As a 96 year old former student of Ivanhoe elementary school Henry Canvel lived at 2652 Lake View Terrace East.
Michael, From his biography “I Confess I Did IT All. this is the first story in my book of me graduating from Ivanhoe grammar school.
In the picture below, my classmate, Leo Sclar, standing on the right with white pants, was the official school bell ringer. When it needed ringing, Leo left class a few minutes early, went to the office and flipped the switch. He was very bright but he was completely unpredictable. One time we got into a fight because he jumped on me while we were on the exercise bars and I beat him up. Another time, he came to school in a bathing suit and the teacher sent him home to change. His father owned a feed store a few blocks from school.
It’s hard to distinguish the other faces, but Doris Basher was in the picture also. Her father was a physician and we were neighbors all the way through high school. Through the years we have been in touch and I saw her a few times when we got together for a John Marshall reunion of our high school class.
I was very familiar with the flagpole because the principal assigned me as keeper of the flag. Each day it was my job to pick up the flag from the office and go out to the pole where I unfolded it, clipped it to the rope, raised it and tied it off. Then, after school, I did the same thing in reverse. One day after school, I had removed the flag and folded it. Then I connected one of the halyard snaps to my belt and tried to pull my self up the pole. I was only able to go up a few feet and as I was pulling, two boys ran over and pulled me about half way up the pole and then they tied it off and ran away. I was left hanging and swinging around. Several minutes later, a teacher ran out and let me down.
Ivanhoe was the name of my grammar school. It was named after the Ivanhoe district in Los Angeles. The school was a two story red brick building and was probably built in the 20’s. The 6th grade consisted of 14 girls and boys. I remember one day when I was in the 6th grade, I did something that made the teacher very angry. She called me up to her desk and in front of the class, told me to extend my arms with my palms up. She then struck each hand hard several times with a 12-inch ruler. Then, she ordered me to go into a dark supply closet. I sat on the floor ever so long and I think I fell asleep. All I remember is that suddenly, I was aware that it was quiet and I could no longer hear noises or the teacher in the classroom. I opened the closet door and I was shocked to find that the room was empty and the lights were off. I ran to the door to find that it was locked and I was locked in. I yelled out but there was no one to hear me. There I was, all alone in an empty school. Finally, I opened up one of the windows and looked down to the ground. It was scary to see how high up I was. Some how, I got out of the window and stood on a cement shelf that was part of the structure at the window sash. I saw the flagpole in front of the right side of the building. The pole extended over the top of the school. I decided that it was a way for me to get down. I walked slowly several feet on the small ledge towards the pole while holding on to the windowsills. Then, when I reached the flagpole, I reached out and grabbed it, straddled it and slid down very carefully so as not to be castrated by the rope ties at the bottom of the pole.
I did not tell my parents what happened at school that night. I think I did not because if I had, my mother would have come screaming to school the next day and it would be very embarrassing for me. The next day when I got to class, the teacher took me out in the hall and told me that she remembered late in the evening that she had forgotten about me in the closet and went tearing back to school, but I was gone. She told me that she was so sorry. She said that she was very upset and asked me how in the world I got out. When I told her, she was really worried because she could have been fired.
From then on, I could do no wrong and I knew it. As I am writing this, I just looked all over the house and finally found my old photo album. In the album is a picture of our graduating class standing in front of the school. I count eleven kids and the teacher. The back of the picture is dated 1930. I also see that the entrance to the building was up formal decorative cement stairs and railing into the main hall that was the 2nd floor. That means that I crawled out on the ledge 3 stories above the ground. I can also see that the ledge I walked out on was actually a series of overhanging stone windowsills.
In the picture below, my classmate, Leo Sclar, standing on the right with white pants, was the official school bell ringer. When it needed ringing, Leo left class a few minutes early, went to the office and flipped the switch. He was very bright but he was completely unpredictable. One time we got into a fight because he jumped on me while we were on the exercise bars and I beat him up. Another time, he came to school in a bathing suit and the teacher sent him home to change. His father owned a feed store a few blocks from school.
The 1930 Graduation class at Ivanhoe.
Henry Canvel is standing in front of Mrs.Tingley. Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
Tags: Ivanhoe Elementary School Silver Lake Michael Locke
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Ruben R. Martinez writes, "I have been a Silver Lake resident on and off since the 1930's ( Quite young at the time ); the restaurant, "La Ronda" was in the family business in the 1950s."
(formerly located at 2375 Glendale Boulevard).
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Silver Lake resident Ruben Martinez sent me this receipt from the Mixville Pharmacy, which was located at 2430 Glendale Boulevard in the old Mixville shopping center.
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Silver Lake resident Ruben Martinez sent me this photo of his family's original home on Teviot Street. I'll have to check and see if it's still standing.
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Clifford Street School, Edendale c.1935. "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table." Bud Overn is the second from the right, front row with helmet; Frank Hathaway is on Tom's right, hand on knee. Tom carved many of the swords and made some of the shields. The helmets were made by putting paste and strips of cardboard over a stocking cap. (Courtesy of Lisa Blakely, daughter of early Silver Lake resident Bud Overn).
Please do not use this image in any media without my permission. © All rights reserved.
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