TRANSCRIPT: Bill Chappell

 Bill Chappell Interview

First Treasurer of Carolina Friends School

June 2020

Video link to Henry’s Unofficial History site

Henry Walker, Bill Chappell

Henry: [00:00:00] Hi, I'm Henry Walker. I'm here with the great Bill Chappell,

interviewing and just discussing some of CFS history. It's hard to find anybody who

knows more of the CFS history than our business manager from a few years back.

Bill, how'd you first hear about the school?

Bill Chappell: Oh, through my wife. All the good things that came to me came

through her.

Henry: Hilda?

Bill Chappell: She was the first employee. She saw this advertisement that a school

was being planned and they needed a secretary. So she applied and became the first

employee of Carolina Friends School. And then when I was thinking about doing

something other than pastoral ministry, she said, well, why don't you volunteer to

teach a class at the school?

And, you know, teachers do, uh, parents do that sometimes. And I said, okay, and I

taught an algebra class [00:01:00] in the Middle School. And one day, the principal

and Don Wells, the assistant principal, caught my eye and said, come up to my room

to the office when you get through and when I went in, they said, you want to be a

business manager next year.

I said, I don't know anything about it, he said and the principal said, well, I can teach

you all you need to know in 15 minutes. And then he left before I came in. And I

didn't even get to 15 minutes.

Henry: How many minutes do you think it would take you to teach somebody how

to do it?

Bill Chappell: It depends on how much they know about handling business.

More important than business, my job was handling a lot of the business, but the

most important thing was enjoying the wonderful teachers we had. That's it. And the

kids. My door was [00:02:00] never closed, uh, my office door was never closed,

unless I was talking with somebody about confidential matters. And that was a, that

was a joy to me.Henry: It was sad this year when your wife died, Hilda died. Yes. And I found her

obituary and I put it up on my Facebook account. And so many students. wrote

about how much they loved to be around you and to be around Hilda. And how you

just are so supportive, you both are so supportive of them. They just love sharing

those stories.

Bill Chappell: I remember once I was talking with a business, with a member of

some business that we were going to buy some of the stuff that they had to offer. And

while we were talking about it, kids would come in and ask me or something or

speak to me or something, you know, just a little of nothing. And he said to me, after

about two or three of them did that, he said, you know, you could get a [00:03:00] lot

more work done if you'd close your door and keep these kids out of here.

And I said to him, do you know what kind of business we're in here? He said, yeah,

school. I said, and the kids come first. They come before the teachers. They come

before the, uh, the office. Administrators, they come before everybody, because that's

why we're here. And, you know, I wish I had thought about it. I thought about it later.

And, yeah, they come before business, they come before salesmen, too.

Henry: That sounds great. So you first heard about the school because Hilda knew

about the school. Yes. What do you remember her telling you about it?

Bill Chappell: Well, she, you know, she, as I say, she wanted to go to work. I was

serving a church in Orange County at the time, and she wanted to do some, go out

and work some, instead of just being at home all the time.

[00:04:00] And so she did, and she saw this ad, and I was talking to her, this was

about a year later, after she'd been working here at the school for about a year or

more. And I was talking to her about thinking about doing something other than the

pastoral ministry. And I said, I'm not anxious to do something different, but I'd like

to consider something different.

And so she suggested to me that I volunteer to teach a class. Uh, and see how I liked

it. Teaching math. And I taught algebra, for some kids in the middle school, usually

kids don't take algebra until the senior, upper school, but these were advanced math

kids, and it was, you know, just a great pleasure to me.

Henry: Didn't you teach bookkeeping, too?

Bill Chappell: Oh, I did that later.

Henry: Oh, okay.Bill Chappell: Yeah, I taught algebra one time, and I taught a, Class, uh, of, uh,

general math and, [00:05:00] and I taught, uh, survey, uh, I mean, not surveying, but

drawing plans of buildings.

Henry: Okay.

Bill Chappell: In, in the middle school.

Henry: What year did you start?

Bill Chappell: Well, let's see. It was, well, I'm not sure.

Henry: It must have been the late 60s.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Cause I came in the fall of 71. And Hilda, I kept talking to in the spring of 71.

Okay. Yeah. Because I kept saying, Is there a position for me yet? Is there a position

for me yet?

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And she didn't, she couldn't say, because they hadn't decided whether to put

the position in or not.

Yeah. And it was funny how much she just kept putting me off. And then years later

she said,if I' had been doing that now, I would’ve just hung up on you.

Bill Chappell: Well, I, I, I was there for 23 years, and I, And, uh, I, I retired at sixty,

uh, no, I mean seventy.

