It was fifty years ago this spring that it happened. It was one of those happenings that will stick in your mind until life ebbs and one leaves this earth to be with one’s maker.

Kathie and I were fast asleep in our tiny one bedroom house well into our second year of marriage bliss. 🙂

It was 2:00 am April Fools morning when the fire alarm sounded. I remember jumping out of bed and peering out our bedroom window hoping not to see smoke and flames devouring a neighboring home.

For some strange reason one of us remarked, “I hope the school is not on fire.”

Our school was right in the middle of downtown Wheaton along the main street. It had a beautiful modern gymnasium attached to a hundred year old wooden structure that was a potential tinder box fire wise.

Minutes after mentioning the school as a possible fire site the phone rang to confirm the earlier stated fear. The high school was indeed on fire!

Immediately I became concerned because my biology room was filled with critters, critters that were required to add to the joy of learning.

There was the four foot garter snake that got immediate attention from the class when I let it crawl around my neck.

Also a rabbit, a couple gerbils and a hamster were residents of the room.

Ike’s Chicken Shack was a well known eating place along Lake Traverse. They also contained a mini-zoo on the grounds which had cages of various critters.

During the winter Ike found neighboring schools to board his zoo animals and that year I had volunteered to care for Ralph the monkey and Cecil the parrot.

So I had extra special concern about my biology animals’ welfare especially if there was danger that they could be burnt to a crisp! 🙁

I threw on some clothes and quickly drove to the school only a few blocks away. In Wheaton everything is only a few blocks away. 🙂

As I arrived the firemen were busily attacking the smoke and flames and when I entered the hallway near my room the air was hazy with smoke.

Fortunately steel fire doors had been closed by the firemen so for the time being my area of the building was safe from the flames.

Fireman rushed to help me remove the menagerie of animals from my room. Not knowing how much time we had before the fire would reach our area the removal proceeded at a frantic pace.

Ralph the monkey was screaming in fear as I and a fireman grabbed his large wire cage and tried to pass the cage out the large single paned glass windows of my classroom.

Firemen on the outside were preparing to grab the cage and move the nervous monkey to safety.

Unfortunately the cage was slightly bigger then the window and it would not fit through the opening. We did the next logical thing. We carried the cage out a side door of the building.

All the animals were safely rescued and placed on the sidewalk far from the burning school.

The fire raged on and many neighboring towns sent their fire trucks to try to save the school.

The school superintendent did not arrive on the scene for several hours as he thought it was an April Fool’s prank so he ignored the phone calls.

The wind was blowing from the northwest and burning embers were blowing onto the roofs of houses across the street. So there was constant surveillance and possibly a fire hose or two directing water onto the roofs of the endangered homes.

Actually the strong northwest winds saved the oldest part of the school that contained my biology room. The closed steel fire doors and the wind sending burning embers away from the old building saved the structure.

The next morning the townsfolk were in shock.

I’m sure people from many neighboring towns went for a ride to Wheaton that next day to view the still smoldering ruins of a once proud landmark of learning.

The teaching staff met for a week planning how to get the educational system up and running again.

Church basements became classrooms as well a vacant building on main street. The auto and metal shops were relocated to a mechanic’s shop on main street.

The physical education classes found a home in the town’s meat locker plant with working showers even included.

Fortunately the oldest part of the school was saved so many classes continued there.

I’m sure there would be interesting stories that students during this era could share. The long walks from classroom to classroom led to a few cigarettes being enjoyed or stops at the bakery for a sweet roll.

I’m sure the pool hall had a few quick visits and maybe an oldster was eligible for a quick tap beer. 🙂

The following school year with no gymnasium available basketball practice took place in the tiny town of Peever, South Dakota. An eighty mile round trip that would have tested coaches and players love for that sport I’m sure.

So fifty years later a beautiful middle school/ high school resides on the edge of town. The school grounds are massive with modern football and track facilities. Also an outdoor learning area is available for ecology studies.

The only evidence that a high school resided in downtown Wheaton is a long narrow storage building that fifty years ago contained an art room, wood shop and band room.

The last fifty years have been the most unusual yet impactful years of Wheaton’s educational history. I feel blessed to have been a part of it. 🙂

Until next time.