Oh Brother

•May 23, 2018•

It was crossing guard appreciation day this week, and we salute all those who help school children safely cross busy streets on their way to and from school.

Wearing a professional crossing guard vest and walking bravely into an intersection with the hand held stop I recently observed a crossing guard escorting children across the Rte32/Hwy 121 intersection.

And I fondly recalled my first calling as a Patrol Boy.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s McKinley School used fifth and sixth graders as crossing guards. From my earliest days crossing the streets on my way to and from school I longed for the power to stop traffic like the “older” patrol boys did.

Fifth and sixth grade students who volunteered as Patrol Boys (forgive the political incorrectness of the time but there were no Patrol Girls) had to meet with the patrol captain before school to pick up “Stop” flags mounted on eight foot long cane poles, receive street crossing assignments and go to our assigned corners.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.