by Jane Hutchison

Have you ever been in Dederick? If not forget it, you’re too late. Dederick used to be a booming little town, especially to a bunch of smaller kids. It had a one room school house teacher, Blanch VanHorn. Some of the big kids would bring in a bucket of water in the morning and everyone had their own drinking cup.

Every morning we saluted the flag and sang patriotic songs. Some mornings if the teacher (Mrs. VanHorn) wasn’t there yet, some of the kids would start walking West a little way on Hwy. 54, the South ‘til we met her. She walked most every day if the weather was okay.

We had pie suppers and programs, singing, reciting poems, ciphering matches and finding towns on big maps. The pie suppers, the girls decorated boxes filled with sandwiches, pie, fruit and goodies. The boys would bid on the prettiest boxes and then had to eat supper with the girl it belonged to.

Some of the parents even got into the ciphering matches. Some of the top winners were Iva Hawkins, Wilbur Lauderback and Ralph Collins. We would vote on the most lovesick couple, penny a vote, and they would win a jar of dill pickles, voting on the person with the biggest feet and best looking girl or boy etc.

We probably had some of the first hot lunches. The teacher would peel potatoes and big hunks of onion and cook all morning on the wood stove. It was hot but she made us eat the big chunks of onion. Sometimes everyone would bring a vegetable, teacher would put everything together and we would have soup or stew. Better than peanut butter and bread or egg salad or a biscuit with jelly or apply butter.

Some of the games we played were flying Dutchman, red rover, softball and ante over. Once I was the pitcher in softball and Richard Watkins hit the ball hard and knocked me down and knocked the wind out of me and scared everyone. I didn’t have to play ball anymore.

North down Main Street some of the residents were Grace and Lewis Ogle, George and Ben Galvin (the latter was my grandfather), Hattie Vickers, Mr. Flynn (always wore a white shirt and tie) Amos and Lavilla Whitley, Edo, Clara and Melvin Ware, Bill and Iva Hawkins, (Little Bill, Janie, Martha Lois, Mary Nell, Marjorie, later Clif). “The Big House” several people lived there off and on. Some of them were Wayne and Josie Bowles, John, Orpha and Allene Hunter, Grace, Lewis and Norma Ogle, Ralph and Mary Collins, Mrs. Garner and three elderly ladies – Cecil, Neta, Sonny and Neta Kay Moore. Continuing on North were John Martin, Mr.s and Mrs. Hardin, Otis, Cecil and JO Faulkner, Gilbert, Beulah, Gerry and Lura Lee Lasley, Mr. and Mrs. Walt Jokel and Mary; L.D. and Bessie Lasley, Homer, Bertha, Wanda, Betty Ann and Jimmie Joe Ogle, Don and Fern Ogle, Willie and Jessie Whitley, Elmo Gerster (a local bachelor) was a big part of the community, he delivered milk to whoever wanted it every morning.

The Christian Church had been moved from El Dorado Springs. Clara Ware played piano and John Martin led the signing (sometimes out of tune). Gerry Lasley was the janitor (sometimes I helped). We would sweep some of the dirt under the runner. We figured “God would get us for that” as he sees everything. (Gerry later married a preacher and came back to serve this church).

Downtown across from the “Big House” the store consisted of three rooms fro groceries and dry goods, middle room mostly storage and third room for feed. Then a separate little building was the ice house. Part of the time it had 300# blocks of ice packed in sawdust. The store bought and sold eggs and cream. Rozella and Ralph Collins and Charley Gerster ran the store. They had about everything you needed. Above the store was “the hall” – a big room with a stage with curtains that were drawn up. It housed movies and pie suppers and programs for charities. Some of the women of the community blacked  up and put on negro minstrels. They were great, then other programs were played and talent. One was a play and we girls dressed in long crepe paper dresses our mothers had sewn for us. Oh, what fun! Some Saturday nights a group would play music – Virgil Hill on guitar, Walter Jokel on fiddle, Mary Lou Joustra on accordion and Mary Collins on piano – while some people danced.

North of the store was the Post Office run by Hattie Vickers and her cats. No foolin’ around in there, Hattie didn’t like little brats or “little pitchers with big ears.” Across the street from the park was a garage run by Bob and Bill Hawkins. The men of the community poured a slab of concrete for a shuffle board, complete with sticks and pucks.

Then there was the croquet court. The men put up 2×4’s and put sand in between with the wickets. This was a serious court, no playing around or you would get in trouble. There were swings, benches and horseshoe pegs. North of the park was Walt Jokel’s blacksmith shop. He would fix about anything on our bikes. But no funny business because he didn’t particular like kids. He could really play a mean fiddle though.

Then on North was the railroad tracks. “Old Jerky” went to ElDo and back and on West to Walker and beyond. Earlier there was a stockyard by the tracks and a big feed building. But that was before my time. Across the tracks, north was the telephone switchboard run by Mrs. Jokel and daughter, Mary. Finally the train stopped running, the PO moved to Beulah’s house and later to the store. Then the PO closed as did the store and the school was consolidated into El Dorado Springs.

So now the big yellow school bus, driven by Oral Short pickled up the kids and we all went to ElDo School. Some of the kids around Dederick were – Delbert Melton; Bob and Jack Baugher; Ronnie, Randy and Terry Richards; Jack and Jerry Kenney; Lavern Nichols; Betty, Bob, Marvalene, Emily and Wanda Hutchison; Gary and Diana Charles; Lavone and Wilma Covington; Don and Larry Lauderback; Sam, Martha, Vonda and Tim Bartkoski; Norma and Carol England; Jerry and Dora Wood; Gerald Waltz; Peggy Short; Melvin and Marvel Leverich; Neola and Sherry Bates; Helen, Delmar, Melvin and Eddy Hadley; Lyle, George, Lloyd, Pearl and Juanita McGraw; Gary and Marcella Collins; Billy, Minnie Pearl and Marilyn Burns; Jerry Jones; Gale Mullins; Richard Watkins; Joyce, Keith, Donald and Donis Disney; Betty, Charlottte, Glennis, Marvin and Doris Garrett.

Most of the kids came to Dederick for 4-H. Mabel McCrory was the community leader. They still have a community reunion every year, Sunday after the El Dorado Picnic in July at the Christian Church fellowship hall. Lura Lee (Lasley) Eslinger is the only one with perfect attendance.

Like a lot of the people, the town has dwindled away, but it is fun to think about it. I challenge anyone to write a story about your hometown – Virgil City, Portia, Cedar Springs, Olympia, Eve, Walker, Metz, Fairhaven, Ellis, Indian Springs. I know there are others. Looking forward to more stories.

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