Connecticut western news., 1919-07-03
MEMORIAL TO FORMER
 CANAAN TEACHER
Memory of Mrs. Josephine Granger Root Honored
 by Former Pupils

Granger Root F1onored
 by Former Pupils
 Last Saturday afternoon num- Der of men and women gathered in the High School building to pay hom- a age to the memory of. their first teacher, Mrs. Root. A beautiful picture, Christ Blessing Little Children, bearing the inscription,
 Mrs.. Josephine M. Granger Root,
 teacher of little children for
 forty years.
 was presented to the school and IS to hang in the room where Mrs. Root labored not only faithfully but lov- ingly for so many years.
 The exercises, presided over by Professor c. D. V. Branes of the High School Faculty, were simple and sincere as Mrs. Root would have liked.
 The following poem, written by a former pupil, Mrs. Emma Rodemeyer Wait, of Cohoes, N. Y. was read. Greetings to our friends and school mates
 On this most suspicious day, As you meet in a memorial To one finished with life's fray. How our minds revert to childhood And those happy times of yore, When we roamed the fields-climbed fences
 And slid down the cellar door! Yes we did, and we admit it.
 And the memory is dear; For companionship with nature,
 Strengthens us, and gives us cheer. Tn the midst of fun and frolic Came the school bells silvery call, When we quickly left our play time, And all scampered through the hall. As the blessed Master bade them
 "Let the children come to me-, So we youngsters used to gather Round our well-loved teachers knee And she taught us many lessons
 
 Of the richness of the treasures
 That in kindly hearts abound. In our hearts we're always children, Just grown older, that is all; And in fancy we now gather
 At the school bells silvery call. Through the years we've learned the value
 Of those principles of truth, And today we render homage
 To the teacher of our youth. We are trying to be faithful
 To the olden, Golden Rule; Each striving to help the other
 Tn life's greater, broader school. So may every future pathway
 Kindle with brighter glow; And in memory of our childhood
 Scatter blessings as we go.
 Emma Rodemeyer Wait Allyn Fuller presented the picture on behalf of Mrs. Roots friends and pupils, with the following tribute, written by Mrs. Carrie Fuller Ed ridge of North Adams, Mass.
 It has been the wish of friends and former pupils of Mrs. Root, to place in the room where she spent so many of the years of her fruitful life, a memorial that should express in some measure the grateful affection in their hearts.
 For those to whom she was teacher and friend, no outward token of re- membrance is needed, for by the strength of her personality she left impressions of true goodness and high ideals which will never be forgotten but this gift is made in the hope that in some way her gracious influence may go on through the years to come, shedding it's light on the teachers and !. pupils of this room, by means of the pictured form of the Great Teacher whom she served and loved. Dur ing her whole life, like Him, she blessed little children.
 Tn the name of the friends and former pupils of Mrs. Root, I pre- sent to the Town of North Canaan this memorial.
 The picture was accepted for the . town and school by Hon. E. s. Roberts, chairman of the school board. ...o
 No one could have chosen more fitting words to express the towns feeling toward Mrs. Root than did Mr. Roberts. Having served nearly fifty years on the school board, he knew Mrs. Roots worth in character he knew the great service she ren- dered the town in giving in large measure to the school, the high character of which the community now is: justly proud. MT. Roberts spoke from his heart when he said that Mrs. Root could
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