Inside our schools: School bell back at home
George Newcomb, Warren “Squirt” Keating, Louise Shaddock and her brother, Marvin “Snowball” Shaddock, share something more specific than long lives and lasting friendships.
They share Dalton Elementary School, where they all attended when the building was just a small wooden schoolhouse built in 1909.
That schoolhouse was razed long ago, and a bricks-and-mortar building stands in its place.
But a piece of history recently returned to the site: the old schoolhouse’s bell.
During a ceremony last Friday, Newcomb, Keating and the Shaddocks joined other Dalton alumni to celebrate the bell’s return.
Principal Kathy Liverman recalled learning of the bell three years ago when she started at Dalton Gardens Elementary. She saw a picture of the bell in the custodian’s office and heard it had been sent to Dalton Gardens City Hall when the schoolhouse was razed.
“It was going to be my mission to get that bell back to Dalton for the Dalton students,” Liverman told the crowd.
Things fell into place when the Schuon family approached the school about making a donation. Jason Schuon and his sister, Teresa Holgate, had attended the school more than 20 years ago, and each has children at the school now.
When Schuon told Liverman the family wanted to do something for the school, “I had this huge light bulb go off,” Liverman said.
Schuon’s parents, Bob and Brenda Schuon, own Schuon Mfg. Co., and the family decided to construct a tower to hold the old bell.
Alumni say the green bell tower with its wooden roof, complete with the Dalton dragon symbol, is a perfect home for the old bell.
“They really polished that up, and it looks very good,” said Newcomb, 91.
Keating remembers the bell from his days at Dalton in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s. “I probably rang it,” the 86-year-old said.
Dalton Gardens Mayor Dan Franklin said he “looks forward to hearing this bell ring throughout our future.” Liverman rang the bell several times, ending the ceremony.
During the program, several Dalton Gardens students read a poem Louise Shaddock had written for Newcomb about their days at the school:
“T’was here we learned our ABC
“And that we are American free,
“Of history, geography, reading, too.
“As one by one the children grew
“At the schoolhouse.
“And we forged friendships strong,
“Standing in line at the bell’s clear gong.
“Playing at recess, yelling in joy,
“We came to know each girl and boy
“At the schoolhouse.
“Progress came, as they say it must.
“The school gave way to razing dust.
“A new building rose to take its place.
“But we can’t forget that dear wooden face
“Of the schoolhouse.
“Its purpose fulfilled in you and me,
“The lessons were forged for eternity.
“In just four rooms and a large hall,
“We remember teachers, programs, all
“At the schoolhouse.
“So as years go spinning by,
“The children we were sometimes lie
“Last in dreams of things learned then,
“Wishing we could be again
“In the schoolhouse.”
After the ceremony, the oldest alumni gathered in the school office. Ninety-four-year-old Marvin “Snowball” Shaddock (he also was called “Frosty”) pointed out himself in an old school photo.
Grants given
Three Coeur d’Alene schools were among 12 recipients of grants from Kootenai Electric Cooperative.
Borah Elementary School received $1,000 to purchase a math educational software program and site licenses.
Lake City High School’s Business Professionals of America got $500 to help pay for a trip to New York.
Glory Be School received $213 to purchase reading and learning software.