Miss Blaine
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
In the not-too-distant future, Valentine's Day will be coming up. How well I remember the Valentine celebrations that we kids had in the Leesburg School while we were in the elementary grades. I especially recollect the third- and fourth-grade room, which was under the supervision of Miss Elizabeth Blaine, a teacher who has stood out in my mind all these years.
I recall that Miss Blaine was a very immaculate lady. She always came to school wearing a freshly starched, neatly ironed housedress of floral design, her coiffure perfectly in place. On Valentine's Day, Miss Blaine saw to it that we kids enjoyed a nice party, and how exalted we felt in exchanging valentines and receiving candy from Miss Blaine. Miss Blaine would take a cardboard box and cover it with bright red hearts and delicate, lace-like paper, then cut a slit in the top of the box in which we dropped our valentines. Every pupil was eager and anxious to know who received the most valentines because he figured that the one who collected the most valentines would have the honor of being the most popular kid in the room. Of course, each of us pupils would vie for that honor, and if there was any kid who received only a valentine or two, he was to be pitied, for his weak standing meant that he wasn't very popular, or as well liked as the other pupils. Miss Blaine made certain that she gave each and every scholar a fancy, colorful, ornate valentine that would be cherished for weeks to come.
Elizabeth Blaine was a good, reliable teacher, but, at times, she could be drastically severe. I shall never forget the day she really let me have it for something I did that I can now look back on with a sense of humor. But, at that time, it wasn't funny.
One day, I ambled up to the front of the room to sharpen my pencil. When I grabbed the crank to the pencil sharpener, each time I turned the crank, I would jump up and down. All at once, I heard a loud, sharp voice slash the air: "Donavon!" (Miss Blaine always called me by my full name.) Realizing that it was Miss Blaine's reprimanding outcry, with a feeling of fear and humiliation, I came to a halt.
"Donavon!" Miss Blaine repeated sarcastically. "It appears to me that you love to dance!" There was a pause, while I blushed in embarrassment in front of the whole room. "And since you love to dance," Miss Blaine jeered caustically, "continue sharpening your pencil, and while you're sharpening your pencil, dance!" I just stood there motionless, gulping in embarrassment while my cheeks turned a beet red. "Donavon, I said dance!" Miss Blaine repeated. "Go on, Donavon! Dance!" So, while the whole room exploded with laughter, as I turned the crank on the pencil sharpener, I continued to jump up and down until Miss Blaine told me to stop.
Well, that was a long, long time ago, but I shall never forget that day when Miss Blaine ordered me to perform the dance act. At that time, I didn't know Connie, Miss Blaine's pretty little sister, with whom I later graduated. She attended school in Oswego until years later when she came to Leesburg to enter junior high. No, at that time I didn't know Connie. But, after that crucial dance incident, I felt that I knew Elizabeth. Boy, did I know Elizabeth!
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
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In the not-too-distant future, Valentine's Day will be coming up. How well I remember the Valentine celebrations that we kids had in the Leesburg School while we were in the elementary grades. I especially recollect the third- and fourth-grade room, which was under the supervision of Miss Elizabeth Blaine, a teacher who has stood out in my mind all these years.
I recall that Miss Blaine was a very immaculate lady. She always came to school wearing a freshly starched, neatly ironed housedress of floral design, her coiffure perfectly in place. On Valentine's Day, Miss Blaine saw to it that we kids enjoyed a nice party, and how exalted we felt in exchanging valentines and receiving candy from Miss Blaine. Miss Blaine would take a cardboard box and cover it with bright red hearts and delicate, lace-like paper, then cut a slit in the top of the box in which we dropped our valentines. Every pupil was eager and anxious to know who received the most valentines because he figured that the one who collected the most valentines would have the honor of being the most popular kid in the room. Of course, each of us pupils would vie for that honor, and if there was any kid who received only a valentine or two, he was to be pitied, for his weak standing meant that he wasn't very popular, or as well liked as the other pupils. Miss Blaine made certain that she gave each and every scholar a fancy, colorful, ornate valentine that would be cherished for weeks to come.
Elizabeth Blaine was a good, reliable teacher, but, at times, she could be drastically severe. I shall never forget the day she really let me have it for something I did that I can now look back on with a sense of humor. But, at that time, it wasn't funny.
One day, I ambled up to the front of the room to sharpen my pencil. When I grabbed the crank to the pencil sharpener, each time I turned the crank, I would jump up and down. All at once, I heard a loud, sharp voice slash the air: "Donavon!" (Miss Blaine always called me by my full name.) Realizing that it was Miss Blaine's reprimanding outcry, with a feeling of fear and humiliation, I came to a halt.
"Donavon!" Miss Blaine repeated sarcastically. "It appears to me that you love to dance!" There was a pause, while I blushed in embarrassment in front of the whole room. "And since you love to dance," Miss Blaine jeered caustically, "continue sharpening your pencil, and while you're sharpening your pencil, dance!" I just stood there motionless, gulping in embarrassment while my cheeks turned a beet red. "Donavon, I said dance!" Miss Blaine repeated. "Go on, Donavon! Dance!" So, while the whole room exploded with laughter, as I turned the crank on the pencil sharpener, I continued to jump up and down until Miss Blaine told me to stop.
Well, that was a long, long time ago, but I shall never forget that day when Miss Blaine ordered me to perform the dance act. At that time, I didn't know Connie, Miss Blaine's pretty little sister, with whom I later graduated. She attended school in Oswego until years later when she came to Leesburg to enter junior high. No, at that time I didn't know Connie. But, after that crucial dance incident, I felt that I knew Elizabeth. Boy, did I know Elizabeth!
Don Kaiser
Warsaw
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