Warner, Braun Settlement School (1952-53)  

WARNER TOWNSHIP, BRAUN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL (1952-53). Grades 1 through 8.

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1950-1953 This was a one room school house which had been built by the farmers in that district. It was heated by a wood furnace with wood which was stockpiled by the community each fall. Every cold morning, the teacher, Mrs. Rose Timmler, fired it up. In the winter time it took a long time to warm up the poorly insulated building so we could remove our coats.

I attended this one room country school house for first and second grade. My best friend, Butch Braun, was a year older than me, so when he started school in 1950, I decided to start too. I went for a month or so, but the school authorities were opposed to my continuing. To this day I don't know if that was a pure technicality or because I wasn't mature enough to cut the mustard. At any rate, I was devasted when they made me quit. It was a long lonesome year without any visits with my friend from the other side of the road. Sometimes I walked along with Butch and my sister, Eileen when they headed off for school, but I always had to turn around and head back home once it was time for their classes to begin.

Finally, in the fall of '52, I got to start school for real. Butch and I missed the time we'd had to play together in the past and one day, we decided to go home during the middle of the school day. He asked to go to the bathroom--which was an outhouse. About five minutes later, I asked to go too. We met outside and took off walking for home. We would have taken a shortcut over the field to save time, but the huge, mean bull who pastured there caused us to reconsider and take the long way around. About half way home, the teacher came roaring down the road in her car. She stopped and asked what we thought we were doing. Butch said he had a stomachache. Unable to think of any other excuse, I said I had one too. Butch was pretty disgusted with me for my lack of creative excuse making. He always figured we'd have gotten away with our ploy if I'd only offered another excuse, such as having a headache or something else. Obviously, Mrs. Timmler didn't believe a thing we'd said. She hauled us back to school and made us stay late. We both made excuses for having had to stay late when confronting our parents and hoped they wouldn't find out the real reason. I don't believe Mrs. Timmler ever did tell them. Thank Goodness

We sort of had a hot lunch program at the Braun Settlement School. We'd each bring a "baker" from home in our lunch sack and place it on the wood burner as soon as we arrived in the morning. By noon, they were ready for eating and those potatoes were some of the best I 've ever had

Some of the boys would bring shotgun shells to school and at recess, they'd open them up, dumping the gun powder on the ground. Then positioning a magnifying glass above the little mound, they'd let the sun's rays ignite it and laugh like crazy when it exploded. That was exciting stuff Stan Schwarze