A Lifetime of Teaching

Every so often, we hear about a teacher who has achieved a career milestone. Someone devotes 25 years to the education of children; another puts in 30 years teaching the same subject or grade level. These are certainly noteworthy accomplishments and recently I learned about one Fulton teacher who has reached a particularly impressive milestone. As this school year comes to an end, Renae (Cealie) Vehrs completes her 40th year as an educator.

I have known Renae since we were classmates at G. Ray Bodley High School. After graduating in 1973—hard to believe that was 45 years ago!—Renae earned her teaching degree at SUNY Oswego. Shortly after that, she began her 40 years as an Adult Education instructor. Today, Renae’s program is known as TASC, Test Assessing Secondary Completion, but most of us still call it the GED program. When it began in Fulton in 1978, Renae was its first teacher. Here’s how she remembers GED’s startup in our city:

“We first held the program at the old Fourth Street School building, and for a long time I was the only teacher. Then, in 1984, when I was expecting my first child, the district hired someone to take over. When I returned, they kept her on as a second teacher, and it was the two of us for a long time. After she moved away, the district approved hiring an aide, and we chose a student who had graduated from our GED program to fill that position.”

Eventually, Fourth Street School closed and Renae’s program was moved to the old Fulton Junior High, which today is the school district’s administration building. Over time, the school district brought on a second teacher, and then, in 1994, a third. As the program expanded, Renae and her co-teachers were serving more and more students.

“Because we are federally funded, there has never been any cost for our GED classes,” Renae explained, “and the process for adult learners to get help has not changed much over the years. We can take students as young as 16 and most people begin by stopping in or making a phone call to us. We register them and then they come in for diagnostic placement testing, which gives us a reading level and math level so we know where to begin. It also gives us a little bit of an outline on their specific math and reading skills.

“Almost every student I’ve worked with has told me how hard it was to make the initial appointment. For some, it has been many years since they were in school and it might be a bit embarrassing. Others aren’t sure what to expect if they do start. Will it be just like high school? How much time will they have to put in? Will they be able to keep up? But, once they enroll and register I tell them, ‘The hard part is over. Everyone is in the same boat here. This is an Adult Education Program and you will be treated like an adult.’

 “People always want to know how long it is going to take for them to pass the GED test. This is hard to determine. It depends on their level when they start, their effort, and the amount of time they can put into it. It could take a week or it could take years. There is never any assigned homework, but a student can take work home if he or she chooses. The more time and effort people put into it, the sooner they can take the test and be able to pass.”

For many years, Renae and the other GED staff have sponsored an annual Adult Literacy Recognition luncheon. Not only are people who have received their diplomas honored, but those currently in the process are also recognized. “It shows those who are still working that it is possible to complete the program,” Renae explained. “We also always honor one student with a special award. This is not necessarily someone who has received his or her diploma, but someone who has done exceptional work or, perhaps, has overcome some obstacle.”

I was curious how many students have been through Fulton’s GED program and Renae had the numbers for me. “As of 2018, we have graduated nearly 2,100 students, which averages out to about 52 per year since the year we started. This total is equivalent to about eight G. Ray Bodley High School graduating classes. In 1998, a record 114 of our students graduated in one year.  My youngest student who earned a diploma was 16. My oldest student was 73. She didn’t do it for employment or for college admission. She just wanted to achieve this for her own satisfaction. Occasionally, people call and tell us how much they have appreciated our help. They let us know what they are doing with their lives now. And, in recent years, we’ve been getting the children and grandchildren of people I had when I first started.”

Local service organizations sometimes recognize a teacher’s contributions to Fulton’s education system, and in 2011, our city’s Noon Rotary Club awarded Renae with their Pride in Workmanship Award. “The award was quite an honor,” Renae said, “but I do like people to know that this job has been a great fit for me. Because it was only part-time at the beginning when I had small children, it was perfect. It has stayed a great fit because it has always been about helping people achieve their goals.  That is certainly the best part of the job.”

Here in Fulton we are fortunate that our residents, young and old, have an opportunity to better themselves, as well as a staff of caring teachers to guide them. Congratulations to Renae Vehrs for her long career of giving to others so they can pursue a better life.   

Fulton teacher Renae (Cealie) Vehrs recently reached a milestone in her career.

He Made Fulton a Better Place

With summer fast approaching and school days coming to an end, kids will be spending a lot more time outdoors. In Fulton, youngsters will be visiting our city’s green spaces, including Recreation Park. New playground equipment at the park is being installed for older teens, ballfields await sports enthusiasts, and, of course, there’s our beloved Lake Neatahwanta. With the cleanup of the lake continuing and ongoing speculation about the reopening of swimming at the lake’s Stevenson Beach, I’ve been thinking about John Stevenson, a Fultonian who made Recreation Park possible.

