Sharing Memories (Week 32): Lily White Ruppel Elementary School

I attended the Lily White Ruppel Elementary School in Marrero, Louisiana during the fourth and fifth grades.   I was one of the "new kids" in class when I entered the 4th grade.  I had previously attended first through third grades at Westwego Elementary School.   It was a little difficult for me to make new friends because I was quite bashful during these years. During breaks and lunch, I stayed mostly to myself.  I felt a sense of loss being away from the friends I had come to know in Westwego.  

During 5th grade, I joined the 4-H Club and the Bowling Club. This gave me the opportunity to get to know some of my classmates better and gave me some extracurricular activities to enjoy. The Bowling Club was really fun. One day each week, bowling club members were driven to the bowling lanes in Gretna, Louisiana where we competed in small teams. Of course, most of us didn't bowl well, but we had fun trying!  

Since then, Lily White Ruppel Elementary School changed their academic programs and now it is a school for the "academically gifted".   

Sharing Memories: (Week 29) From Westwego to Marrero

Point A, Westwego, LA to Point B, Marrero, LA
Located on the west bank of New Orleans

Point A, Dolores Drive; located off Ames Boulevard in Marrero

Mom and Dad decided to purchase their first home. In the summer of '68, our family moved from Westwego to Marrero, just a few miles across the west bank of New Orleans. Marrero was a CDP (census-designated place) meaning that it lacked a separated municipal government but otherwise physically resembled incorporated places. In other words, Marrero was a settled area with a concentrated population but it was not legally incorporated under the laws of the state.

Our little house was located on Dolores Drive in Marrero. It was only about 900 square ft. with three bedrooms and one bath. Frank Jr and Tony shared a bedroom furnished with a "trundle bed" and Sandy and I shared a bedroom furnished with twin beds. The living area and kitchen were very small, as were all of the rooms but we managed to live comfortably there for about five years. The house was located in a subdivision composed of multiple houses in the same basic design and price range. Back then, the subdivision was fairly new. When we moved into our house, there was no lawn grass yet. I remember Mom and Dad planting grass sprigs soon after we settled in. They also had a metal fence placed around the back yard. This was a big deal to us kids. We now had a yard to call our own. We had a place for a swing set and for a future dog. We had a bigger yard to play ball. We had a small patio for a barbeque grill and a patio set. We even had a covered garage where we could store our bicycles, tricycles and household junk. For the first time, I would be riding the school bus instead of walking to school. I would be missing my old school friends yet making new friends.

The bottom photo depicts Dolores Drive as it is now.  When we first moved there, many of the lots were still vacant.  South of Dolores Drive was woodlands- Jeanne Street and Carrie Lane didn't exist back then.  The area has grown vastly with many more streets and subdivisions.  I can't even imagine having to mull my way through all these neighborhoods looking for my own children when they were growing up.  It was difficult enough keeping up with them in a small town...