Henry: I heard at sixty five something happened with people getting requisitions

too.

Bill Chappell: Yeah, that [00:06:00] was another funny experience. One of my jobs

was to, uh, receive requisitions from teachers to, and to place orders for various

things. And I knew that I was sixty five that day, but I didn't think about it when I got

that day about a dozen. requisitions, uh, some of the most ridiculous things you

could think of, but I'd learned a long time before that that, don't think what the

teacher's requesting is ridiculous. Uh, 60 of this and 60 of that, 60, I remember one,

60, uh, boxes of, uh,Henry: Toothpicks.

Bill Chappell: Toothpicks, yeah, toothpicks. And I thought, well that's kind of

strange, but they must have a reason for it. And then after the class, after the school

classes were over, a large number of teachers were in the, in the, in the office area.

And someone said, it's kind of crowded in here. Is it usually like that? I said,

[00:07:00] not quite this crowded. I still hadn't caught on. And then somebody came

out, Henry came out there with that basketball, with all the Duke players, basketball

players signing. And that's when it occurred to me, it dawned on me that they were

celebrating my birthday.

Henry: Yeah, a lot of people loved the school. What do you, if you wanted to make

sure that we kept up something about the school, what kind of traits do you think we

ought to make sure we don't forget and lose and change?

Bill Chappell: Oh, I think, uh, uh, the emphasis upon the students. Some people

think it's more important to cater to other issues, but that was the thing that so

impressed me.

I often wish that I, that not everybody would become an administrator or a business

manager of a [00:08:00] school, a private school, but that everybody, whatever job

they did, could have the same feeling and same joy that I did. I look forward to

coming to school. I went forward, look forward to going to work. Many times I was

the first one there and the last one to leave.

Henry: I believe you.

Bill Chappell: And it wasn't because I, uh, had to or needed to, it was because I liked

to, I wanted to.

Henry: I was thinking of what drove, uh, attracted you to the ministry. I'm

wondering if you saw any similarity.

Bill Chappell: Oh, that's, that's a good question because one of my friends, ministers

friends. Heard that I'd gone to work at the Friends School, and he called me up and

said, I'm sorry to hear that you've left the ministry.

I said, what makes you think I've left the ministry? He said, because you work in a

school. I said, if that's not God's work, I don't know what is.

Henry: I don't think I've heard that story, but I can believe it. [00:09:00]Bill Chappell: And you know, so many funny things

that I've forgotten a lot of them, but I think about it. One time there was a parent

who had a child in the lower school and she would come off every now and then to

work in the office to help do some things.

I can't remember her name, but she brought along her four, five year old, I believe it

was. And one time I was, when she was there working in the office and he was there

with her, uh, I was working, doing something in my office with the door open as

usual. I don't know. And I looked up and he was peeking in and I said, come on in.

And he got his name and what it, you know, and then we talked and talked and in a,

in a little while, his mother stuck her head in my office and said to him, uh, I can't

remember his name. Come on out. Bill has a lot of work to do. Well, this, this 5-year-

old stood up and put his hips on his hands on, on [00:10:00] his hips.

Stuck out his lip, said, Bill and I are entertaining each other. And when I finally quit

laughing, I said to her, He is so, he is absolutely correct. And you know, when she had

got ready to leave, she said, come on. And for a second fast, and she, then he came

back and said goodbye. And he said, and then after a while she came back and she

said he insisted that I tell you goodbye.

Henry: Well, I have a question about Pawleys Island. Remember going down there

for a staff retreat?

Bill Chappell: I do indeed.

Henry: You remember Susan and David Smith?

Bill Chappell: Yes, I do.

Henry: I think people are forgetting some of those earliest board members.

Bill Chappell: Well, I can't remember much of the detail, Henry. Uh, I remember one

funny thing, though, that the board of directors of something were talking one time

when I was there, and they [00:11:00] were talking about needing to add an

additional person to the, to the board of directors, and a name was suggested, and,

uh, Peter Klopfer, who one of the founders of the school, uh, was there.

Somebody said, uh, Don Wells knows him. Let's ask what Don has to say. And Peter

spoke up and said, well, his opinion is not worth very much because he likeseverybody.

Henry: That's a good story. I was hoping to have Don here so that he could see if that

ran true to him.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Do you remember any of the other, uh, early members of the board that we

might need to particularly?

Bill Chappell: Gosh, I can't remember names, Henry.

Henry: Remember Betty Ellis?

Bill Chappell: Yes. Yes, indeed.

