It was 1943...

School was a one room building with a enclosed unheated, porch for boots and coats. On the coldest days the porch was so cold that our sandwiches would freeze by noon. There was no basement so the little building perched on a stone foundation. It was 1943 and I was in first grade. Some animal had dug under the foundation so Marvin Jepson, who was in eighth grade, set an animal trap (#1 Victor) in the hole. When we arrived at school the next day we found a very angry skunk in the trap. Marvin's farm was about a quarter of a mile away so he ran home for his .22 rifle. Shooting the skunk did not improve the situation noticeably though, our teacher, Ruth Quail, did dismiss school for three days to allow the smell to subside.