Reminiscence

This section of Intouch features reflections by former students of
Mason City Junior College and NIACC.

Madelyn Walls
Class of 1944

Looking back on Mason City Junior College (MCJC), I especially liked Dean Rugland and my favorite teacher was Luelda Carleton. She always made you feel you could do what you set out to do. She was a great fan of Robert Browning and used to quote him, "A man's reach should exceed his grasp."

In the '40s, most working women were stenographers, teachers, or nurses. I thought I would like to be a teacher, so I majored in English and Education. I went to Mason City Junior College so I could get a good job and support myself.

In those days, young people didn't move away so easily. It was a simpler time when people didn't begin worrying about college while they were still in kindergarten--like they do now. Even though MCJC was on the third floor of Mason City High School, there was still a thrill about being in college. Music was a cornerstone of the school. We had a creative upbringing and wrote plays and acted. I never felt shut out of those opportunities. When you live in a place that emphasizes education, there is less prejudice. Everyone was united in the war effort. I worked at Mason City Tent and Awning which was referred to as a defense plant.

The attire was just what you might expect -- skirts, sweaters, bobby socks and saddle shoes. My mom sewed, and we would get material and make pleated skirts. Mother was very particular so we would iron and crease, iron and crease, and re-do it if it wasn't just right.

When I graduated from MCJC I got my spectator pumps. Oh, I remember those pumps. Everyone wanted them. We also wore hats and gloves and everyone tried to get their hair in a pompadour.

After graduation, I transferred all my credits to the University of Iowa. I did end up teaching some and taught in a private school in Georgia. Later, I went to Columbia for two summers in Library Studies. I became a Librarian and worked at the Mason City Public Library retiring in 1989 after 40 years of service.

"The Trojan Horse" by Art Fischbeck
Class of 1939

The depression was still on in the late 1930s so most high school graduates went to Mason City Junior College (MCJC) rather than a four-year school. We didn't realize it then, but looking back almost every teacher had a master's degree. That was really something. Some teachers taught both high school and junior college. For instance, I had Orville George for junior and senior, math and then freshman/sophomore college math and found myself well ahead when I went on. Chemistry students found the same. Mason City Junior College was the only accredited Junior College at the time.

Times were bad but not as bad as the 1932-35 period. In 1938, there was a gas war driving prices down from 18 cents a gallon to just 13 cents a gallon. In 1938-39 we began to hear about Germany invading other countries; in 1940 we had a sense of the war; in 1941, we felt it.

We were a fairly strong class. We had the advantage of a strong, strict principal -- James Ray in high school followed by Dean Rugland in Junior College. Dean Rugland was a fine gentleman and very formal. You would almost think he was an Englishman. He was a very correct person. Although once he stood at an assembly and told us when tuition was due. He said we should pay our tuition at the Graystone (administration building). Well, the whole student body burst into laughter at the ambiguity of it for the local house of ill-repute was also known as a graystone.

Everett "Beef" M. Karges, boys work secretary at the YMCA, was also very important to us. He was responsible for helping us organize the High Y. He was also partly responsible for eliminating the "Gazooks," a secret society for sophomore men only. He worked diligently with us as freshman to eliminate it--so, as sophomores, we did.

In the fall of 1938, we decided to construct the Trojan Horse which was paraded around the Roosevelt stadium during the first game. John Burr was really the main builder, the rest of us (James Brown, J.J. Fitzgerald, Harold Raizes, Howard Dresser, Earl Fladness, Louis Paul and myself) were hackers. In the spring of 1938, and fall 1938 we had state championships in basketball and football respectively.

In many ways, MCJC was a continuation of high school, yet, we knew it was college. We formed the Collegiate Club to replace the Gazooks. We promoted a student lounge and Harold Raizes was the first president. It was a Junior Chamber of Commerce. We really made our own entertainment--organized and ran our own clubs and conducted our own dances. We held dances in the Mason City High School gym or less often in the YMCA. As sophomores, we discouraged the dating of young high school girls. We walked everywhere, wore slacks, sweaters, and donned ties and jackets for special events.

Everyone was involved in music and theater. I was the stage manager in 1938-39 for Myrtle Ouman. She was an extremely good theater director, and I had a great time. We put on several performances written by our own classmate, the late Martin Yoseloff, who became a writer: "Let there be Music" and "Saints and Fools." Harold Raizes directed the band under Carleton Stewart's supervision.

Orville George was another great teacher. He not only taught us math but also reasoning.

Probably the most remarkable teacher was Luelda Carleton. She had a gentle firmness and got the most out of us with the least friction. Luelda was the only woman to head MCJC. Even though it was just on an interim basis, it was quite an achievement.

Lloyd and Nancy (Bowen) Fairbanks
Class of 1940 and Class of 1939

Nancy: "When I started Mason City Junior College (MCJC), tuition was just $45. However, I received a Cooper Cap & Gown scholarship for the full $45. It was a total surprise to me at my high school graduation which was held outdoors at the old Roosevelt stadium.

We had some classmates that have done pretty well, like Martin Yoseloff. He wrote a musical 'Let there Be Music' which we performed. I remember we had a Turkey Hop every fall. Luelda Carleton was just marvelous as the English/Literature teacher. She was my favorite, so calm and very nice to everyone. Mr. Orville George and Judge Grinsley taught both in the high school and Junior College as did many others. I remember L.L. Minor was so funny. He was a very good teacher."

Lloyd: "He was also covered with chalk dust after teaching--from his face all the way down his smock."

Nancy: "I took Speech, which was required. It was a one credit course and I had to take it twice because I couldn't stand up in that auditorium and make myself heard. Myrtle Ouman as our instructor. After school, I worked as a switchboard operator at the Hanford Hotel."

Lloyd: "We met on a blind date in the late winter of 1939. I was recovering from pneumonia and we were both quiet that night. We didn't have classes together and Nancy worked in the library during study halls. In fact, we took classes on the opposite sides of the building."

Nancy: "I lived on a farm and used my dad's car to come in. I had my first license very young. We would run down to Birdsall's Ice Cream Store on break and have 10-cent sundaes. We always brought our lunches in. In the fall and spring, we ate in the car. In the winter, we ate in the lunchroom."

Lloyd: "After MCJC, I went to Iowa State for one year and then was drafted in the war. I was in the Signal Corps (communications). One of my biggest jobs was to work on communications for the Casa Blanca Conference for President Roosevelt and Winston Churchill. I was responsible for power--both an electrician and a fireman.

Nancy and I were married while I was on furlough in 1942. I was in the service four years. I went to California and helped build the Desert Center. That's where I met General Patton. Everywhere he went, we went to set up his communications. We followed him to North Africa, Sicily, Southern France, and Germany. I have some pictures from Dachau. I came home in 1945 and moved to the farm my parents had and took over the operation until I retired. It was home to me for 50 years. We had everything, beef cattle, dairy cattle, chickens, and hogs.

In the fall of 1949 I was seriously burned. So, I got rid of the beef and chickens and kept the dairy herd as my primary activity. I was very active in the Farm Bureau for all of those years, including president for four years. We have also been involved in the American Cancer Society and the Dairy Herd Improvement Association."

Nancy: "I went to work in 1963 as a Para-professional for Mason City Schools. One summer, I worked for Dean Beem and later took a payroll job in the business office. In 1963, there were 11 elementary schools. Now, Wilson, Grant, McKinley, Lincoln, and Central Heights are gone. Later, I worked for People's Gas and Electric. We have four daughters, two of which are twins, and have lived a busy, fulfilled life."

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