Dad's History Part 12

8th Grade graduation  (Willis seated on far right)

The Eventful year at Spokane, Washington

                            
         I don’t remember what time of the year we arrived in Spokane, but it was in 1928 and probably in the late spring or early summer.  The school I attended in Spokane was the Jefferson Elementary located on South Grand Ave not very far from where we lived.  I was in the eighth grade, and remember that most of the girls in the class were at least six to eight inches taller than the boys.  I was one of the shorties.  For eighth grade graduation the girls all had dresses made from the same pattern, some were a pastel pink and some were blue. 

The most memorable part of my school year was my “wood-working” or shop class.  We had a very good “Manual Training” teacher from whom I learned a lot about how to properly use wood working tools.  During the year I made a very beautiful walnut stool.  The legs and sides had handmade mortise and tenon joints, and it is solid to this very day.

 School dances were held occasionally and this was about the only time in my life that I cared much about dancing.  I probably took and interest in dancing at this time because of a cute little blonde girl who sat across the aisle from me in school.  I don’t remember her name, but she was short (about the same height as I was), and she is the only one I remember dancing with. 

I went out for basketball, and baseball during my eighth grade year, but because of my small, immature stature spent most of the games as a bench warmer.  At this time of my life, my eyesight was still pretty good and I didn’t have to wear glasses, so I enjoyed sports and was an enthusiastic participant even though I didn’t set any records.

I continued with my scouting activities while living in Spokane, and was a member of Troop 53, which met, at our schoolhouse.  During the summer of 1929, I spent a week at scout camp on Diamond Lake.  It was there that I received my 1st Class badge.  This was one of the biggest thrills of my life up to that point.  I felt a great sense of accomplishment, because I had worked hard to pass all the tests leading to this goal. 

During our year in Spokane I had a paper route.  I delivered the afternoon paper, called the Spokane Press.  The route was in the neighborhood where we lived, and I had about thirty or forty customers.  It was a relatively small paper, so we folded all the papers into a little square so that we could throw them from the sidewalk to the front porch of our customers without getting off the bike. 

Spokane had a YMCA, which I joined.  This is where I first learned to play ping-pong, and shoot pool.  The “Y” had a good swimming pool and an instructor that taught swimming and lifesaving.  It was here that I started on my Jr. Red Cross Lifesaving program.