, June, 2024, from Historical Lewis by Pauline Franklin, pp. 13-14.
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