Some things were still funny in those early days. That was before the new people who were moving in started getting hysterical about the need for a new school. Before the realtors claimed that they couldn’t sell property because of the run-down educational facility out in the boonies.
Terry called and said, “The Chamber of Commerce has invited me to speak about plans for a new school. I want you to go along and speak to the group about the things you’re doing at Baker.”
The members invited Terry because they wanted to know when they could expect a new school to be built. Many of them were realtors or developers who were new to the area. They had discovered that the beaches in the area are the most beautiful in the world. The sand is like the finest, whitest sugar, and the Gulf of Mexico is a sparkling green emerald. The county’s estuaries nourish birds, mammals, and sea life, and their brackish contents overflow into the Gulf of Mexico from time to time and receive the warm tidal waters in return.
Even though the old-timers had tried to keep their beaches a secret from the rest of the world, the strip of sugar-white sand had been discovered by people in surrounding states. People were beginning to migrate from Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and some Northern states. They didn’t know it at the time, but Linnett County was becoming the Klondike of the South, and the real estate gold rush would continue into the Twenty-first century.
The newcomers weren’t always favorably impressed with the only little elementary school in the southern part of the county. The businessmen at the meeting were anxious for the school district to build a new school because they thought a modern facility would attract more people and bring more business. They didn’t understand that the state’s Department of Education would not release funds to build a new school until there were enough students enrolled in the school to justify building it. The students had to be actually enrolled first, and then the money for a new school would follow.
My boss picked me up at school, and we enjoyed a delightful lunch at a local restaurant with members of the Chamber. I was nervous as a burglar in a glass house because I hated public speaking and dreaded speaking in front of the group. I never did get over my fear of speaking in public, although I would do it many times in the years to come. The school superintendent and I were seated at a table with Harry Brown, a wealthy businessman, and Gary Smith, my neighbor.
After lunch Terry was invited to speak. He stepped to the podium and gave an eloquent speech speculating on the possibility of building a new school in South Linnett County. As usual, Terry told the people what they wanted to hear.
I almost choked on my baked chicken when I heard him say, “You’ll have a new school down here in two years. You’re growing, and the increased growth is bound to justify a new school in the near future.” His optimistic projection, although not backed up by the facts, made the club members quite happy.
Then it was my turn to speak. I stood up to go to the podium, but somehow I managed to turn over a quart-sized glass of iced tea and empty the contents into Gary’s lap. Gary wasn’t the kind of fellow to take the accident graciously. He jumped up and exclaimed for everyone to hear, “Wow! That was better than sex! I haven’t had that much fun in years!”
The Chamber members practically rolled in the floor. They laughed so hard that I wanted to disappear into the floor. Trying to regain my dignity, I carefully made my way to the podium, wondering what I was going to say. It didn’t matter, because I was about ten seconds from embarrassing myself again. As I stepped up to the podium I somehow knocked over the club’s flag that stood on a nearby stand.
Now the club members were roaring. Reporters from several newspapers took in the scene. I just stood there and waited until everyone had quieted down enough to hear me. When I could finally speak, I managed to say, “I know that you must now feel quite confident that your children are in good hands.”
Later I couldn’t remember what else I had told them, but I felt sure the Chamber members must have been impressed with their new principal, although maybe not in the way that I wanted them to be. Terry was barely able to drive me back to school because we were both laughing so hard. I was glad my boss had a sense of humor.
Being the principal wasn’t always fun and games. The first principal’s meeting that I attended in my school district was intimidating. I was the only female administrator present, and I was nervous. I quietly took a seat in the back of the room. I politely acknowledged the superintendent’s introduction and kept quiet the rest of the meeting.
The meetings away from home with principals from different school districts were also uncomfortable. Most of the principals were men. They talked about their student populations of six hundred, eight hundred or a thousand when they were asked to talk about their jobs.
“How many students do you have?” someone would ask me. The other principals looked at me with something between pity and disgust when I told them sixty or seventy students, and they wanted to know what a teaching principal was.
“Your job must be a piece of cake,” someone would remark.
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