I am not sure how the “Ragged Ridge School” name came about when our school first began. One of my brothers told me that someone long, long ago made the comment that everybody who lived on our ridge looked “ragged,” so our school and our ridge both got that name. Mom and Dad did not know how the name came to be, but they knew that Dad’s father, Grandpa John Frank Williams was part of getting it established. Donald told me that Grandpa even helped to dig the well for the school. I do know it was a certain teacher who helped to give us the new name “Maple Grove School”. She is one of the teachers in the picture (below) taken at a school reunion in 1996.
In the front row (left) are my sisters Hazel Williams Bennett and Alline Williams Luttrell (in blue jackets). Standing behind Hazel and Alline is Fay Bastin Sims (first cousin to Maudine Bastin Williams). Elmer Elliott (Lee Walls’ uncle) is the man with the walker. Elmer’s wife, Velma, stands behind him. To Elmer’s left is Aroma Bray with the cane. The lady just behind Mr. Bray is Bernice Estes Rigney. (The tall man standing beside her is her husband Clarence Rigney who was a policeman).
Each one of these teachers was an excellent leader. I did not know all of them as my own teacher, nor did all my brothers who were ahead of me in school. However, I know that most of my brothers knew Mr. Elliott, and thought he was wonderful. My sister-in-law Maudine Bastin Williams also had Mr. Elliott for a teacher when he taught at Mt. Olive School. She agreed with my brothers. She said he lived near her, and that she and her brother Sherrill walked to school with him.
Since I heard such great reports about Mr. Elliott, I wanted to be in his room as soon as I got old enough for the “big room” which included 4th grade through 8th grade. As it happened, instead of Elmer, it was his wife Velma who taught the “big room” that year. She was a hard working, exceptional teacher. One of her objectives was to help all the students feel proud of our school. I think she succeeded in most cases. She not only gave us the new school name, she also created a school song. I liked the new name, and I liked the song which we sang to the tune of the “Stars and Stripes Forever.” Most of us were proud when we went to the Casey County Fair that fall; we had a banner with our new name on it as we marched in line at Liberty. It was decorated with pictures we had drawn of maple leaves. To celebrate our new name even further, Mrs. Elliott talked to us about setting out some maple trees in one area of the playground. We were glad to do that. For years after I had graduated, every time we passed by, I would look to see if those trees were still there.
Sadly there was a number of students from very poor families during this time. Often the most needy children just quit coming to school when the weather grew cold, for they had no shoes or coats. There were two little sisters who had it especially hard. The other kids told me that the sisters had to sleep in an attic each night with nothing to keep them warm except old newspapers. Maybe it was because of the needy children that Mrs. Elliott tried to create an activity meant to address their hunger somewhat. She asked each of us to bring a pint of milk each morning. She explained that she would use the milk to make hot chocolate at noon to share with our whole classroom. That sounded exciting to most of the kids, and I wish Mrs. Elliott’s plan could have worked. It didn’t. In the winter time, there were no families around who had extra milk to share. At our house we did not have enough milk for each one in our large family. When the cows went “dry” or almost dry as they do in the winter time, Mom would mix water into the small amount of milk available. She would then give each of us a partial glass full. We didn’t mind. We knew Mom was trying to be fair, and we were lucky to have some milk at all.
It has been so many years since I was in Mrs. Elliott’s class, but the stories still seem clear in my mind, especially the memory of the little sisters and the other poor kids.. I hope their lives got better, and if they are still living today, I hope each one of them is warm and safe.