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* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *
Nothing wipes the slate clean of cold, dreary slush splattered weather-memories quite so effectively as a couple of sprightly perfect spring days in the middle of winter.
And no matter what it's like when you read this, we've enjoyed three such days and the promise of another.
Two of them even spread a benign canopy over the weekend, just when most people had concluded pretty weekends had been ruled illegal in Oklahoma.
A little concentrated sunshine in the right places can soften any scene.
That's the only solution to the mystery enshrouding the site of the old school buildings. One day there were the battered hulks of the two old buildings giving our Main Street the appearance of a 1945 thumbnail sketch of Uter den Linden; then, the very next day there lay an expanse of cleared levelled-off, almost debris-free, marketable real estate.
"You just hadn't been noticing," somebody said. "They took everything but the fronts of the buildings so naturally they disappeared fast once they got that far."
I like my solution better.
All winter long, through snow and rain and gloom of night, those old ghosts hovered over Main Street, waving their cobwebs and cursing the righteous, law-abiding citizens of Jenks.
Then one day, from behind a bank of wintry, ominous-looking clouds the sun burst forth in all its glory and zip . . . zip, there went the old buildings.
Yes siree, a sunshiny day can clear up any problem!
With the land finally cleared, Mr. Herald, the School Superintendent, says the School Board is ready to put the entire tract up for sale.
The property was put up for sale once before the razing of the buildings was begun. No substantial offer was received, however, even though the Board had advertised for bids in fifteen newspapers in the Southwest.
Bids were then accepted for tearing down the buildings and clearing the land which led to the contract entered into with the firm just completing the job.
This transaction brought $2,195.00 to the School District.
Not wishing to go into real estate business, the School Board is hopeful that the property can be disposed of in one parcel. They feel the interests of the people in the Jenks School District can be best served by doing this, if only they are fortunate enough to encounter the right buyer.
Failing in this, they will undoubtedly go ahead with the sale of the land on the most remunerative basis possible because plans for an early start on an Industrial Arts building to house a badly needed band room and a vocational shop on the High School rounds hinges upon a profitable outcome.
Meanwhile, the Board assures the town that any developments regarding disposition of the property will be brought to their attention.
And the town waits and wonders about what really lies in store for the old, familiar school grounds where most of the townspeople spent at least a part of their lives.
Seventh Grader Ernestine Smith has a discerning eye for messages with meaning and she feels this particular message should be shared with others. Ernestine's class memorized the poem as one of their assignments and although she doesn't remember the author's name, it is entitled "I Know Something Good About You."
* * * A QMS Deezyne * * *