How many people can say that they attended school in a one or two room school house? Here are students before 1945 that attended the Sugar Loaf School in the Darwin Community, Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. The school was on the Miller Road west of Antlers. I do not know the history of this school but it is gone now as many other things has. Only the memories remain for some people. I am requesting some help in filling in some of the history of this long gone school. Below you will find some memories by Bill Fleming who attended there from 1945 - 1950.

Patsy Roberta Martin Dobbs remembers:

Sugar Loaf School did not always have two rooms. There was an earlier building that burned. It had three classrooms. The Doshier children went there (two and a half miles each way) and I went to the first grade there in 1940. "Miss Opal" Roberson was my teacher and taught Grades 1 and 2. Another teacher had the big room in front and taught Grades 2 and 3. That room had too many pupils so several from Grade 2 was sent over to my room. One of those Second Grade kids was Ray Dobbs. I thought he had the most beautiful half curly/half wavy brown hair and those eyes! He was quiet and did not know I existed! When he was almost 20 and I was 19, we married. The world is small, isn't it?

My younger brother, William Ross Tate, lived with my Grandmother and also went to Sugar Loaf School. After the school closed its doors for the final time, my Aunt, Flora Snodgrass-Bex had the school bell at her house. After her death, the beloved bell went to Ross, who lives in Fresno, California. It is a brass bell, not cleaned up, with a wooden handle.  It still has its clapper attached.

Pat Dobbs, May 17, 2008

The next two photos were around 1944. The white wood school house had two rooms with a divider folding doors to separate the class rooms grades 1-4 and 5-8.

I remember going to school in a 2 room elementary school in Pushmataha County, Oklahoma. Sugar Loaf grade school covered grade 1 through grade 8 with usually husband and wife school teachers. Curtis Roberson and Helen Roberson were my teachers when I started class in 1945 in grade 4. I went to school there through the 8th grade. Earlier, Curtis was a teacher at Lone Pine, Oklahoma,  just inside Atoka County from 1937 to 1941.

Patsy Roberta Martin Dobbs remembers:

Between my Fourth and Fifth Grades, Mr. Curtis had a route of customers to whom he delivered blocks of ice for use in the old Ice Box cooling methods.  In the beginning, my grandmother used newspapers and burlap bags to wrap her 50 pound blocks of ice so it would not melt so fast.  One day, Mr. Curtis had his son, Jerry, with him.  Jerry was recovering (so they thought) from mumps and everyone thought he was no longer contagious.  Wrong!  About three weeks later I developed a very bad case of mumps.  If I had been one to hold a grudge, that would have been a second strike against Jerry, wouldn't it?

Pat Dobbs, May 17, 2008

Other teachers at Sugar Loaf include:

Opal Roberson - 1940

Haston Kilgore and Mildred Kilgore - 1940-42. They moved to Harmony School in Atoka County in 1943.
Horace Killian and his wife - 1948-50's

If you know of other teachers that taught at Sugar Loaf school in the early days, please send us an e-mail with the information.

This photo is the Sugar Loaf Girls Basketball Team during the years 1941-42 with Haston Kilgore as coach and teacher. Does anyone know who any of these girls are? The tall girl next to Haston Kilgore may be the same one that is next to Curtis Roberson in the photo below. They appear similar. (This photo provided by Jack Kilgore)

       Sugar Loaf School Boys Basketball Team                                 Sugar Loaf School Girls Basketball Team

Coach Curtis Roberson - tallest at back                                            Odessa Talley - last girl on right side
Merrill McAlister is right side of boy holding ball.

Front Row: Patsy Fleming, unknown girl, Julia Doshier, Patsy & Nancy Roberson, Jerry Hill, Kenneth Taylor, Dewey Ray Tarkington, Janice Wheeler;
Back Row: Geneva?, Shirley McAlister, Unknown girl, Avis Steele, Beth Dozier, Wayland McKnight, Dickie, Jean Pointer, Teacher Helen Roberson

 

1946 class photo - grades 5-8

Front Row: Left to Right: Omer Doshier, Donny Westbrook, Bobby Taylor, Joe Pointer, center-Billy Fleming, Betty Roberson, Barbara Wheeler,  Mary Lois Holder;
Center Row: Paul Nelson, Eugene Hill, Myrtle Holder, Lois Doshier, Eunice Talley; Jerry Robinson;
Back Row: Left-Teacher Curtis Roberson, Wayland McKnight, Billy Crocker, Jim Bob Smith, Odessa Talley, Doris Dozier.

Individual Student Photos:

Avis Steele - she lived 200 yards          Bobby Taylor & Shirley McAlister -1947      Shirley McAlister & Foy Crockran
from the school.                                    Remember those steps behind them?             about 1946 or 1947.

Betty Sue Roberson                          Shirley McAlister & Betty Roberson     Jerry, Danny, Jimmy Roberson
Sugar Loaf School                            About 1943 in school yard.                  About 1945.

