Lennie the Janitor, Vernondale Elementary School

Lennie seemed a little dim. I think the small bump on his forehead enhanced this perception; the bump was prominent beneath an even hairline that divided a high forehead from a shiny black pompadour.

Dim or bright, he was gentle as a kitten and strong as an ox. He could lift two 4th graders at the same time, one from each bicep. Lennie would horse around with us kids in the hallway between classes until a teacher cast a stern glance over her bifocals, then he would gently shoo us away and go back to sweeping or oiling or repairing.

He was routinely called upon in winter to fix the boiler. "Don't worry, children, Lennie will get the heat back on soon." I remember hearing that more than once.

Lennie was Vernondale Elementary School's janitor in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Despite some discussion not too many years ago that put the school's future in question, Vernondale still operates where it always has, on Wilkins Rd in Millcreek, PA, a suburb of Erie.

It's where I went to school kindergarten through 6th grade, and where I encountered Lennie, who is now a giant memory, if a very brief one.

Easter
1st Grade
Miss Minucci's class (I think)

We spent all morning weaving and stapling Easter baskets with pastel shades of construction paper. We filled them with Easter grass and went outside to play for recess. When we returned, the Easter Bunny had filled our baskets with candy. We all scratched our heads. How could that be? All the teachers were outside with us.

It was Lennie, of course, but our little brains were happy not knowing.[1]

Halloween
4th Grade
Mrs Budzynski (I think)

After one especially spirited Halloween, Mrs Budzynski, our 4th grade teacher, told us Lennie had spent all weekend scraping wax off the windows, and you have to use a razor blade to remove wax, it doesn't come off like soap. She didn't scold us, just used it as an object lesson. I think most of us were too young to speak those words let alone write them.

McDonald's
2012

Earlier this year I was at McDonald's at the Howell, MI interchange by Tanger's Outlet Mall having a quick meal with Charlie and Dee Dee while Jing shopped. A man that could have been Lennie's twin sat not far away, facing us but absorbed in his meal.

Approaching middle age; short; a couple day's beard growth; slightly thinning shiny black hair, probably dyed; printed short-sleeved shirt; a dirty tan; thick biceps.

He finished his meal and walked back to a semi in the parking lot and drove away.

He could have have stepped out of Vernondale when I was in 4th grade and he wouldn't have looked out of place at all.

I never got to hang from Lennie's biceps.

Lennie's real name was not Lennie. I don't remember what it was. It was something strong and simple, a name like George or Jack or Phil, a name as fixed in that generation as his shiny pompadour.

If you're from Vernondale and remember Lennie, let me know. You can find me here >

This is Vernondale Elementary School today. I snapped these pictures through locked doors and windows a few years ago when the school was closed for summer. It’s changed a lot.

 

Can I remember all my teachers there? Let's see...

1st Grade: Miss Minnuci (sp?) and Miss Marucci (sp?); you can see why I might have trouble remembering them.
2nd Grade: Miss Leopold
3rd Grade: Miss Anderson
4th Grade: Mrs Budzynski
5th Grade: Mr Veith
6th Grade: Mr Locke and Mrs Fuhrman (née Roslanowick - sp?).

[1]
My grade school years coincided with that rocky period when the debate and legislation on separation of church and state were getting louder and teachers and school districts were still uncertain what that looked and sounded like. In first grade, which would have been 1968 or 1969, we could still talk of Easter. There was no religious component to this that I recall, but Erie was and is still heavily Italian/Polish Catholic, and this season was observed by most everyone I knew.

In 5th grade, Mr Veith, God bless him, gave us a "moment of silence" after the Pledge of Allegiance, telling us we could use it to do whatever we wanted, we just had to remain silent.

I suspect Mr Veith prayed, and that he prayed in his own 5th grade classroom when he was a child.

And what's wrong with that.

Started: 2012-08-15