The Old School House

The Old School House at Dwight Mission was built in 1917.

It served as the Indian Training School for the Cherokee Indians until 1948.

The building has 3 floors.

 

The top floor has a 200 seat auditorium complete with stage and projector room.

Women set in the center seating. 

While the gentlemen set in the side seating.

How do we know this?

The side seats have hat racks.

The center seats do not.

 

The projector room was located way up high in the back of the auditorium.

 

One had to go behind these amazing bi-fold doors to get to the projector room.

Then climb these really steep stairs!



I am thankful there was no one around to watch me crawl up those stairs!

My fear of heights kept me from standing up to photograph the projector room.

 

Just look at those 100 year old floors!

 

 That staircase!



 

On the second floor landing, I spotted this candelabra!

There were two!

I wonder who their craftsman was?

 

The second floor led me to classrooms.

Check out those slate black boards!

They wrap all the way around the room.

AND

Those desks!

 

In another room, I found these curved church pews!

 

Each room, on the second floor, had transom windows. 

 

I stumbled upon what appeared to be a museum or library containing some really cool artifacts.

 

Then there were these items.

Things that make you go... hummm.

 

Does anyone remember these type bathrooms?

Women on the second floor.

Men on the bottom floor.

I wonder why?

 

I found the bottom floor to be the most intriguing.

 

A potter's wheel!

No electric motor here.

It was turned by foot!

That would be a workout. 

 

This workbench has served many a handyman!

 

Who remembers these?

Check out the price!

Those legs belong to a double pedestal sink that was setting off to the side.

Sorry, I thought I had a photo.

I may have gotten a bit overwhelmed and didn't snap the shot.

 

All of the original windows, in all of the buildings, on the Dwight Mission Campus, have been replaced.

I guarantee you, every single window was saved and placed in this room!

There was enough room to walk in and take a few steps around.

The entire room was lined with the old windows.

 

Oh the projects I could do with each and every piece of this building!

 

Good News!

Plans are underway to renovate The Old School House into the Dwight Mission Heritage Center!

The auditorium will be restored to it's original appearance.

The middle floor will have the museum, gift shop and offices.

The bottom floor will be conference rooms.

They will be available for rental to the general public.

The hope is to have the renovation complete for The Old School House's 100th year!

 

If you would like to donate to the renovation of The Old School House follow this link.

Please note your donation for "The Old School House Renovation".

 

Of all the buildings on the Dwight Mission campus, The Old School House was the one that kept my attention.

Well...

And this tree!

The stories The Old School House (and this tree) could tell!

 

I can't wait to see the completed restoration!

 

I am so inspired!

I am off to find a new project of my own!

 

XOXO

Rancher Girl 















Dwight Mission with the PYGs

Drewman and I spent a portion of our spring break, on a mission trip, with this group.

 

We went to Dwight Mission.

Dwight Mission use to be a school for the Cherokee Indians.

It is now owned by the Presbyterian Church and is used for summer camps and retreats.

Dwight Mission is a busy place.

They have activities year around.

 

We arrived Saturday and went right to work!

We were given instruction and divided up into crews. 

 

Drewman's crew headed over to Walking Stick Lodge.

This lodge serves several functions.

One side is the med station, the other is a guest lodge and the basement is the art room.

 

We cleaned out "gunk" from between deck boards.

This deck has been overlaid on another deck.

 

Once all the gunk was loosened, Haley used the shopvac to suck it all out.

 

Drewman and Barrett tightened down loose boards.

 

They had to replace a few boards, as well.

Yay for the use of power tools!

 

Saturday evening was a time to bond with the other group.

There were only two groups that came to camp to work.

It was nice to have a small group, although more could have gotten done on the mission had there been more folks there.

 

We played a game and Drewman was "IT"!

 

Each person was given instruction.

Drewman had to listen and find his way through the obstacle course without stepping or touching any of the objects on the floor or stepping outside the barrier. 

 

ALL WHILE BLIND FOLDED!

 

Not all of us were giving the proper instruction.

Drewman quickly figured out who had the proper instruction and made his way through the course with ease.

 

 

Sunday was a cold, wet and blustery day!

Inside projects were set.

The offices got painted.

 

 

Drewman helped to repair holes in the Old School House.

 The Old School House was a building I could have spent hours in.

This old building intrigued me so much!

It has wonderful character!

I will be blogging about The Old School House separately, later this week.

 

Lunch break provided some time for the kids to show their own character.

Barrett makes a mean origami bandana hat!

 

Doesn't Jacob look studious in this beanie hat?

 

 

After lunch, Haley and I headed over to the art room.

We spent a few hours untangling a huge ball of string!

We felt like we were the characters of a Dr. Seuss cartoon.

 

We did take some time from our string sorting to make our mark in the art room!

 

Haley and I later caught up with Drewman's group and headed over to organize a storage building.

Dwight Mission is required to keep 25 years of records!

The storage building is what was an old bunk cabin.

It has three bedrooms, a closet, a bathroom and what appeared to be a kitchenette without the appliances.

These rooms were so disorganized and haphazard!

My OCD got the best of me.

I stood back for a bit but couldn't hold back any longer.

I took control and went into organization mode.

 

During this time, Barrett found Instagram!

 

Haley found Mr. Potato Head!

Haley was impressed by my organization skills.

Drewman informed her "This is normal."

Within a few hours, we had this little bunk house cleaned, Christmas in one room, 25 years of records split between two rooms and another room held some of the camp cooks personal items.

The bathroom even had access.

 

During group worship time, we learned about our Godly Gifts.

Do you know what your Godly Gift is?



 

This is one of my favorite photos of the entire mission trip!

These kids do have quite a bond.

 

Monday the weather was much better!

Drewman's crew headed back to Walking Stick to complete the deck work.

Nothing left but staining and painting trim!

 

Afternoon group time provided some pretty fancy dance moves!

 

Drewman had done a bit too much lifting, so he was on light duty for the remainder of the mission.



No worries, a few trips to the chiropractor and he is all better.

Once a 6'5" 220lb young man gets out of placement it takes a few cracks and pops to straighten him back up.

 

More fancy dance moves!

 

It was exhausting!

 

Walking Stick Lodge deck complete!

Great Job Kids!

 

Lots of leaf raking to be done around the buildings.

 

Momma PYG took over Drewman's raking duties.

She is such a good momma!

 

Drewman and Papa PYG cleaned out around the air conditioner units, while the girls cleaned between the fence boards. 

 

These are the dorms where we stayed.

 

I want to know the story behind this tree!

There has to be one!

This tree is propped up in several different places.

It even has a stack of bricks under a portion of it's trunk.

The building behind this tree is the bunk house where our church has sponsored a room.

We changed shower curtains in there.

It has a screened in porch on the back and 4 bunk rooms.

 

Momma PYG with her boy PYGs! 

 These kids love this woman with everything they have.

She guides, protects, cares and prays for them daily.

She even cooks for them!

I don't know where Drewman would be with out his Momma PYG.

 

Thank you for allowing me to be a part of this amazing group and do my part to give back to what I know will make a difference to the future of our church.

 

Mission Accomplished!

Rancher Girl

 

PS

Drewman's Godly Gift is Pastor

Mine is Faith

Neither of us were surprised by our gifts.

We both embrace them daily.