Ok, since so many of you on Facebook gave me a Like on putting out the Shoe Box Hat story, here it is…

I started kindergarten in the Fall of 1970 at Westport Elementary, with Mrs. Hashagen as my teacher.  Back then, kindergarten classes were only 1/2 day, and I had an afternoon class.  Several people who were in that class are still my dearest friends, and we stay in contact quite regularly.

Two boys who were buddies of mine, Greg and Ross, have unfortunately been lost to time, as I do not recall their last names.  I still have a picture of Greg from kindergarten or first grade, but not of Ross.  But there is one minor event that took place with Greg and Ross that stands out in my memory.

At some point in the Spring of that school year, Greg, Ross and I decided we were going to have a car club at recess.  We were to bring our toy cars (Hot Wheels or Matchbox) and we were going to play with them near a small drainage ditch in the playground around. A small drainpipe daylighted in an area of the playground, and the erosion around it made a great path for running Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars around the area.

So the next day, I collected up a bunch of my Matchbox cars (I had several) and put them in a little green shoe box to keep them safe till time for recess. One of the rules of the car club was that you had to wear a hat to play.  I forgot that detail as I packed everything up.

When I got to school, we three boys huddled together, looking at each other’s cars, comparing them, etc.  We were all excited to have our first car club time at recess.  Finally recess time came and we grabbed our boxes of cars and ran to the drain pipe.

We got to the drain pipe and dumped out our cars.  Ross and Greg put on their hats and I started running my cars around the eroded dirt areas around the pipe.  I noticed Greg and Ross weren’t playing yet, so I looked up and they were staring at me.

“Where’s your hat, Timmy?” Ross asked me.

Mortified, I said, “I forgot.”

“You’ve got to wear a hat for the car club!” Ross reminded me.

Looking around, I grabbed my shoe box and put it on my head.  It fit perfectly on the sides and did a rather nice job of keeping the sun out of my eyes.  Greg and Ross chuckled and started playing with their cars.

I spent the entire recess with my shoe box on my head, proud of such an innovative hat idea.

We never had a car club again at recess.  I don’t think Ross and Greg were impressed…

Copyright 2013, Tim Ritter