We did not have buses to the school back in those days. We walked through the woods, and down the road for about 2 1/4 miles each way. Very seldom would we get a ride to school. It was nicer in the afternoon going home, because we had several of the classmates going down the road until we got to their house.

We had a coal heater in each room for the winter time and we opened the windows during the warmer months. During breaks, we used to memorize bible verses and say them out loud to monitors. We would win pencils and other prizes from the amount of verses that we could recite from the bible. Sugar Loaf Grade School was like a community center and a meeting place for special events. We had pie suppers there where you would bid on a special young lady's pie. If they knew who's it was, the rest of the gang would bid it up to where the boyfriend would pay a lot more money for the privilege of eating with her.

I remember going to movie shows there. They had a 8mm projector and would change out the reel at the intermission. There was one movie about a boa snake that wrapped around a lion and squeezed him slowly to death. I still remember it frame by frame.

We had a basketball court, a softball diamond, a merry-go-round and boys and girls outdoor toilets. During recess, we would run around outside, play games and play basket ball. Usually, we would go to other schools on Friday afternoons and play another grade school.

I remember we had a pretty good team going for such a little school. It was probably because of Jim Bob Smith. He was an outstanding player! We would get into the play offs many times and usually had our tournaments at the Antlers High School gymnasium. As long as Jim Bob was in the game, we could run with any school; however, if he fouled out, the other team would over come us quickly. Standing on the center strip of the court, Jim Bob could make a basket almost every time. He was a great player on the Antlers High School team later on. Gene Hill, Omer Doshier, Bill Fleming, Donnie Westbrook, Joe Pointer were some of the players that we had running the courts. Some of these guys should have some photographs of the teams.

We played softball in the spring and we did not have enough boys to make the team. So Mary Holder played with us! She was stocky and could hit the thunder out of that ball. I remember it was so embarrassing for me. I would get up and strike out and Mary would come to bat and hit a home run or at least get on base! That was a tough time for a young boy seeing a girl out perform him on the field! I learned to get over it over the years!

One day at school, we were out on the school grounds during recess and you know how boys are. One of the boys (probably Paul Nelson - he was always getting me into trouble) gave me a dare. There was a little Indian boy nearby and he told me to go up to him and say, "Issy Kissy bloofy!" (misspelled in the Choctaw language). I didn't know what it meant but I was dared, so what the heck! I walked up to him and said my statement and ran back a little bit because you could tell he was getting mad! We had a large coal pile between us and the Indian boy picked up a large chunk of coal and threw it at me as if he launched an arrow. I was standing there as though hypnotized and watching that coal missile get closer and closer. It got so close that I could not even fall forward but I just dropped backwards and it passed just over my head! Here I was about 9 years old or so and almost started another Indian war! And I could have been the first casualty! You probably guessed the meaning of the phrase already. I did not know it, but it meant "Kiss My butt" to put it politely. That is my story, and I am sticking to it!

Second Photo: Picture taken about 1942 of the McAlister children. Shirley, age 5 years, Merrill, 10 years, and Wayne 7 years.
Wayne passed away about two weeks after this photo was taken. They all went to Sugar Loaf School.

Third Photo: Left -  Betty Sue Roberson, Right - Shirley Gene McAlister - 1946 at Doc Colby's place.
 

Omer Doshier Remembers:

Omer reminded me that our teacher, Horace Killian, had a sharp way to teaching the students. He would take out a 50 cent piece and tell the class, "If any of you can tell me what all is on the coin, I will give it to you." Well, no one could, but you bet that most of the kids would know the next day! He did it on the dollar bill also. I don't think he had to give us any money at all because it was a one time good deal!

Here is a photo of our Darwin group that attended the Antlers Homecoming of 2004 and graduating class of 1954. That means that these same people graduated from Sugar Loaf school in 1950:

Left to Right: Omer Doshier, Bill Flemming, Barbara Wheeler, Don Westbrook

Shirley McAlister Remembers:

This was Loyd McAlister in 1948 with his 1939 Chevy flat-bed truck. Shirley remembers that the school kids rode in the back of this truck one time when they went to the mountains for a picnic on the last day of school.

Shirley and Betty Sue Robinson were best friends back in those days and still are!

She said the Sugar Loaf School House usually had a large Christmas Tree and all of the kids would draw names and put the presents under the tree. She said that a Waller boy drew her name that year and he gave her a hair comb. She says she still has it today! That has to be over 50 years ago! Does anyone have a better story than that?

This is a beginning of an old school memory. If you would like to send some information or some photos, send them to me by e-mail and in a .jpg format for the photos. Contact me at: Send E-Mail Here.

Special Note: I want to thank Shirley McAlister Smith and Omer Doshier for providing some great old time photos and some great memory information. This is a memory work in progress. Your comments are appreciated.

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