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The Cookie Makers One day we were sitting on our front porch when my brother Bob ambled along and sat down with us. My mother asked, “Where have you been?” He said he had just come from cleaning out the Schein girls’ gutters. My mother then asked, “Did they pay you?” He replied, “Yes, 50 cents and some cookies”. Then he laughed. The fact is, he would have cleaned the gutters out for nothing. My brother Bob loved the Schein girls. Neither one of them ever married. They were like the “genteel” Emily and Mamie Baldwin on “The Waltons”. The difference is that the Baldwin sisters always invited people in to share the “recipe”. The Schein girls’ recipe was for cookies not moonshine. Their kitchen always smelled like cookies. When I was in high school, we sold occasional cards and stationery to fund our Washington D.C. and New York City Senior class trip. Of course, they ordered some and invited me in and served cookies to me. Lena died in June 1967 and Grace in January 1977. Their nephew Carl passed away July 7, 2015 at the age of 87. Is it possible that when we get to heaven, the Schein girls will be standing at the entrance with a plate of cookies to welcome us? ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2020 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck
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 The Dunlap Company and Christmas I do not feel qualified to write about the Dunlap Company. All I really know is from personal experience. I believe they owned a lot of Pickaway County’s farmland. I also know that they were good to my Dad and he was happy working for them. I also believe that his experience was not just a working one but a personal one. When John Dunlap Sr. was alive, my Dad thought highly of him. When “Senior” traveled, he sent post cards to my Dad, as did his son “Junior”. My Dad and John “Junior” were about the same size so Junior gave my Dad suits that he had grown out of….they both “battled the bulge”. I have several Christmases mixed up in my mind so I can’t write about one in particular but I can write about one constant. Every year the Dunlap Company had a Christmas dinner for their employees in the cafeteria of the school. It was usually a few days before Christmas. We always looked forward to it. My Dad helped carve the turkeys every year. When the dinner was over, everyone retired to the auditorium for a short program and the presentation of a box of gifts and a bonus for each family. One year I got a large doll with golden hair. It was probably the nicest gift that I received that year. My mother would take the bonus and go to Circleville to buy the rest of our Christmas gifts. I have been away from Williamsport for a long time and don’t know anything about how the Dunlap Company conducts its business today. In the grand scheme of things, they would be considered a small farm now and small farms have a difficult time surviving in today’s business climate. What I do know is that they were a blessing to us. Merry Christmas everyone! ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2020 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck Billy Horch….Ray Horch….What is your real name? You’re still Billy to me! Since I am writing about my family’s experiences in Williamsport, I thought I would include this school story. Sorry Billy….er Ray…..or whoever you are! In school, we were always seated alphabetically. That meant that Billy Horch sat behind me every single year for twelve years. We were friends in spite of the fact that he messed with my hair and picked at my clothes for twelve years. Anyway, when we were Seniors, our mothers prepared our Senior Banquet and served us in the Home Economics classroom in the basement of the school. The Senior Prom was held afterward at the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Circleville. My boyfriend had moved and then broke up with me. I didn’t dance and I was taller than most of the boys in my class, so I didn’t plan to go. When the banquet was over, one of the girls (I think it was Judy Anderson) said to Billy Horch and me, “Why don’t you two go together?” We sort of looked sideways at each other and said “Okaaaay.” Billy had a Jeepster at that time. The sides were not on it as he drove to Circleville. My mother and Dad had gotten my corsage and pinned it onto my lace trimmed, pink and white checked dress. It was sleeveless with a scoop neck, so it was a cold ride. Neither Billy nor I could dance so we sat at the table watching everybody else dance. Of course, that was not the end of Billy pestering me. The school year wasn’t quite over! And by-the-way, Billy (or whoever you are) and I have always been, and will always be the best of friends! Hopefully that’s still true after this blog. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2020 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck  Williamsport students in the photo at the National Honor Society Banquet in the Circleville Coliseum were: First Row: third from left- Beverly Minor (?); Second Row: first from left-Judy Anderson, Jeanette West, and fourth from right-Marilyn Francis; Third Row: third from the right Marcella Anderson (?), and Norma Jean Anderson. I believe there are others from Williamsport in the photo though I can’t tell you their names with any certainty. The Dog Ate My Homework I wrote earlier that when I was in the 4th or 5th grade, I started having academic problems. For one thing, I got German measles and missed a lot of school in the 4th grade. I didn’t realize it at the time, but I was essentially a year younger than most of my classmates since my birthday is in May. I was seventeen years old until a few days before I graduated from high school while many of my classmates were already 18. I think people are either good in math or language. Math was not my forte. I tried hard but to no avail. I was doing math homework in about the 4th grade and crying because I couldn’t do it. My Dad was good at math but he only went to the fifth grade. My brother Bob tried to help but he actually quit school after the eleventh grade, probably because of math. Bob’s advice for me was, “Tell the teacher the dog ate your homework.” That conclusion had two problems. First, it was a lie and secondly, someone had poisoned our dog Jack, so we no longer had a dog. I’m not sure if I told the teacher, Mrs. Winona Ramsey, that or not. If I did, it would have been uncharacteristic for me. She would probably have said to herself, “Yeah, right”, anyway. In high school, I took Algebra my Freshman year, Geometry my Sophomore year, and Chemistry my third year. I wanted to be on the honor roll but every year I got one C in Math. When I became a Senior, I took General Math and “voila”. My struggles had paid off. I actually got “A”s. My Math problems had kept me off of the Honor Roll, from getting B and Better Certificates and the Honor Society. With my new and improved Math grades, I was tapped for the National Honor Society in my Senior year of High School. My mother had age related health problems and was unable to come to the Tapping Ceremony. She sent my sister Kathleen in her place. I was surprised and honored to be tapped by Norma Jean Anderson on March 23, 1956. My mother saved the calendar with the date marked on it. I know she was proud. ©Marilyn Francis Ferguson 2020 Photography/graphics by Michele Ferguson Schuck |
Marilyn Francis FergusonGrowing up in Williamsport, Ohio is a blog by Marilyn Francis Ferguson which describes small town life in the 1940s and 1950s. Blog Categories
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