Remembering the Ivy Building

                                               Written by Mike Strong, class of 1960
        Do you remember when we used to go to Stuveysant Rd to catch the blue St. Gen. bus? Sometimes we'd get a ride to the bus stop, but often we had to make the walk home-about a mile. We'd take a short-cut through the woods by the old Biltmore Forest stables, walking on the old riding paths. Imagine that today! We'd sometimes stop by the stables to climb on the old stage coach, or to feed the horses. The site is where today's Carolina Day School is located. Across the Hendersonville Road was the Spinning Wheel Restaurant.
       If you remember, Mother Flynn was always riding "shotgun" and the driver was a black man named Raymond. Every school child was required to say "good morning Mother Flynn, good morning Raymond." And when we arrived at Ivy Hall, every child was required to say "good bye Mother Flynn, thank you Raymond."
      This continued until we were lucky enough to have Dr. Pat Clark move in with his wife's father, Francis Hazel. Francis was dad's attorney and lived in the old Memminger Estate about two miles south of our place at 1556 Hendersonville Road. Memminger was the Secrectary of the Treasury for the old Confederacy. The Memminger's were from Charleston, S.C. , and the estate was their summer home during Yellow Fever season. Unfortunately, it would later be torn down when the Gerber Baby Food bottling plant took over the site. An example of why "Historic Preservation" is so important!
      Dr. Clark's daughter was in our sister Chris' class and their son Chip was a classmate of brother Mark. Since he was working at Memorial Hospital, Dr. Clark  soon began picking us up and we no longer needed to make the trek to the bus stop. But if you wanted to get into town on a Saturday or during the summer the same bus stop routine was required to ride the public bus. We would usually be the only white people on the bus as it worked its way through Biltmore Forest picking up or dropping off the "colored" maids. I remember the ride through "Shiloh" and seeing the contrast between genteel Biltmore Forest and the world of the black community.
 The public bus would deliver us to Pack Square where we could visit the Pack Memoriall Library, attend a "show" (not a movie) at the Plaza or cross the street and explore the wonders of the Army-Navy Store, or Finklesteins Pawn shop.
      Leo Finklestein was a classmate at Gibbons Hall. I later read in one of the Carolina Day School newsletters that he was a Lt. Col. in the Air Force. I often wondered if his interest in space was initiated by a fellow classmate named Eric Brandenburg. Eric came to Gibbons Hall in 5th or 6th grade from Switzerland. His father was associtated with the IGB Farben Chemical plant in Swannanoah. Eric spoke several languages and it didn't take him long to become the top student in our class. I was always amazed that he was our top English student. Eric was fascinated with airplanes, and soon started a model airplane club that would meet at his garage in Kennilworth. Leo & I were enthusiastic members. Sometimes we'd meet at Eric's house, sometimes at Leo's near Beaver Lake.
     At the time St. Gen & GH held a science fair at Ivy Hall. It was mandatory that every student have an entry. It was probably as stressful for the parents as it was for the students. No one wanted to be embarrassed by their kids clunky exhibit! I remember the amazing diorama of WW I bi-planes that Eric put together depicting the dogfights of that war. It may have been all of this that inspired Leo Finklestein to his career in the Air Force.
    Remembering Leo made me realize what a differse community SG/GH was. Although operated by the nuns of the RCE it was a school open to all faiths (although probalby not to all races). My class had I think 16 students--5 Catholics, 3 of the Jewish faith, and the remainder from a variety o Protestant Faiths. As a result we were all exposed to and learned a special respect for all faiths at an early age.
   It was a special place and a special time--and it laid a foundation for a life time. I hold three degrees of higher education and taught at the college level but still feell that the best teachers I ever encountered were those in Asheville at SG/GH.