I Could Whip All the Boys

 I COULD WHIP ALL THE BOYS

PHOTO: Richard Thomas

I liked to ride my tricycle to school because the school was one mile away. But we lived on a gravel road, so I left my tricycle at the neighbor’s (Mrs. Welcher) just across the field from our house.  I would walk to Mrs. Welcher’s house and ride my tricycle from there because her house was on the asphalt road that went to the school.  

In the winter I would walk to school with the Swisher kids.  There were eighteen of them, but only five or six went to my school.  The others went to school in town.  In the winter we would take our sleds to school because at noon we would go sliding on a hill near the school.  Because our sleds would freeze to the ground while we were in school, we stacked one on top of the other and would always put Ben Sherman’s sled on the bottom.  We picked on Ben a lot, as I remember. 

I could whip all the boys from the first grade though the third, and my friend, Therald Hammond could whip from the fourth though the eighth grade. 

One time an Indian Princess came to our school and talked to us about the Indians in the area.  They were Potowatomi Indians.

PHOTO: Richard and his father, Bill Thomas

PHOTO: Richard (center) with his cousin Jack Treat (left) and his brother Bernarde Thomas (right)