I was not familiar with Mr. Stevenson and his role in the betterment of Fulton until I started working with our city library’s Memoir Project. The Project’s goal of helping people preserve their Fulton memories caught the interest of G. Ray Bodley High School’s English Department and a few years ago our Project coordinators were invited to attend one of their educational programs. What an interesting night it was.

Students of the high school’s English 10 Honors class had spent the 2014-15 school year working on a community project that addressed issues or concerns they had for their hometown. The class split into three groups to come up with “action plans” as possible solutions to the problems. One of these groups focused on creating awareness about Fulton’s history and a student in that group, Makhali Voss, mentioned John Stevenson in her presentation. Makhali described Mr. Stevenson as an inspirational Fulton citizen, mentioning a few of his accomplishments. Curious to learn more about him, I spoke with Makhali after the program and she agreed to join our Memoir Project.

A few weeks later, the Fulton Library’s director, Betty Mauté, and I met with Makhali and her mother to explain the Memoir Project and find out if Makhali would be interested in writing a more complete memoir of Mr. Stevenson. She readily agreed to do so, and the Memoir Project was happy to have its youngest memoirist. (Makhali was between her sophomore and junior years when she wrote for the library project.)

We met with Makhali a couple times over the summer months as she wrote her reflections on John Stevenson. Though she has known since her childhood years that she loves science (she’s planning a career in the medical field), Makhali also showed a talent in researching history. Here’s some of what she was able to find out about John Stevenson and why he was so important to Fulton:

“John William Stevenson was born in 1866. He was one of ten children and therefore experienced first-hand what it was like to have little money. That may have been a reason why he became such a generous man. Even before his years as mayor – 1920-1927 – he was well-known, mostly for his generosity, once donating a ton of coal to a family during a rough winter.

“As Fulton’s mayor, Mr. Stevenson started improving the city, having many new miles of streets paved; 26 miles to be exact. He constructed a new high school, which is still standing today. It served as Fulton’s Junior High for many years and is now Fulton’s Education Center. John did not stop there though; after the school was built, he enlarged the hospital. He implemented a garbage and ash collection system, with the cost of $1.25 a year. Before that, it was 20 cents a week. He made Saturday movies free to any child or an adult with a child.”

Makhali also found out that Stevenson did not spend his whole life as a politician. As she noted, he worked for many years at Fulton’s American Woolen Mills, which provided uniforms and other cloth-related supplies for the U.S. Army in both of the World Wars and also the Spanish American War. Makhali explained how he turned his work at the Mills into a major benefit for Fulton:

“After John Stevenson resigned from the Mills, he did not cease to have a say in their operations. He convinced them to buy 28 lakeside acres to turn it into a recreational park. The 1,500 employees of the Mills were welcome to enjoy the park, which featured a merry-go-round, auditorium, an open air dance pavilion, and an athletic field with grandstands. The auditorium stood three stories high and could seat 3,200 people. It was built mostly by the Mills’ workers. The park was very family-oriented and drew the city’s people in as well as many tourists. On the weekends there were baseball games for families to enjoy. There was also a Recreation Park Band that would play from time to time.”

Mr. Stevenson’s recreational contribution to Fulton flourished for many years, but eventually it became a financial burden. When the Mills shut down in the early 1950s, the park was neglected. Makhali explained what happened next:

“It took a while, but after four years, the Mill decided to lease or sell the park. In 1933, they sold this property to the Fulton Board of Education for $25,000. They, in turn, gave it to the city, but retained the right to use the park for school recreational purposes. In 1942, the buildings burned and the spot is now marked by a new War Memorial Building.”

What a pleasure it was to work with Makhali on the Memoir Project. Not only did she enlighten me about a Fultonian who did much to improve our city’s physical attributes and recreational opportunities, but she stood as an excellent example of today’s ambitious young people who are willing, when they are invited, to take part in capturing our city’s history.

A postcard image of Stevenson Beach, once a recreation haven for young and old because of a Fultonian's dedication to our city.

A Shining Musical Moment

Life in a small city like Fulton can often seem uneventful. We go about our routine of jobs or school, grocery shopping and getting to those chores around the house. It’s rare when something exciting happens that grabs the attention of our whole city. But when such an event does take place, Fulton responds. For example, the time our high school band earned an opportunity to travel to Europe.

It was 1971, and Richard Swierczek, the band director for G. Ray Bodley High School, had received an invitation for his group to participate in the International School Band Festival. The festival promotes excellence in music education and annually extends an invitation to fewer than two percent of U.S. school bands. Included in Swierczek’s invitation were details about the next festival, slated to take place in July 1972. The location: Vienna, Austria.

