On July 30, the Battle Ground High School class of 1950 held its 69-year class reunion. Because we are all in our late 80s, we get together every year. Most of us went through all 12 years of school together.
We had many graduates who did well in the community. To name a couple whom people will recognize, “Hap” Hapala became athletic director for the Evergreen School District and Jim Shinn became a cartoon artist for The Columbian. (I was in his art class in junior high. He got As.) As for myself, I made my “splash” in first grade — and it was a biggie!
I wet my pants. As it ran down my seat, the boys started to laugh, and I started to cry. Mrs. Sly, our teacher, immediately sent everyone out for an unscheduled recess. She hadn’t seen my hand raised. She was very sympathetic and washed my undies and put them on the radiator to dry. No more was said about my accident for the rest of the day.
When I went home, I did not share the incident with my family. Unfortunately, my secret didn’t last for long. The following day, my sister Betty, who was in seventh grade, came home from school and clobbered me. Seems a boy in my class had a brother in her class. She was humiliated.