Henry: There are a lot of the board members that we've lost, and we've also lost

their pictures because we don't [00:12:00] have any pictures of them.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: So I just wanted to try to remember, because we really, we remembered how

Betty Ellis had disagreed with some other members of the board about things,

because since there's In the quick version.

Right. What's your witness on this? Well, some people would say it's this and some

people would say it's the opposite. Yeah. And we always like Betty because she just

had a down to earthness to her. Yeah. My wife's often quoting her. My wife, Joan,

wanted me to make sure I said hello to you and send you her love and I'll give you a

hug from her later.

Bill Chappell: Thank you. Uh, I just, uh, But it was, it was the brightest spot in my

life is the 23 years that I spent at Carolina Friends School. And, you know, I'm not a

Quaker, but I've, the Quaker traditions are, are, I have great appreciation for them

all.

Henry: Any particular students that [00:13:00] you're thinking of, you're telling me

about one a little while ago, but any others that are sticking out in your memory?

Bill Chappell: Well, I can't remember names, but I can remember incidents. There

was one young lady came into my office one time. She was in upper school, uh, class.

She said, uh, she had a, a, a glass of, it was obviously hot, whatever it was, because itwas kind of smoking a little. And she said, Bill, have a taste of this and see how you

like it.

And when I opened my mouth, I said, okay. She was a full spoonful in my mouth and

it was, it burned me all the way down to my toes, I think. Uh, two ways. It was hot

from the stove and it was hot from peppers. And, uh, it brought tears to my eyes

because of it. And what she said to me, With the funny part. She said, well, I just

wanted to get you to taste it.

I didn't want you to get emotional about it.[00:14:00]

Two or three students, I can't remember their names now, but two or three of them

came in and asked me if I would teach, uh, teach the Bible. And I said, well, uh, let's

do it at lunchtime. You know, we'll just bring you lunches and then we'll all talk

about the Bible a little bit. And that lasted a month or two, a few months.

And I remember, too, a teacher, I can't remember his name, but at the General

Assembly, which was right outside, well, uh, not the General Assembly, that sounded

like I'm a preacher. A class, upper school class. was assembled in the big room there

to my right of my office.

Henry: Probably a meeting for worship or a meeting for business?

Bill Chappell: Just talking about different things, you know. After we'd just gotten

settled good, this teacher came in, dressed in the garb of the Old Testament, New

Testament time. He had a staff with sandals on, and he had four [00:15:00] students

with him, dressed about the same. And the names of the four students were

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

He just wandered around a little bit and then sat down.

Henry: Is that Bob Fulks? It could have been. That's the kind of thing Rocco

Trisellini would have done, but it might have been after that. What's a story that you

think best exemplifies what the Friends school is all about?

Bill Chappell: Well, I just think that the emphasis placed upon the students was, uh,

It was a wonderful one.

The joy I had, uh, of having students come into my office. Students would, would

drop in and say hello or borrow a pencil or, uh, just a little of nothing. Just, just to say,

say hello to me. And that was the thing that really impressed me so much. Uh, the

feeling, uh, of, uh, love and compassion for each other. was what made me look

forward to going [00:16:00] to work. I didn't call it work.Henry: Yeah. Selim, who's filming this, and I share a lot of that, I'm just thinking

about how important the kids are, and trying to see them. We had one of my

advisees from two years ago, it was his advisee last year, and it was neat to be able to

talk to him about it, and have us both looking and seeing the kid, and helping the kid

come into her power.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: But sometimes that's, uh, it's a challenge at times.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: I think the early school is really important, and the lower school is

important, middle school is important, upper school is important. And each one of

us is dealing with sometimes the same kid that goes all the way through.

Bill Chappell: Yes, that's right.

Henry: What age were your kids when they started?

Bill Chappell: You know how old you were, Alan?

Alan: I started in the second grade, I think.

Henry: Okay, so about seven. Seven. Okay. We were so lucky we had two kids and we

were able to start them at three and have them [00:17:00] go all the way through.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: But somehow, times have changed. They're up in their forties now.

I don't think I'm old enough to be in my forties. How old are you now?

Bill Chappell: Me?

Henry: Yeah.

Bill Chappell: I'm just ninety three.

Henry: Ah!

Bill Chappell: My birthday was the last day of November. Yep.Henry: Did you have a good celebration?

Bill Chappell: Huh. Not very, it was very quiet. It's all I needed. All I wanted. Yeah. I

just think about how, uh, how good the camaraderie they have that was so

wonderful to me just to be in that midst of it, because I was in the midst of it, you

know, right where everything, everything happened.