Austria. Exotic land of “The Sound of Music,” its Alps mountains and hills alive and surrounded by countries Fulton students had only ever seen in history books. Four thousand miles from home. It was an unbelievable opportunity for Fulton youth, many who’d never before traveled beyond New York state borders.

In 2013, when The Fulton Library’s Memoir Project was in its first year, we were looking for people willing to write about memorable Fulton events. I was a high school junior in 1972 and not a band member, but I had a vague memory of the Vienna excursion and thought it would make a good Project memoir. One of the students on the trip was local author Jo Ann Butler and we asked her if she’d be willing to share her Vienna memories. She immediately agreed.

In her memoir, Jo Ann covered all aspects of what it took to make the Vienna trip possible for the Bodley band’s seventy musicians, eight musical staff, and chaperones. Money, of course, was a major hurdle to overcome.

“With airfare, bus touring for three weeks, hotels, and meals,” Jo Ann remembered, “it will cost about $650 in 1972 dollars to send each of us to Europe. $50,000 is a lot of money in Fulton.”

It sure was. I used Google to find out what $50,000 equates to in 2018. Over $300,000. Almost a third of a million dollars. Raised in one year. In the small city of Fulton. But the people of Fulton know how to rally behind an exciting opportunity for its youth. Here’s how Jo Ann explained action taken by community leaders:

“Dick Swierczek sat down with the students and their parents. If we wanted to go to Europe, we must commit to a year of fundraising and dedicated practice. The vote was a resounding, ‘Yes!’ On June 10, band parents pledged $14,710 toward our $50K goal, and a couple weeks later the band played the first of many fundraiser concerts at the First Methodists’ Strawberry Festival.”

Along with parents’ efforts, a group first dubbed the “On to Vienna Committee,” and later renamed the “Bodley Band Boosters,” launched a full out fundraising plan. Committee members included Elon Rowlee, honorary chairman; Tom Bogaczyk, chairman; Shirlee Collins, co-chairman of the Fund Drive; Kenneth Woeller, treasurer; Laurna Hoffman, publicity chairman; Carrie Butler, secretary. Other members included William Camp, Joseph Campolieta, Merrill Hoffman, Roger Long, and Ernie and Mary Hamer.

Jo Ann spelled out the fundraising efforts: “Band members, along with friends and family, collected newspapers, aluminum and glass for recycling. Chocolate was popular in a city which boasted the first Nestlé plant, and band members sold 3,000 boxes of candy for a $1,100 profit. We sold tickets for raffles, including a VW Beetle donated by Fulton Volkswagen, a trash masher given by Angelo Mirabito and even a purebred poodle.”

Jo Ann admitted in her memoir that she would never be able to list everyone who contributed to the Vienna fund, but the months of fundraising efforts were all worth it. On June 21, 1972, with less than a month before the band was due to board a plane to Vienna, The Fulton Patriot headline read: “They Make it; $50,000!”

Jo Ann recalled the July 4 departure day: “At daybreak, a sizeable crowd gathered at the school to see us off. We were bused down to JFK airport, only to wait until after 10 p.m. to take to the air.” The group landed in Frankfurt, Germany, and got their first look at a whole new world when they spent their first night away from home in the medieval town of Rothenburg.

A week later, Jo Ann and her bandmates were performing, along with 200 bands from all over the world, at Vienna’s Schoenbrunn Palace. “We passed between giant stone sphinxes and granite columns topped with golden eagles, and found our place in the vast courtyard,” Jo Ann remembered. “The room could seat 1,800 people, but only the stage was brightly lit. The acoustics were amazing; the least accent or dynamic change was heard, but not echoed. Will our performance match this magnificent setting?

“We opened with Silver Quill, a brisk and brassy march, played with such brilliance that our performance was chosen to promote the 1973 festival. Incantation and Dance and Symphonic Movement were our group’s favorite pieces. Each is a fast-paced musical jigsaw puzzle which tests every player’s skill, and we attacked those pieces with gusto.”

The G. Ray Bodley band soon learned that they had earned a superior rating from the judges, putting them among the top performances. Dr. William Revelli, the festival director, congratulated Fulton on its “very stirring and virile performance … This organization is a great credit to its city, school and state. Congratulations to all.”

I hope you enjoyed revisiting Fulton High School’s glorious trip abroad. If you’d like to read Jo Ann’s full memoir about the trip to Vienna, contact the Fulton Public Library and ask if you can check out a copy of The Memoir Project’s first book, published in 2013, and titled Fulton: The Stories From Our Past That Inspire Our Future.

The 1972 G. Ray Bodley High School Band prepares to embark on its memorable trip to Vienna, Austria.