Columns on the old high school have jogged so many memories that here’s another one with things remembered about the old building on Main Street in Denison.

Mary King said she read the column on-line from her home of 40 years in Arkadelphia, AR. She graduated from Denison High School in 1940 and at that time it was in the old high school building. B. McDaniel was superintendent of Denison schools then and his office was in the building.

Mary remembers climbing up into the old clock tower before graduation. She said a group of girl friends were determined to put their initials there before they left the school. Mrs. H.Y. Parrott, a popular teacher of the day, walked down the hall as the girls were descending the ladder. All the girls wore dresses in those days, she said, and she remembers Mrs. Parrott saying, "You do not look very ladylike coming down the ladder."

Mary rode the bus to school every day from the Georgetown community. This was the very first bus to pick up rural area children and bring them to the high school. She recalled that the bus started in Hagerman at a place that now is under the waters of Lake Texoma and traveled through Preston Bend to arrive at school by 8 a.m. so it could make another pickup before 9 a.m.

There aren’t many of Mary’s classmates around anymore, she said, but she was sure they had good memories like she has such as going to Ashburn’s Ice Cream for a two-dip cone for a nickel, and to the Superba and Rialto theaters for ten cents.

Mary quoted Hal Boyle as saying "Memory is the money of the mind, a treasure that can never be taken from you"" Truly the class of 1940 was rich, she said.

David Maddox lives in McKinney and comes to Denison frequently as an active member of the Denison Alumni Association. He said some of his memories began before the eighth grade was moved to the school with the ninth through 12th the year before the "new" high school opened on Mirick Avenue.

The old gymnasium was a favorite place for David. He said he can still remember the Yellow Jacket basketball team coming up from the basement dressing room in their black satin and gold trimmed warm-ups.

Guys like Lee Brown, Coy Davis, Don Holland, Roger Harvey and others made a huge impression on David as he sat with others on the concrete bleacher or with their legs hanging down at the railing on the east side. David said they would start to kick the boards under their feet and Coach Les Cranfill would walk onto the court and look up. The kicking would immediately stop.

David and some of his friends, including Richard and Jerry Harvey, Phinis Weaver and others would "jiggle" open the back door downstairs that went directly into the dressing room. They would play basketball for hours, usually until a custodian chased them out.

The big study hall room was on the second floor. David remembers Coach Charlie Jackson being study hall teacher and how he could really wield that paddle. Before school and at noon, students sat on the stone wall that surrounded most of the school.

David said he remembers walking across the stage at the old auditorium as his class completed their days at DHS. He also remembers sitting in the balcony and watching a film about President Eisenhower.

David had one request. "Keep the memory alive as we head toward the end."

We will do our best to honor that request. - Donna Hunt

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