Class of 1990 Week 32

At St. Thomas Public School grade school students could only leave the school unattended during the day if they were walking home for lunch. Starting in Jr. High you could leave school unattended during the noon hour and there were no restrictions on where you went. Most often this involved going up town for candy and such or in the case of some going home to watch Days of our Lives. Seniors in their last term, when the administration felt they deserved it, got Senior Privileges. That meant that you did not need to be on school grounds if you were not in class. So you could leave during any study hall or open period, not just lunch. You still could not operate a vehicle during school hours unless you had special permission—like going to a doctor’s appointment or soliciting for yearbook ads. With our music issues for graduation worked out the week before, my class was finally granted our senior privileges. Tuesday I took advantage of them by using my study hall to go up town to buy stamps.

Geographical note
In St. Thomas you never went “down town” you went “up town.” From the school that constituted walking one block east (preferably not cutting through Thomson’s yard) to main street. It consisted of a post office, café, insurance office, K & D Hartz grocery store. There was also a bank, the city council building, and the Jack Gust Store which was a sort of general store that sold groceries, hardware, stationary—pretty much a bit of everything except clothes. His motto was “If I don’t have it, you don’t need it.” Main street itself is quite wide. At one time the highway went through town, now it curves around, but the wide street remained. It was possible to have cars parked on each curb and have a “car conversation” {persons driving opposite directions recognize each other, stop so the divers windows align, and then roll down their windows and sit in their vehicles—usually pick-ups—in the middle of the street and have a good talk} and still be able to get around.

The week was one of studying for tests, working and falling behind in my research paper for English that I was doing on recyclable and photo degradable plastics. I also had another assignment to work on for the Institute of Children’s Literature.

Thursday we were dismissed early—me earlier than most because with senior privileges and not taking shop I didn’t need to hang around until 1:30. I left school at 12:45 and stopped at the Cenex station outside of town. Sarah had caught a ride home from the University of North Dakota with Kim (class of 1989). When they saw my car at the Cenex Kim pulled in and Sarah got in the driver’s seat of our Cavalier and drove me home after I finished filling the tank. Bob arrived at our house around 7:00pm, just in time for Maundy Thursday services.

That week I also got a package from Hong Kong with red printed silk for mom to make me a dress for graduation. Friday Mom and I went into Cavalier and found a dress pattern for me. Mom was getting busy with sewing at home. She did alterations and a steady stream of girls with their prom dresses was showing up to get them fitted. My Mom prided herself in fixing gaping necklines and making the dresses more decent.

Friday we had church in the morning and then I helped set up for the Easter Breakfast. At home Sarah played hymns and sang alto, Bob sang bass, and I took the soprano line. It was, to quote my journal, “sooo totally cool!” After supper, Mom and I took on Sarah and Bob in a game of Trivial Pursuit and lost. I filled out my housing application for Concordia University Wisconsin before going to bed.

Saturday Sarah, Bob, and I went to Winnipeg. We took Grandma out for lunch at Alycia’s. After that we took in the “Touch the Universe” exhibit at the museum and then had dinner at the Potapoff's before heading home.

Easter was lovely. I helped with the Easter breakfast, then church, then light lunch of egg salad sandwiches. For supper we drove about a mile and ate with Flossy and Harvey. After supper we played UNO. Bob won and Dad built the most character.

REG

lhg edited and approved