Don Moore: Back in the Day
By
Christian Corrigan, Will Barrier, and Aaron
Melhorn
In
the seventh grade Don Moore made average grades but still was a good student. In
the town of Eldon, Missouri, he had only one schoolteacher who taught
mathematics, English, and music. He
remembers gym class, but since there was no gymnasium his school
used the track and basketball court for class.
The sports he enjoyed were basketball and baseball, and he also played
alley football when it was warm but there was no organized team. Track was a big
thing for him and the town. His
class size was between twenty and twenty-five people. The school day started at 9:00a.m. and ended at 4:00p.m.
Don’s activities kept him busy when he was not in class. Although there
weren’t any national or state competitions he enjoyed spelling bees even
though it involved going up on stage and spelling in front of his school. Drama
was another one of his favorite activities.
He also could be rather mischievous at times. If he were sitting behind a
girl with curls, he would dip the curls in the ink well on his desk. His school
had no cafeteria and no hot food of any kind so the children who came from great
distances brought their lunch to school.
After
school he had several jobs that earned money for his family. One of his original
jobs was to shine shoes in a barbershop. He also worked handing out newspapers
to people. When Don and his friends wanted to see a movie they would earn free
passes by passing out flyers for a local theatre.
He also had to help his family by doing chores. He split the kindling to
get the fire started on the stove to cook the meals. He cleaned and helped his
mother around the house. The house was heated with a big potbelly stove.
Although they didn’t have refrigeration, there was a smoke house where
he would go to help his father smoke the meat and salt it.
Don remembers that being the most detesting thing ever, but it kept the
food preserved and fed his family.
Don’s
family got the newspaper everyday and also got the mail at least two times a day
unless there was a storm or the roads were muddy and the mail man was unable to
deliver. Don looked forward everyday to reading the funnies in the newspaper to
start off his day. He enjoyed family time with his parents and although he
didn’t take any trips with them, he enjoyed going to country fairs and
carnivals that would have a merry-go-round, Ferris wheel, and dance floors.
People would do the famous Charleston Dance and everyone had a blast. Don got his
first date when he was sixteen. He would go to the movies and high school dances
where he would make his girlfriend jealous because all the other girls wanted to
dance with him.
His
community was a very peaceful town. There were no drug problems and no criminal
activities, but there were some fun pranks on Halloween that were harmless.
Church was the most social activity for the kids, but he also loved to
play basketball games with his friends. There was no need for transportation
because Don lived close to school.
Don Moore was a very good role model in the seventh grade.
He worked hard for his family, kept his integrity, and is an excellent
role model.
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