And you know, I performed a wedding at the friend's school. You remember that

Henry?

Henry: I've forgotten that.

Bill Chappell: John McGovern. I think it was. Yeah. John McGovern.

Henry: John McGovern and Nancy. So what, where was the wedding?

Bill Chappell: On the, on the porch of the upper school.

Henry: So the wooden porch.

Bill Chappell: [00:18:00] Yep. Yep.

Henry: Upper school now has some extra buildings that have been added on with

that original middle, upper school.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Do you remember about why the rooms were cut down to the size they are

in the upper school?

Bill Chappell: No, I don't remember that.

Henry: Because my memory is that Harold thought he could save some money so he

reduced them by a third. I don't remember.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Could that be true?

Bill Chappell: I guess. I'm not sure.Henry: But I think the building, this unit that has the biggest kids having some of the

smallest classrooms just seemed a little ridiculous.

Bill Chappell: I remember a class being held in the assembly, in the wooden big

room, which was right outside my door. And, uh, Uh, the teacher was originally from

California and he was very knowledgeable. I don't remember his name either, but he

was very knowledgeable about the movie industry and all of the details.

And he was talking, [00:19:00] talking, teaching this class about the movie industry.

And I told him after the class, I said, well, I had to close my door, uh, cause you were

teaching the class. He said, Oh, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I disturbed you. I said, It wasn't

that. It was so interesting, I couldn't keep my mind on my work.

Henry: That big open room where you used to do dance is now divided into multiple

classrooms.

Bill Chappell: Oh, is that right?

Henry: Yeah. Annie was a little concerned because that all of a sudden just

happened. So then there was another big building, their meeting hall that was built,

and it didn't have a floor that was suitable for dance.

Sometimes we have multiple uses that need to be done for each one of the units, and

it's hard to take care of everybody.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: You know we have a new performing arts building at school?

Bill Chappell: No kidding.

Henry: It's this multi million dollar, beautiful building.

Bill Chappell: Oh, that makes me think [00:20:00] of a funny story.

When I was in the office, and that was now in the administrative building that was

built, not in the upper school any longer. Uh, the, uh, there was a teacher in the lower

school who would bring her, uh, uh, right beside the administrative building, there

was a building, uh, that was used for music. And she would bring her students up

there to do some, you know, singing or whatever.

And she'd always come through the office and say, I need an audience, I need an

audience, I need an audience. And without, without fail, I would, always would go

over, because I enjoyed what they were doing. And, uh, I remember, uh, it was, it was

on my, well, my sixty, sixty fourth birthday. She came through, same thing, same oldthing.

She said, I need an audience, need an audience. And I said, [00:21:00] so I closed my

door and walked over there. And she kind of held back. You know, and, uh, I didn't

notice that until later I thought about it. And when I walked into the, where the

music was, uh, building was, where the music was usually performed, and I didn't

see a soul, not kids or anything.

Then all of a sudden they jumped up from, from where they were hidden and sang

that Beatles song, Will You Still Love Me, Will You Still, when I'm sixty four, Will You

still need me will you still feed me when I'm 64.

Henry: Oh, that's excellent. I didn't, I didn't never heard that story.

Bill Chappell: I tell you, I, I wish I could remember all of them, Henry, because they

were all, I can't remember, I cannot remember any bad situations.

That's why I said I often wish that everybody's job was as pleasant as mine.

Henry: Do you remember when the school was [00:22:00] having trouble having

enough people coming to pay the tuitions?

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And that Christmas time that we had to let some people go?

Bill Chappell: Yeah, I remember taking a child back home because they didn't pay

the tuition.

Henry: Well, how forgiving would we be of people who were having trouble paying?

Bill Chappell: Well pretty, the school just could move, went as far as it possibly

could financially to provide for the kids there. They couldn't afford or something.

Henry: Do you have any memory of how we came to give so many scholarships, have

such a large part in tuition aid, be a big part of the budget?

You must have been part of a lot of those discussions.

Bill Chappell: Yeah, there was quite a bit, uh, tuition aid, uh, for that reason. I

remember something, let me tell you something about Don Wells and I.

Henry: Okay.Bill Chappell: Connected with this. Usually sometime in the fall [00:23:00] of the

year before the next school year, I would, Don and I would, uh, I would look at the

budget and see how much we were able, would be able to raise to salaries of the

teachers.

Uh, and the way, the way it was handled is that if we, uh, decided a certain amount of

money would be able to be used to raise salaries. And we simply divide the total

salaries into that to get the percentage so that every single person working there

would get the same percentage of their salaries.

