September 1958: class is in session
Every Monday morning, with his trusty 22 pistol on the seat beside him, Lad drove from Merriman to Chadron for his classes. He returned on Friday afternoons and took his turn working at the gas station. Hunting and fast cars filled his off time, no time for girls. When fall turned to winter, he added basketball games and seeing how many times he could get his jeep stuck and unstuck in snowbanks. Still no time for girls. Lad did spend some time at Everette and Lola Leeper’s house since Lad mentored their son Wendell in basketball. Lad and Wendell were together whenever Lad was off work and Wendell wasn’t at basketball practice at the high school.
During this time, Joan got busier and busier with thirty primary students in Kindergarten through Second grade. She lived with the Leeper’s and since she didn’t have a car, Lola would drop her off in the morning when she dropped off Wendell at school. In the afternoon, Joan walked to the shop/garage where Lola worked. They would share their days and plan dinner. Joan then walked on to the house and started dinner.
The school building housed Kindergarten through 12th grade and the primary classroom was behind the stage and gymnasium so there were many opportunities for Joan to observe the comings and goings of high school students. In the school cafeteria as well, she began to notice the girls coming to school with safety pins instead of buttons, uncoordinated outfits and uncombed hair. At a staff meeting one day she commented that “somebody ought to teach those girls how they should dress for school”. To which Superintendent John Mandeville said, “You should start a girl’s club”. So with that challenge and the help of a couple of seniors, Joan started a Girl’s club. Now after school and Saturdays were filled with hair styling & grooming parties, simple clothing repair, and even some practice in “modeling” (walking, sitting & standing). After all, these were the fifties with firm rules of etiquette!
The girls club led to a pep club; they needed a sponsor. Now coaching the cheerleaders, helping with uniforms that everyone could afford and attending all the games was added to the mix.
Somehow in the middle of all these things, Joan decided her primary class needed a rhythm band. So she requisitioned the instruments and persuaded Lottie Wickman to make little hats and capes for thirty kids. With some practice they were soon able to perform for others.
Meanwhile this primary teacher was the only single woman living in Merriman. So the matchmakers went to work. There were two young ranchers (probably in their late twenties or thirties), who asked her out. She went but found neither of them very interesting. She was watching Lad come and go at the Leeper’s and felt her pride being hurt because he didn’t seem to notice she was there.
At Christmas time, Joan went home to Mitchell. Having saved enough money to make a down payment on a car, she and Dad went shopping and found a green ’52 Chevy that she could afford to make payments. Now she had wheels and an idea. She bought more gas than she needed on the weekends when Lad was working. But he simply filled her tank, checked the oil and radiator, washed the windshield and collected her money. Then she got the idea to stop in and say, “My car is making a funny noise, will you drive it and see if you can tell me what is wrong?” He did, but just shook his head and said, “I don’t hear anything,” and went back to the station. This went on for the next month or so. He just didn’t have time for girls.
Fireside Stories 