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Last Sunday morning was pleasant as I headed out on my walk along Wildcat Boulevard. A cold front had worked its way through the area in the night. There was rain (four tenths of an inch in my gauge), wind, thunder, and lightning. I heard nothing.
I was thinking about Mrs. Millie Stover as I walked along in the cool morning. Probably it was because I had seen her recently at the Chautauqua program held in the Newtonia Mansion a couple weeks ago. She came with her lovely daughter Jeanne.
I was not really surprised to see her there as Millie taught English for many years. She was especially interested in literature. The speaker in Newtonia was talking about Margaret Mitchell, her novel, and the movie version of “Gone with the Wind.”
Millie was an excellent English teacher. I always felt my literature knowledge was inadequate compared to hers. She was a dedicated teacher. Besides admiring her for being a good teacher, I liked and respected her and her work. As I continued my walk, I began to recall different things about Millie. One year after I first started working with her at Neosho High School, we were sent to visit another school somewhere in Missouri.
Our principal, Dennis Griffith, thought the language department needed to see the way the language teachers in this particular school were conducting their classes. He arranged for our visit.
That year, the senior high school language staff was mostly men. This included the debate and speech coach, foreign language teacher, and most of the English teachers. I recall how surprised the hosts were when Millie and we men came to visit. For some reason the other lady teacher could not go that day.
We teased her about “Millie and the Boys.” She gave us that “now be quiet grin,” but was a good sport about the situation.
Millie retired from teaching a year of so before I did. I was sad to see her go. We do not see each other often enough. When we do, I can expect a big hug.
A few years ago, the Neosho Lions Club was conducting an electric light bulb sale to raise money for our organization. The Lions members were given territories to sell light bulbs, so we did not overlap our sales. As we went along our route, we took turns going up to the houses. Sometimes we would volunteer if we knew the people who lived at a certain home. When we came to Millie’s house, I volunteered to go to the door with a simple, “I’ll do this one.”
Last Sunday morning was pleasant as I headed out on my walk along Wildcat Boulevard. A cold front had worked its way through the area in the night. There was rain (four tenths of an inch in my gauge), wind, thunder, and lightning. I heard nothing.
I was thinking about Mrs. Millie Stover as I walked along in the cool morning. Probably it was because I had seen her recently at the Chautauqua program held in the Newtonia Mansion a couple weeks ago. She came with her lovely daughter Jeanne.
I was not really surprised to see her there as Millie taught English for many years. She was especially interested in literature. The speaker in Newtonia was talking about Margaret Mitchell, her novel, and the movie version of “Gone with the Wind.”
Millie was an excellent English teacher. I always felt my literature knowledge was inadequate compared to hers. She was a dedicated teacher. Besides admiring her for being a good teacher, I liked and respected her and her work. As I continued my walk, I began to recall different things about Millie. One year after I first started working with her at Neosho High School, we were sent to visit another school somewhere in Missouri.
Our principal, Dennis Griffith, thought the language department needed to see the way the language teachers in this particular school were conducting their classes. He arranged for our visit.
That year, the senior high school language staff was mostly men. This included the debate and speech coach, foreign language teacher, and most of the English teachers. I recall how surprised the hosts were when Millie and we men came to visit. For some reason the other lady teacher could not go that day.
We teased her about “Millie and the Boys.” She gave us that “now be quiet grin,” but was a good sport about the situation.
Millie retired from teaching a year of so before I did. I was sad to see her go. We do not see each other often enough. When we do, I can expect a big hug.
A few years ago, the Neosho Lions Club was conducting an electric light bulb sale to raise money for our organization. The Lions members were given territories to sell light bulbs, so we did not overlap our sales. As we went along our route, we took turns going up to the houses. Sometimes we would volunteer if we knew the people who lived at a certain home. When we came to Millie’s house, I volunteered to go to the door with a simple, “I’ll do this one.”
I walked up the driveway and rang the door bell several times. There was no answer, but just as I turned to leave, Millie burst around the side of the house. She had been out back tending her flowers.
She called my name and ran over and gave me a big, big hug. I sold her some light bulbs and returned to the car. Someone said, “I hope you knew that lady.”
I answered, “I never saw her before in my life.”
After the laughter died down, I explained who Millie was and what a nice lady she is. Take a walk, look around, relish the friendships with nice people like Millie Stover, use those signal lights, and see what you notice while passing along Wildcat Boulevard.
Russell Hively writes a weekly column for the Neosho Daily News.
