Ken Schwartz's "Settling in at Lark Ellen Home" - Page 4

Stretching from behind the sandbox to the division hedge was a swath of land that was divided into small garden plots. Boys who wanted to grow vegetables to sell to the kitchen could be assigned a plot. I signed up for one. Use of these plots was supervised by an elderly caretaker/handyman who lived in a wooden shack-like building at the hedge line. He was guardian of the shovels and hoes and rakes and he would show us how to cultivate and care for our garden. This caretaker always wore faded blue bib coveralls and had a red bandana kerchief in his pocket. He was always well groomed. He smoked a corncob pipe and he had a wooden leg. Occasionally, he got cranky. It was said he lost his leg in World War One and the pain from the amputation caused him to be irritable at times. We boys learned to stay clear during those times. Incidentally, the first crop from my garden plot was string beans and Swiss chard. I remember receiving 8-cents for the string beans and 5-cents for the Swiss chard.

Play at Lark Ellen was not organized nor were we boys under constant supervision. In fact, there was very little supervision. We were expected to be obedient, know the rules and 'get along.' In that era, simple rules worked. To misbehave sometimes meant missing dessert or, worse, a whole meal. Boys were always hungry so missing a meal was pretty tough punishment. I can't recall a single time a boy received corporeal punishment. The ultimate penalty of being bad had very real and dire consequences. A boy could be expelled and sent home - a very uncertain prospect for most of the boys. I certainly did not know where my home was anymore.

When weekends came, mothers or fathers would come and pick up their sons for a 'home-stay.' Some boys never got a home-stay, but Mrs. Cassidy was known to take some of those boys to her own Santa Barbara home on occasional weekends. My home-stays usually occurred twice a month: one home-stay with my mother and one home-stay with my father and his new wife. At first, new boys looked forward to home-stays. Being with your mother or dad in a different setting was a break from 'Home-life.' With time, the routine of Home-life began to have a settling effect. Boys knew what to expect. And Lark Ellen did plan interesting weekend outings for those with no place to go. As boys became more settled, the prospect of Home-stays receded in importance. It did with me.