Doug Eveleth ’60
My first day of first grade was a really big deal. My brother Chuck was designated to walk me to school; probably not what he wanted to do on his first day of high school. I, on the other hand couldn’t be more excited.
I can still remember the smell of the wood floors in the old elementary school. Mrs. Sandy was my first teacher. The walls were lined with pictures of past Presidents wearing wigs. The American flag stood in the corner. The whole front wall held the big black board. Each of us were assigned our desk. A lot to take in. Then it was time for our first recess with all the older kids. I chose to watch the boys playing baseball. Especially the one at bat. That’s the last thing I remember.
The rest of the story came later from others who told me what happened. Whoever was at bat hit the ball and threw his bat, which hit me in the head knocking me backward toward the swings. Back then, the swing board was about sixteen by twelve inches by two inches thick. Two third graders, Toby Iversen and Duane Brooks, were standing up swinging as hard as possible to get the maximum height. On the downstream they hit me in the back of my head. A teacher woke me up and said I had better walk home, so I did. It was only a block away. Then I had my first seizure. Mom called Elsie Joy, who took us to the Doctor, who put me in the hospital. I remember waking one night. I knew I wasn’t home, but had to go to the bathroom. I got up and saw one light, so I walked there. It was a staircase, so I took it. At the bottom was a door, so I opened it and scared a nurse taking a break. She screamed. I told her I needed to go home. She settled down and said that no, I couldn’t go home, but she would help me. I spent the whole first week of school in the hospital. My Aunt Edith, the very first school teacher in Mellette County, wrote me a card saying that she hoped I would still like school once I got well. No perfect attendance was expected from me for the next twelve years. Duane Brooks came back for an all-class reunion 50 years later and apologized for causing me to stutter. I thanked him but said that I had stuttered from birth.
Those 70ish Girls 