The photo with this article is the 1920-1921 Chester High School basketball team. The boys are identified on the reverse.
I won’t list their names, as several are incorrectly identified. As an example, Ray Pollard graduated in 1914, as did Dean Severance. The name I would expect to see is Granvil Thompson. He is not listed. Someone really got it wrong.
Granvil Thompson
Granvil lived where Jersey Girls was located, on Route 103 North. I used to stop and see Granvil to buy antiques, or sometimes just to visit. Granvil had some great stories.
Granvil told me how he drove a horse-drawn vehicle to attend Chester High School. He parked his wagon or sleigh, depending on season, and stalled his horse where Clara Smith lived on Maple Street. This is where William Austin ran his antiques business for years. After school, Granvil would hitch up the horse and drive home.
One of the stories he told me was about a basketball game in Townshend. Granvil played basketball for Chester High School, and graduated high school in 1923, so it is possible he is one of the misidentified in this 1921 photo.
Granvil told me both the boys and girls basketball teams journeyed to Townshend one winter night. I seem to remember Chester won both games. What was interesting about this story was the return trip.
The snow was really coming down. By the time they reached Grafton, the snow was very deep. The team of horses couldn’t pull the barge up the hill coming up out of Grafton, so the boys and girls got out and pushed. They arrived in Chester in the wee hours of the morning. Granvil hitched up his horse and drove home, only having a couple hours of sleep before going back to school.
The barge
The “barge,” as it was called, was part of W. R. Spaulding and his son Edward’s taxi service. What we might know as a school bus today. The barge was a large box type affair on heavy runners. It had bench seats along the sides. Boys on one side, girls on the other. In Spaulding records, I did find mention of Ed Spaulding taxiing kids around. While I didn’t find mention of the Townshend trip, I found enough evidence to support my theory that Ed Spaulding drove the kids to Townshend that night.
Howard Peck
Howard had a long life with an excellent memory of the old days. Howard told me basketball games used to be held upstairs at Chester Town Hall. The hoops were at opposite ends of town hall, one at the stage, the other at the balcony. Bleachers were along the sides, with some seating in the balcony.
I can’t swear to it today, but I seem to remember hearing that at one time the upstairs of town hall was used for roller skating. This makes sense if you remember how the old maple floor was laid out. The outer edges of the floor were angled in a geometric design, not the 90-degree corners we have today.
Chester High School gymnasium
The old Chester High School was built without a gymnasium. In 1938, the gymnasium was built as an addition. Many will remember the stage on one end, with bleachers on the sides. I remember many basketball games played here in the ‘60s.
Springfield was our enemy. The gym would be packed with kids and parents rooting for their team. I used to hear we were going to have a rumble after the game. This might have happened, but I never witnessed a rumble, though I was ready.
Ted Spaulding told me about the building of the old high school. Webb Hall was the contractor. Someone raised the corner stake markers after Webb had left for the day. I guess it’s time to tell that story. Like Howard Peck, Ted has an excellent memory.
This week’s old saying is from Willie Nelson: “There are more old drunks than there are old doctors.”