Griffin alumni talk about old times

A group of former students of Griffin School was undeterred by high temperatures and heat indexes topping 100 late last month as they met to catch up and reminisce.
Ron Nesler of New Harmony spearheaded the group's formation, a group he calls the Griffin Old Timers. July's meeting was the second and was a little smaller than the June meeting. Those who did make it out speculated that the heat kept many others from attending the July get-together.
The group sat, shaded by a canopy outside the old Griffin School gym. Some brought lunch. Others just came to talk.
Larry Nesler, Ron's cousin, came from Richland, which is in Spencer County. Until his recent death, Larry Nesler's father was the oldest living graduate of Griffin School. That title now belongs to Mildred Hancock, who is in Harmonie Healthcare nursing home in New Harmony. Larry said she just celebrated her 100th birthday.
Larry said he especially remembers third and fourth-grade teacher Mildred Gilmore. She taught at Griffin 42 years.
“She taught me phonics, and there's nothing you can't read or pronounce right,” Larry said.
Jake Gilmore, one of her sons who was part of the group last Wednesday, said whenever school administration would give her books with new ways to teach, she'd take them and nod her head. If she didn't like the new method, she'd put the books in the back of the room and give students what she knew would work, he added.
“She took care of animals the same way she took care of people,” Jake said, and others in the group chimed in with stories of their own about the former teacher.
The men talked about how recreation revolved around basketball.
“[The movie] Hoosiers, that's my childhood, except we didn't win a state championship,” Jake Gilmore said. After each game, the event would be rehashed “down at the filling station,” he added. The group remembered that Chester, who later became Dr. Chester Burkett, was the authority on the game's happenings.
“I think in every basketball game from '52-'58, Gilmore jumped center,” said Jake's brother Gary Gilmore. “There were three of us,” and all three ranged from 6-feet-2-inches to almost six-and-a-half feet tall.
Jake talked about how Gus Miller was an icon at Griffin School. He was a janitor for 40 years.
“He wasn't just the janitor,” Jake said, “He was the authority.”
Jake and the others talked about how they used to break into the school gym and play basketball.
“Gus ran us out so many times,” he said.
“As soon as school was out every day, I headed for the hills,” Larry said as he pointed to some wooded hills just across from the school. He talked about himself and two other friends who had a hut in the hilly area. They dug a hole for their “treasure,” Larry said, which was their money. After the three had put their money in the hole, he and one of the others would come back and dig up all the money.
“When I was a kid, you didn't have to leave Griffin,” Ron said, explaining that, with the grocery, filling station and other businesses, residents could get whatever they needed. Sometimes, he added, it was difficult to leave Griffin. Three times a year, it was almost surrounded by flood water.
Over the past several years, Griffin's population has dropped from around 400 to about 170, he said.
The group also talked about getting their hair cut by a man who lived in a barn in town, letting an opossum loose in the school and other childhood activities.
Ron graduated from Griffin School in 1957. The school's last graduating class was in 1959.
Sharon Byes and Annette Gilmore attended Griffin School every year except their senior year.
“We were members of the first graduating class of North Posey High School,” in 1960, Byes said.
The group meets every fourth Thursday at 11:30 a.m. at the old gym. Those attending are welcome to bring lunch and should bring a lawn chair.

Angela Geralds

Annette and Jake Gilmore sit with old schoolmates at Griffin School’s old gym and talk about the past.

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