Northwest Genealogy Society (NWOGS) held its regular February meeting at the one-room schoolhouse at the Cherokee Strip Museum. A panel discussion was presented by Eleanor Ring/Capron, Sherry Dee Harzman/Farry and Warren Little/ Winchester and Greenleaf.

Ring showed the group a copy of the book the Capron community put together about the Capron School. She told about the two disasters Capron experienced throughout the years. A tornado went through the area and she remembers going with her parents the next day to see what damage had occurred and also about picking up little tin cans of foot powder that were scattered around on the ground from the drug store that was destroyed by the storm. She still has one of those tins. There was also a terrible fire that was started from the railroad track and the brick school house was burned to the ground. Fond memories she shared were playing jacks as a youngster, boys and girls playing lots of basketball and boys having a good team and the school reunions held throughout the years. One reunion she and Max Oakes went to the old school building where some of the bricks had fallen down. They gathered the bricks up and cleaned the area. Each person who attended a reunion thereafter received a brick as a momento. Ring stated that she has great memories of her school years at Capron School. Capron School was consolidated in 1976 and students either went to school at Burlington or Alva.

Harzmann discussed her school years at Farry. She talked about the great meals that were cooked, the new gym that was built and how it was one of the best gyms in the area, built with the best materials, and about the Sadie Hawkins party. The party was held at the Hawkins' place. Parents brought their children to the party and rather than go back home they went to the McMurphy's house and had a party of their own. The party was held in a shed and students celebrated by playing games and having fun. Harzman said she has a lot of fond memories from the party.

She discussed school reunions and how they helped to keep the Farry community connected. Due to the pandemic she said there has not been a reunion held in the past couple of years. She also discussed basketball and baseball and the competition between the schools who played each other. Everyone got involved in the rivalry from students, parents, neighbors, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and anyone else who was rooting for the Farry team. When Farry was consolidated students either went to school in Freedom or Alva.

Warren Little told how he started school at Winchester and attended there for four years and that there were four students, Gail Hada, Gary Hada, Stanley Little and himself. Winchester owned a brand new 1939 Model Coup car and the best thing about the car was it had a radio. When the Cardinals were playing baseball the teacher would drive the car under one of the schoolhouse windows and then would open the window so students could listen to the game.

At the start of fifth grade Winchester closed the school and the four students had to move to Greenleaf. Little talked about how every morning a bucket of drinking water was pumped from the cistern, placed on a stand in the coat room with a dipper hung on the side of the bucket and all students drank from the same dipper. All illnesses were shared by the entire school. He also shared how himself and his brother, Stanley, rode their horse, Dixie, to school every morning and how after school the Hunsacker children, Jenny, Billy and Bobby, would all five load up on Dixie and then the Hunsacker children would get off about a mile north of the school at their grandmother Hada's house and he and his brother would head home.

Little discussed baseball games, how teams were selected, traveling to and from games and how there was a lot of competition between teams. School lunches were each student bring their own packed in a small tin bucket which had either been a lard can or syrup can. He discussed the new metal building that was built several years before Greenleaf was consolidated to Alva. The current community is now at the Cedar Grove Church which is several miles north of Greenleaf. Today the old metal building is part of the Greenleaf Fire Department.

The March 12 meeting will be held at the Alva Public Library at 10 a.m. The program for this month will be members sharing their genealogy research success and their “Brick Walls.” The meeting will be a time for members to ask each other questions about their research. Visitors are always welcome.