“It’s just a lot of fun reminiscing”

“It’s just a lot of fun reminiscing”

Published 9:19 am Monday, June 15, 2026

QUINCY — Daniel Merker remembers the enjoyable instances of attending Mounds School.

“We had a teacher (who) would go outside and play with us. She got involved with the games,” mentioned Merker, who attended the two-room college on South twelfth Street for six grades. “That was a lot of fun.”

But Merker mentioned he and his classmates additionally discovered quite a bit from that trainer.

“You had to learn,” he mentioned. “Otherwise you got to go home and talk to your mom and dad about it.”

People who attended one- and two-room faculties got here collectively Sunday afternoon for a picnic at South Park and an opportunity to share some tales — and a few laughs.

“It’s just a lot of fun reminiscing,” Merker mentioned.

“You see a bunch of old friends,” mentioned Kenny Shaffnit, a Plainville farmer who attended Linn Grove School on South thirtieth Street for eight years earlier than going to highschool in Payson.

“It was a one-room school. It had eight grades,” Schaffnit mentioned. “I didn’t hate school. I guess I liked school, but I was always glad when April got here that we got out.”

Marge Griep helps coordinate the annual picnic, which has been bringing individuals collectively for some 4 a long time.

“Since they’ve been coming so many years, they’ve become a family,” Griep mentioned.

Griep’s husband Wayne attended three of the schoolhouses, however primarily Hickory Grove, which stood at South thirty sixth and Deer Ridge Road for years.

“I did not attend one, but I made many new friends,” Griep mentioned. “We don’t see each other very often. Everybody looks forward to it.”

They’re already wanting ahead to subsequent yr’s occasion — slated for Sunday, June 20, 2027, once more on the massive shelterhouse in South Park. People carry a coated dish to share and make a donation towards the price of fried rooster, drinks and tableware.

“We would like to invite anybody that went to a rural school — I don’t care if it’s here, Missouri or Pennsylvania — we’d like for them to come. It’s for everyone,” Merker mentioned.

Karen Goings mentioned it’s vital for individuals who shared the one- and two-room college expertise to get collectively whereas they’ll.

“We’re all aging, and you never know when your time is going to be called,” mentioned Goings, who attended LeRoy School and now lives in Ewing, Mo. “I like to visit with them. Some of them were my neighbors. Some were my best friends.”

Goings’ mom attended the college positioned within the river bottoms south of the foot of South Eighth Street, and so did a number of family members, together with Sharon Gilbert.

Coming to the picnic is enjoyable “just to see the people. It’s a lot of my family,” mentioned Gilbert, who lives in Quincy and attended LeRoy for one yr. “We ask that people bring their history. We all have so much history, and it’s dying off. I’m probably one of the younger ones. We need younger ones to come.”