Did You Attend Carleton Elementary?

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I lived with my grandparents on Nottingham; every day my grandfather would drive me to school in the morning and also pick me up to take me home for lunch and then drive me back to school afterward. He worked at Ford on the afternoon shift so I walked home at the end of the school day, taking Roxbury to cross Morang at the light and then Morang to Nottingham. On the south side of Morang between Beaconsfield and Nottingham there was a playground/field which was part of St. Brendan's Church property, and it was known at least in later days as "Fr. Downing Field." There was a small church credit union building on the southeast corner of Beaconsfield and Morang.

That's all been torn down now and replaced by a mini strip mall featuring a video store. Guess the church needed the money and sold it.

Maranatha Baptist Church was [[and still is) on the south side of Morang between Roxbury and Beaconsfield. In the winter, when the snow was plowed from the parking lot, it was left in piles right beside the sidewalk. Sometimes these piles would reach HUGE heights [[at least relative to the height of elementary schoolkids) and it was always fun to climb up there and walk along the tops of the snowpiles, especially after they'd been packed down by dozens of other kids who had already done the same thing.

You really note a deterioration in the floor between my picture and the time you were there, but I wonder if you perhaps simply have built up the memory in your mind to over and above what it really was. I was personally there to take that picture and while I agree that the gym [[as well as the halls and auditorium as you mentioned) are cluttered with a lot of junk which certainly wasn't the case then, I didn't think that the floor itself looked that different from the way I remembered it. I would definitely agree though that the brown tables [[which pulled out of the wall like Murphy beds to provide the tables as the Gym was transformed into the Cafeteria at lunchtime) were definitely in better condition back when I attended in the '60s and '70s.

I remember the ropes but I didn't notice or remember that girls didn't equally participate in the activity. But come to think of it now I don't remember girls ever attempting rope climbing. I do remember that I was terrible at it and could never get more than perhaps one or two handpulls up and THAT was THAT. I used to feel really jealous of those who made it to the top.

Another thing I remember is regular calisthenics periods in most gym classes, and students would take turns each day leading and directing the exercises. We would do jumping jacks, situps, etc., and one activity was "arm circles" which involved standing with arms extended fully out to the sides and then moving them in small circles. We usually did about 10 or 25 of them but one day the boy leading the class that day decided to be a wise guy and assigned the class to do 100 of them. Mr. Ignasiak stepped in immediately and excused the class from that - but made that boy do 100 in front of the class on his own! And he did manage to do it! This same kid one time was showing off when Mr. Ignasiak was having us do chin-ups - he easily went through probably 50 or more - but then when marking down the count in his book, Mr. Ignasiak simply waited until the kid was done and said simply, "Zero." He hadn't followed the directions; we were supposed to be doing them gripping the bar with our palms facing away from us, and he had done them the opposite way!

As I was picked up for lunch as described above, I never had a meal in the cafeteria so can't comment on the menu. [[I might have liked the chop suey as my family often had take-out chop suey from Pagoda's on Morang and Riad which I enjoyed!) However, when diagnosed with hypoglycemia in fifth grade in '71, I was put on a diet that required having a protein snack in the middle of each morning and afternoon, so I would go to the school cafeteria behind the gym and buy an individual half-pint CARTON [[no bottles in my day) of milk. The price was three cents.

Another fun thing we did once or twice a year was go on field trips to hear classical concerts at the Ford Auditorium, or to see the Detroit Institute of Arts.

And a final random memory - the observances of Veteran's Day each November 11 - they would play taps at 11 a.m. I also specifically remember Mr. Ignasiak one year making the announcement that that would be the last year Veteran's Day would be celebrated on Nov. 11, as the change to a Monday observance would be going into effect.