Middleberg School History Project
General Information
Interviewer's Name: 2011-2012 Fifth Grader Cache
What is your name? Melvin Ricks
What were the years you attended Middleberg? 1946-1951
Did you graduate from Middleberg? Yes
Where and when did you graduate from high school? Middleberg, 1951
Did you go to college? If so, did you earn a degree and what is it? Yes, Attended OU, degree in Business.
Where do you live now? Middleberg
What is your occupation? Retired, but spent 20 years in the Marine Core
Describe your present family. (Married? Children? Grandchildren?, etc?) Married, with 2 sons, 4 grandsons, 2 great grandsons and 1 great granddaughter.
Time at Middleberg Information
What was your favorite class? Why? Math, enjoyed it.
Who were some of your teachers? Mrs. Hadley and Mrs. Sharp
Did you have a favorite teacher? Yes, Mrs. Hadley, math teacher
What was the hardest class? English
Did you play sports? If so, which ones? Yes, played basketball and baseball.
What did you have for school lunches? Ate in the school cafeteria.
How did you get to school? (bus, car, etc.) Rode the bus, but on occasion would ride my horse to school, so that I could go straight from school to doing my chores on the ranch.
Did you win any awards? None that I can think of.
What were some of the world events that occurred while you were attending Middleberg School? It was peace time after World War II and before the Korean War.
Do you have anything you would like to tell the current Middleberg students? Stay in school and study hard.
Would you like to describe a good memory from your years at Middleberg? Middleberg is where I met my wife of now 60 years.
Interview Summary:
Melvin and June Ricks were a great couple to interview, and I would like to thank them for taking the time to visit with me about Middleberg School. I enjoyed hearing about how they met and how they have been married for over 60 years now.
Mr. Ricks was in the Marine Core, and they traveled and moved to many different states including California and Virginia, just to name a couple. However, after traveling and moving around, they moved back to the Middleberg homestead where they currently live.
They told stories about how all the grades, 1st through 12th were in one building and that the 9th and 10th graders were in one classroom and the 11th and 12th graders were in one classroom. Melvin had a total of nine students in his graduating class and June had seventeen students in her graduating class. They both said that it was nice to be in the same classroom together, because Melvin disliked English and loved math, while June disliked math and loved English, and, yes they "helped" each other with their studies.
The Ricks enjoy living in the Middleberg community and think Middleberg was a great place to go to school.
Interviewer's Name: 2010-2011 fifth grader Cache
What is your name? Alma June Ricks (Ogle)
What were the years you attended Middleberg? 1947-1951
Did you graduate from Middleberg? No, I married the love of my life and moved to OKlahoma City.
Where and when did you graduate from high school? I received a diploma from Middleberg, after getting my GED and having all the information sent to Middleberg.
Did you go to college? If so, did you earn a degree and what is it? No
Where do you live now? Middleberg
What is your occupation? Retired
Describe your present family. (Married? Children? Grandchildren?, etc?) Married, with 2 sons, 4 grandsons, 2 great grandsons and 1 great granddaughter.
Time at Middleberg Information
What was your favorite class? Why? English, enjoyed it.
Who were some of your teachers? Mrs. Hadley and Mrs. Sharp
Did you have a favorite teacher? Yes, Mrs. Sharp, English teacher
What was the hardest class? Math
Did you play sports? If so, which ones? Yes, played basketball and baseball.
What did you have for school lunches? Ate in the school cafeteria.
How did you get to school? (bus, car, etc.) Rode the bus
Did you win any awards? None that I can think of.
What were some of the world events that occurred while you were attending Middleberg School? It was peace time after World War II and before the Korean War.
Do you have anything you would like to tell the current Middleberg students? Stay in school and study hard.
Would you like to describe a good memory from your years at Middleberg? I just enjoyed school every day, and Middleberg is where I met my husband of now 60 years.
Interviewer’s name: 2011-1012 4th grader Jensen
Name: Bertie Wright (Richie)
Years you attended Middleberg: 1939-1951
Did you graduate from Middleberg? Yes
Where and when did you graduate from high school? Middleberg High School 1951
Did you go to college? no
Where do you live now? Blanchard
What is your occupation? Homemaker retired
Describe your present family. I have three children (two are living),
three grandchildren, and one great grandchild. I am a widow.
Time in Middleberg
What was your favorite class? Typing Why? Because it was challenging!
Who were some of your teachers? Mrs. Rich, Mrs. Peters, Mrs. Sharp,
Mrs. Hadley, Mrs. Janelle Richey (Bayless)
Who was your favorite teacher? Mrs. Rich
What was the hardest class? literature
Did you play sports? Yes, basketball, softball, and cheerleading. Our basketball suits were homemade, light blue uniforms with collars.
What did you have for school lunches? Macaroni and cheese, meatloaf, mashed potatores and gravy, and more. My mom was the head cook and my dad was the custodian.
How did you get to school? Walked one block
What world event/s occurred while you were attending Middleberg that you most remember? World War I
Do you have anything you would like to tell the current Middleberg students? I would like to tell current Middleberg students that I loved Middleberg, and that there were only nine students in my senior graduating class! Middleberg had a high school then.
What is one of your good memories from Middleberg? All twelve years were great!
