The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-12-11
rnE GENEROUS CHILDKAN.
A Delayed but Detailed aud Delightful
Report of the Annual Thanks
giving Party of the lola
Public schools.

For many years it has been the
practice of the children attending the
city schools to make the day before
Thanksgiving the occasion of a "Do.
nation Party" the object being to see
to it that not one family in lola is I'M
provided with a good Thanksgiving
dinner. The occasion this year was
observed with even more than the
usual enthusiasm, and in response to
our request Supt. Picken wrote a
report of it which should have been
published last week but was unavoid-
ably crowded out. 1t may seem q
tride out of place now to revert back
to Thanksgiving when every body is
locking forward to Christmas but his
report interested and pleased US SO
much that we cannot help thinking
it will similarly interest and please
others, and so we print it now.
In many of the rooms special rhe-
tOrical programs bearing upon the
day and it's meaning are prepared
for rendition upon Wednesday after
noon. Last week Grade deliberately
decorated their room and presented a
beautiful exercise outlined i'm the No
vember number of the Western School
Journal. Grades and 6 combined
their talent and gave their work to-
gether i'm the room of grade 5. Miss
MinrOw's and Mrs. COOper's pupils
combined in a like manner. Other
grades carried their work out alone.
But the great feature of our yearly
observance of the Thanksgiving is
the "dOnatiOn party" Early upon
Wednesday the wee tots from the
primary rooms reached the building
laden with their offerings. They are
usually early upon the scene. The
intermediate pupils do not appear so
early but arrived at their usual time
well loaded. Under the direction Of
the teachers the good things brought
were stacked up on the teachers
desk or table for display until the
middle afternoon. The offering i'm
the first primary room this year was
particularly noticeable as long table
seemed grOaDing as it held it up.
The upper grades do not usually
get fully aroused to their responsible
ity in the matter until the noon re-
cess. Then as the young people re-
turn from their dinners, they come
loaded, AS it sometimes appears, TO
theirssfull capacity. Any fear of
possible shortage in the supply is
completely dispelled as the upper
grades make their returns.
Meanwhile during the day COM
mittee of young men from the High
School, having canvassed the busi-
ness men for donations of packing
cases, hauled to the school house
loads of pine boxes. The response
this year in that direction was so
hearty that after sending out the
largest stock of supplies we have ever
yet received, we still have stored in
the school house basement boxes
enough tor next years. use.
In the middle of the afternoon a
committee of high school boys built a
large pyramid of tables and boxes in
the main lower hall. The supplies
from the various rooms were then
collected and stacked upon the pyra-
mid for final display. The teachers
had contributed hundred pounds of
fat chickens. When the pyramid
was at last ready the children from
all the rooms, commencing with the
wee ones from the primary depart
ment, were allowed to file past and
view the total that their generosity
had heaped up for less fortunate ones.
And what an aggregate the total
was! The top of the pyramid was
covered with great loaves of the
whitest and lightest bread that IOla's
good cooks delight to bake. TO see
the bread this year one might sup
pose that the occasion was 8 bread
display for premiums at first class
country fair. Why name other pro-
ducts of the culinary art that showed
themselves upon the sides of the pyr-
amid? Everybody who has ever been
permitted to spend day or more in
lola knows that the best hOusekeep-
ers and cooks to be found upon earth
are right here and all of US who know
about the Thanksgiving "dOnation
party" in our schools know that when
it occurs our best cooks are in evil
dence.
And the uncoOked staples of a good
Thanksgiving dinner! The day of
palate worship is still too recent for
us TO have forgotten the items of ma
terials that entered upon the bill of
fare over which we rejOiced and ate
ourselves TO a condition of replete
happiness that was somewhat akin to
misery. All the good things were in
our pyramid and in ample quantity,
too That total that 600 generous
children gave to those who needed it
is too great for specific cataloging
We did feel that we should like q
photograph of that pyramid to send
to every household in lola that faith
ers and mothers might see the full
aggregate of their children's unset
fishness. 1t was a gOOdly sight.
The last stage of proceedings was
packaging the goods and delivering
them over the city. The scene in the
hail as the teachers were hard at
work boxing the eatables was as if
the building had been converted into
p wholesale provision house. Every
call made upon US was most generous
ly met. The joint contribution of
teachers and pupils in chickens was
so ample that no family in lola needed
To want for roast fowl on Thanksgiv-
ing day And when every call was