THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 15, 1994 TAG: 9407130106
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 81 lines
WALTER WATERFIELD'S three daughters were working on their farm as early as the 1920s - tending to fields of corn, soybeans and some produce. And sometimes, helping their father provided a legitimate excuse for missing classes at the old Hickory School.
``Dad would write out an excuse saying Mildred had to be absent from school yesterday to work,'' said Mildred Vick, 75, and the youngest of the three sisters. ``Working didn't hurt us; it did us good.''
Recently, Vick and her sisters - Catherine Morgan and Eunice Boyette - were honored during Hickory Elementary's founders day celebration by the school's PTA. Each year, the PTA recognizes people for their involvement in the community.
Meredith Garrett Jr. said that although the Waterfield sisters have not participated in school-related activities, they have been involved in the community for more than a half-century. The sisters work with their church and do volunteer work, he said.
``The school has sort of adopted them as Hickory grandparents,'' he said. ``I would move in with them tomorrow. To know them for five minutes is to love them. You don't see people at their age anymore with their energy, humor and desire to help. They are wonderful. And they provide an example for everybody to follow.''
Mildred Vick said she and her sisters were honored.
``If the floor had opened up, we wouldn't have been more surprised,'' she said.
Family, friends, flowers and a huge cake added to the celebration.
Hickory School, as it once was called, had 11 grades when the sisters attended. The sisters remember senior boys driving the school bus when Battlefield Boulevard was the only paved road. If the bus got stuck on unpaved surfaces, the boys got out to push. If it took too long to free the vehicle, students just missed out on part of the six-hour school day.
Many times, the boys went to school barefoot because they had no shoes.
``We knew everybody in the school and where they lived and something about their families,'' said Eunice Boyette, 77. ``School was kind of a close-knit community thing.''
Although the school had running water, the restroom toilets did not flush.
At home, the Waterfields, like most families, had only an outhouse and no running water.
``We were poor, but everybody was poor,'' said Vick, who graduated in a 12-member class in 1936. ``It was a carefree childhood with little to worry about. Sometimes the boys had to quit school to work on the farm.''
All three sisters loved sports, especially basketball.
``Girls basketball was played in three sections,'' said Boyette, who recalls playing outside on the corner of Battlefield Boulevard and Benefit Road.
Each team had six players. Two jump centers remained at center court throughout the game. Only three members of each team were allowed to shoot the ball, guarded by two members of the opposing team.
None of the five could cross the center line. If players other than the jump centers touched the center line, they were penalized.
On the 100-acre family farm, Walter Waterfield and his daughters grew soybeans, corn and some peppers, cucumbers and cotton.
``I was my daddy's boy,'' Boyette said. ``I could work mules hooked up to the disk. I rode the disk. That was fun.'']el2]
They tended corn and cotton, picked cotton, dug potatoes and helped with the housework, too.
Now, after living in neighboring cities for many years, Vick and Catherine Morgan, 80, are back on the family farm. Boyette never moved away. They live in adjoining houses.
``You don't see one alone,'' said Linda Bohon, Boyette's daughter. ``They go in threes. They have a schedule for every day. My father chauffeurs them around.''
All three go to the hairdresser, grocery store, senior citizen activities and church - together. In the evening, they play dominoes or card games.
``We've always been a team,'' said Morgan. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Left to right, Eunice Boyette, Catherine Morgan and Mildred Vick
were honored recently.
by CNB