Fredericktown High School Band

by Jack Ward Skinner

It was the school year, 1947-48. There were some “first times” for me in that school year.

Actually, it was a great year in my life. The War had ended a couple of years before, and Dad was home for good. Also, my family had never owned any kind of property. We had rented apartments, but not even a house. The previous year, 1946, Mom and Dad bought our first house on the GI bill (Dad was a Navy veteran). It was brand new, a little 4-room house on Virginia Street.

But, back to the “first things.” Football was re-introduced to Fredericktown High School. The Superintendent of School, Mr. Norvell P. Schaefer was that first coach. This was the first football team since the 1928-29 season. The team was composed, mostly, of Freshman and Sophomores. Since none of the high school boys had ever played football, the team was not very good. They lost every game, but they did score 3 touchdowns during the season, 2 of them coming in the last game of the season, against Chaffee, the conference champions.

And, another “first” was my becoming a member of the high school band. What’s so unusual about that? Well, I was only in the 5th grade. Was I a music prodigy? No way! Far from it. But the school was all for the Arts, especially music. I believe that they had even had an orchestra at one time. But, as the story goes, the band teacher had left during the summer, leaving the high school with a vacancy at short notice.

Della Seal, who was a teacher in the elementary school, also, taught music lessons on the side. When I was in the 3rd grade, I started taking violin (not to be confused with fiddle) lessons from her. This was formal music, and I never learned to play “by ear”, but I picked up on the music basics very quickly.

Since Della was already a teacher, and knew music, she was asked to fill in as the high school band director. The band was fairly small, and so, Della asked me if I would play in the high school band. Well, sure I would. And so, I became one of the first, grade school kids in the high school band. I was given a trumpet that first year and was taught the fingerings. I already knew the notes, so thing went pretty well.

I was overwhelmed by even being in the same room with all those “big kids”, including seniors. But that group of young men and women were very special. They did not tease me or bully me in any way. I was treated as an equal.

That is me in the picture above. Facing the picture, I am in the front row, just to the right of the base drum, and just off the left shoulder of the Drum Majorette, Novelyn Graham. Novelyn was a Sophomore, but was a living doll, and one of the cutest girls in high school. And I, a lowly 5th grader, got to stand right next to her in this picture.

Eat your heart out, Senior boys!