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We have begun learning about Mike Lamfers, who grew up on his parents' farm east of Amiret and later served with the Marines in Vietnam. He began his school career in Amiret.
"My first school was Amiret Elementary School. One room had 1st through 3rd grade and the other 4th through 6th. There was a middle room which was our lunch room. There were two teachers. Our teacher was Jessie Severcroup from Marshall and she was good. She made us pay attention and study. There were five boys in our class; all farm kids; and, of course, well-behaved. (Mike chuckled) Most of the time my folks would take me there. But by 2nd grade I was riding my bicycle the two miles to Amiret when the weather was nice."
Morning and afternoon recess were important parts of the school day.
"We had a backstop for a softball field and a big playground. (Mike chuckled) We always played some kind of game -- kickball or other outdoor activity. Sometimes the two rooms played together. I remember playing with the big room guys because I was a little bigger."
The school grounds served other important purposes.
"They had a little well house (between the school and house next door) that was the well for the school. I also remember the outhouses at the Amiret School."
An annual school activity introduced Mike to an area landmark.
"My first experience with the Amiret trestle (high railroad bridge over the nearby Cottonwood River) was as the site of our spring class trip from the school. We got to walk down to the trestle; have a picnic there; and play around by the river."
Mike remembered an awkward, "Oh, no!" school experience.
"I caught a sparrow and took it to school for show and tell. The sparrow got out of the box and was flying around the heating ducts in the lunch room. There must have been a half inch of dust up there. (Mike laughed) It wasn't a good scene."
Mike's tenure at the Amiret School was short.
"I only went three years and then went to St. Mary's in Tracy. My 4th grade was the first year that school was open. I had Sister Monessa and 15 to 20 in our class. She was soft-spoken, but made you study. I sometimes had a little problem talking too much. (Mike laughed) One of the punishments in Catholic school was to copy the dictionary. (Mike chuckled) I copied several pages."
Mike met new friends and continued old friendships at St. Mary's.
"Terry Weisbrich was probably the first one I met. He was a Tracy kid. Kids from Currie came, too. Jerome Rupert was a good friend. Tom Shons (Amiret classmate) was there with me. My cousin who lived down the road, Dave Lenertz, started at St. Mary's. We were in the same class."
Mike recalled other changes he encountered at St. Mary's.
"We went to Mass every day. I remember being an altar boy. (Mike chuckled) Our Sister Superior was Sister Killeen. I got caught talking, so I had to spend a week sitting with the 1st graders during Mass so I wouldn't be talking to anybody." (Mike laughed)
Mike easily identified his favorite change that accompanied attending St. Mary's.
"We got to play basketball. We had a big gym and a basketball team. I was never an outstanding basketball player. (Mike laughed) Terry Weisbrich was a good basketball player. He would practice with the public school boys. Mr. Bolin was the 6th grade coach at the public school. I once went over with Terry to play basketball and Mr. Bolin politely told me, 'Lamfers, I'm glad you wanted to come over and play basketball, (Mike laughed) but I think you'd better wait until wrestling.'"
There was much to do outside of school and farming. Mike described one fun, Amiret summer activity.
"Wednesday nights we had free movies across from the Pool Hall in an open area. The depot was to the east. They had two big poles and a frame they'd put a big sheet on. People parked their cars and got blankets. We'd sit in front of the cars and lean against the bumper, watching the movie. If the movie wasn't any good, we'd be running around."
These years also brought new experiences for Mike and his nearby cousins.
"We are a mile east of Amiret (Mike's current farm) and my cousins were about a mile and a quarter east. There was a dirt trail you could follow all the way to my uncle's farm. We started racing bicycles there. There'd be five to seven of us, so it got pretty wild. There was one curve just before their grove where there were multiple crashes. (Mike chuckled) I think all of us have scars on our legs from the bicycle races."
The river valley by his cousin's farm offered other opportunities.
"My cousins lived right on the Cottonwood River. We spent time there. It didn't make any difference; spring, summer, fall, winter. We did a lot of sledding. That was one of our main winter activities. When we got old enough to hunt, we were hunting down there. We did a lot of pheasant hunting. Back then we were the hunting dogs (Mike chuckled) and also the game retrievers."
Mike completed 6th grade at St. Mary's School and then attended Tracy High School for junior and senior high.
Please visit our new exhibit at the Lyon County Museum, The Vietnam War and Lyon County, to learn more about the experiences of our area Vietnam veterans.