The Early Days of Westlake

The Villager Newspaper was given a rare opportunity of viewing the 1931 Green and White Annual which was published by the Senior Class of May, 1931. The school was then called Dover Village High School, known as the red brick school located on Dover Center Road in Westlake, Ohio.

During our present time of school uncertainty, we thought our readers may enjoy reading what was going on in the earlier days of Westlake schools.

History of the Class of 1931

by Eleanor Limpert

On September 8, 1919, four shy little boys, dressed in black cotton stockings, button shoes and cotton suites, and two bashful small girls, with bright-colored hair ribbons, freshly-starched dresses, and black cotton stockings, were sent by their proud mothers to the beginning of a new adventure, gaining an education. They were, namely; Perry Cook, Fred DeMuth, Archie Wedell, Clarence Wilbert, Mildred Wilms, and Eleanor Limpert.

We shared our room with two other classes and had the same teacher, Miss Fannie Gage, who helped us through our trials and troubles.

The following year Mildred left us but later we were glad to welcome her back in the Freshman year at high school.

During the third grade Robert Janz, our comedian, Margaret Larsen, and Clarence Teubner joined us.

In 1922, when the schools were centralized, our class was enlarged to fourteen by the attendance of T. Dean Bruce and Julius Fischer, the athletes, George Lupsa, Henry Pachinger, Hazel Rutherford, our debater, and Bernice Schaumberg, another athlete and musician.

As it was necessary to eat our lunch in our classroom in which the case of Sarah, Dover’s skeleton, was kept, the girls will always remember that year when the boys delighted themselves by opening the door of the case while we were eating.

The fifth year brought Anna Mae Taubler, our future editor of the Green and White.

In the sixth grade, our class won a prize of twenty dollars in the attendance contest sponsored by the Mother’s Club. That same year we had the misfortune of losing one of our best-loved teachers, Miss Nellie E. Dodd. While she was visiting in the South we received from her many interesting letters and a box of shells.

In our seventh grade, the new building was opened but we had a room in the grade building for our homeroom. That year Russell Dietrich, Bill Henry, and Jack Munroe came as new members and future athletes of Dover High.

The following two years will always have memories of happenings in the portable with our teacher, Mr. R.S. Hadsell – and the stove. During our first year in the portable, two more pupils came, Earl Limpert and Harvey Behring who were followed the next year by Hazel Behring, Edith Heckerman, Louise Koch, Willis Wulf, Paul Krone, Carl Heitmeyer, and Mildred Wilms, former pupils of the Lutheran School. Alfred Besch, another active member, also joined us that year.

In our Junior year, the class roll was completed when Marie Jakus and Alice Stacey entered Dover High School.

Thus has our number increased from six to thirty students who will soon leave dear Dover High, taking with us happy memories of days never to be forgotten.