Dear Folks, There's a big downer regarding the tours our historical society give the fourth graders on an annual basis. In the past number of years the society didn't have to put out a cent for the children to be bussed to the museum. Now the school can't afford the cost of the busses and if we really wanted the children to continue to have such an educational experience, it would be up to the historical society to foot the bill. For how much? $1,200! Well, this year we were barely able to scrape up that amount of money. Not only that but the school had shortened the time we would be allowed to teach the students. In the past we were allowed 20 minutes for each small group but now we're restricted to only 10 minutes. It was if we were running them along on an assembly line. It's no wonder Pat and I could barely remember what we had just said to the last group before the next group showed up. Last night I wanted to call Pat to let her know that I had dug up the correct information regarding Christopher Clapsaddle's school attendance. Then I figured, what's the use? Chances are that Thursday's group would be the last group that we'll be teaching. It has gotten to the point that the Historical Society really can't afford to foot the bill. Even if they could, the volunteers are now so taxed that they barely can remember what they just said. Being limited to only ten minutes you can't even touch the tip of the iceberg. I really don't want to continue in this vein but I guess I really want to make a comment on the students. When the first group of students entered our class room I immediately took note that most of them were carrying a bottle of water or soft drink and sipped on them while Pat was trying to keep their attention. Not only that but half of the boys were wearing baseball caps and apparently their teachers weren't inclined to remind them to remove their caps in school. But what really got Pat's goat (she's a retired fourth grade school teacher) was when one of the students asked her a question but she couldn't understand what he was saying. It was obvious that he was trying to talk around the lollypop stick he was gnawing on in his mouth. No doubt both Pat and I had noticed that most of them had lollypop sticks in their mouths and she put her foot down. She asked (ordered?) one of the teachers to fetch a waste paper basket and all of the students had to give up their lollypop sticks. Of course Pat and I are now in our 70s and it's difficult for us to understand how such conduct could be condoned nowadays in school. I don't know about Pat but I certainly know that if I were to be put through that again, it's doubtful that I could keep my mouth shut. Yes, I dearly loved the children but I certainly had a lot of angry words in my mind on the subject. vee