razed and ran across the street, found the cornerstone, and extracted from it a soldered copper box. When this box was opened, it was found to contain "a small leather-bound Bible, a copy of the construction specifications for the school building, a mason's emblem and a program for the dedication ceremony.... There was also a 48-star American flag and a history of the school district written by Grace Hubbs, who taught third-and fourth-grade students in the building...." There were also individual class rosters which listed the names of the teachers and the names of the 120 students who attended the school when it opened in 1924. (“Blast From Commack's Past," by Bill Bleyer, Newsday, Sunday, April 26, 1992, Huntington Special, p.1 and p.6.) On May 21, 1992, the Commack Board of Education held a special reception for the students of the classes of 1924. As classmates from 68 years ago met once again, conversations focused on memories of friends, relatives, and the good times of long ago. Many of their memories drifted back to their 1924 school days:
We didn't wear jeans and no sneakers. I owned two pairs of shoes. I had to do chores before school, like milk the cow. After school, I would help my brother run the farm. We had 30 or 40 acres on Commack Road, down from the Marion Carll Farm.”
Charles Harned, who was then in the 1st and 2nd grade class recalled: "I remember the classroom was one big room with one teacher. We had reading, writing, arithmetic, spelling, but no art or science. We had music too. They told me not to sing because I didn't have a good voice, but to mouth the words. They tried to teach me to play the banjo, but that didn't really work out.... Sometimes for lunch, we'd go to this little place on the corner or eat in the classroom. At recess, we would play ball. The girls would play ball, too. And some of them were better than the fellas.
Tony Michalowski, who was in the 1st
Grace L. Hubbs 1892-1957 Grace L. Hubbs was a teacher in Commack schools for almost 40 years. She began her career as a primary teacher in the Frame School in 1910 at the age of 18 years. Later on she taught 3rd and 4th grades in the Commack Grammar School as she continued to do throughout her career. Every kid in Commack knew and loved Miss Hubbs. Sherman Carll remembered that Miss Hubbs was a little woman who was barely five feet tall and weighed less than a 100 pounds. “She was fast and nimble on her feet and she could slap you quick as a wink for misbehavior and be your friend the next.”
Mamie Lamberta, who was also in the Ist and 2nd grade class, remembered: “There were 12 children in our family. I owned two dresses. You wore one and one you washed. We usually brought our lunch, but sometimes my mother would give me a dime and we would buy lunch at a little luncheonette down the road from the school. For a dime, we got a bowl of soup, and we would bring our own bread from home. The husband and wife who owned the restaurant were thrilled to see us. We were big business. We had 52 acres on what is now the Mayfair Shopping Center. We grew potatoes, spinach, corn, cucumbers, broccoli and sold it. When my father died at 59, we lost the farm and moved to Huntington. I still have ribbons I won in school running races." and 2nd grades in 1924, recalled: "There were ten children in our family; we had a farm off Wicks Road. My father was a farmer. We walked about two and a half miles one way to school. Even when there was three feet of snow, we walked. My favorite subject was spelling. I studied it by myself and we had tests. I hated arithmetic. We didn't have books. The teacher would do it on the black-
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The Commack School Orchestra in 1928 with Director Claude Lounsberry: Music lessons were $.75 per week. Photo courtesy of Anne Goldsmith LIndstadt.
Teacher Gertrude Weyrauch poses with her 1st and 2nd-grade class at the Commack Grammar school in 1924. Photo courtesy of Anne Goldsmith Lindtadt.