52 Ancestors In 52 Weeks: Transportation

The Depression left the Storer family with plenty to work for just to keep afloat. Their oldest daughter, Merna Mae, was just six years old in 1930. It was time for school to begin. Would her father be able to take time from his daily farm schedule to get her to the one room schoolhouse? Would her mother with an infant daughter be able to get her there? The parents decided that they would teach their Mae Mae (Merna’s nickname) to be independent. They would teach her how to ride her horse Beauty to school. Her father Andrew would help her practice the route as he rode along on his horse. He would show her the dirt roads to travel and landmarks for which to spot. She would be able to do this on her own each school day…the little six year old.

Each school morning, little Mae Mae and Beauty were traveling companions. Most days, they spotted a red fox peeping out of the brush at them. The two would pause to study the fox. He just stared back. So it was that Mae Mae looked for friends in nature to greet them each morning.

Mae Mae graduated from her one room schoolhouse in 1938. Her school records show that she had no absences or tardies. She won an art contest while in 8th grade that set her future sights on painting and creating.

Throughout her life, Mae Mae was very proud of the fact that her school transportation was her beloved horse Beauty. Also, she wanted to remember her foxy friend. She purchased a print by artist Bonnie Marris to display in her living room.

Now big yellow school buses transport the students of Osborne County, Kansas, to daily classes. One room school houses are an educational memory. And the great grand kits of the peeping fox sleep in the sun of the plains.

Note: Twenty years later, Mae Mae would become my mother. Her stories of Beauty and the rides to school are treasured memories.