And Don told me one time, he said, uh, uh, as we were talking about it, he said, don't,

don't include me in an increase and that will give more for the staff, the teachers.

And I said to Don, I said, well, in that case, I can't take a salary increase either. He

said, why not? I said, because if you don't, I will [00:24:00] make more money than

you do next year.

He said, well, that's okay with me. I said, it's not okay with me. He said, he said, okay,

go ahead and give me a raise too.

Henry: Yeah, about this time of year will be salary benefits will start talking about

how much money is available and should it be a percent increase, should it be a

dollar increase, should it be more for the people who are on the young, the

beginning teacher end or, so those are often big issues.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Do you remember when the Salary and Benefits Committee started?

Bill Chappell: No, I can't.

Henry: They may have been after you. I think Mark Goodwillie was important in

doing that. I've been part of that committee for most of its existence.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And I still, I have a lot of respect for the people who have to pay bills.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And the whole fiscal reality. Yes, indeed. I've often said that we have so many

of us who are at school are language arts, social studies people. Yeah. And that it's

good to sometimes [00:25:00] have the perspective of the math teachers. Yeah, wecan go if there's this size pie. It's how do you divide the pie up and you gets whatever

portion of the pie?

Bill Chappell: Yeah,

Henry: and that's not always an easy reality for people to get But you go back to a

time in school when just paying utility bills was a stretch.

Bill Chappell: Yeah,

Henry: Remember Wells Edelman and cutting down the amount of electricity we

use so that we got cold?

Bill Chappell: Yeah, yeah

Henry: Remember how the people in the middle school couldn't even hold their

pencils because their hands were so cold?

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: Yeah. That's a reality that we're past a lot now. But it's certainly a truth that

whoever is handling the business part, the budget part, has to deal with.

Bill Chappell: I remember one time, Peter Klopfer, who was one of the founders of

the school and [00:26:00] gave all, all of the land that was located on. And uh, he told

me, he, he sent a check over, I believe it was for about 20, 000, 15, 000.

And he said, uh, put this in a special fund because, uh, I don't think my children

would have any interest in the farm, that's where he lived, right outside, not far from

the school. And he said, uh, that'll take care of any uh, uh, transition, necessary

financial transition when Martha and I die. And I said, okay Peter, and I did that.

I guess it may have been six months later, he called me up and he said, uh, you know

that money I sent over was a, was a special fund? I said, yes, Peter. He said, well, just

go ahead and put it in the general fund. We'll take care of any expenses when the

time comes for us, uh, [00:27:00] to go.

Henry: You know they've gone ahead and deeded all their land to the school?

Bill Chappell: Uh, that doesn't surprise me.Henry: And they've got the lifetime tenancy, I think, on it.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: I don't know the exact reality, but at some point. All that land that is a farm

and the horse farm will be part of the school.

Bill Chappell: Yeah, that's essentially what he had said to me. He said that my kids

will not be interested in the farm and it'll go to the school anyway.

You know, Peter was pretty straightforward. He didn't beat around the bush. He said

what he thought.

Henry: Yeah.

Bill Chappell: Which I liked. I liked it very much.

Henry: I do like keeping up with their kids. I like having taught people and then see

them grow up to be fine adults like your two boys.

Bill Chappell: Yeah. Well, you know, Peter was German, German, and he didn't beat

around the bush when he, you know, wanted to, if he wanted to say something to

somebody, he'd say what, [00:28:00] came right out with it without any hesitation.

Henry: You remember Bonnie Morris?

Bill Chappell: Oh, yes.

Henry: So Bonnie, when Jennifer Ross and Vicki Walker died in that car accident

when they were at Chapel Hill High, Bonnie was living in Washington, D. C. and she

decided then, she came down here and people were dealing with it and that she just

didn't like the way her fellow students were dealing with their lives in Washington,

so she came to live with Peter and Martha for the last year or two of high school.

So they acted upon their faith then too, to take care of her.

Bill Chappell: Yeah. Well, I think, I'm not sure there was a young lady, maybe that's

who I'm thinking of. I remember him talking with me. I got to know Peter rather

well. Uh, he's , he was very straightforward and [00:29:00] didn't beat around the

bush. Uh, whatever. You wanna make a comment about anything?Henry: Yeah.

Bill Chappell: Uh, but I liked that. I didn't, it didn't bother me a bit. I quizzed him

one time and asked him, uh, I'd like to know Peter. I said, I want to know if, uh, if the

basket, if the sport of people, basketball and football and track people at Duke, uh, is

it, do they. Get, get special, uh, recognition or special, uh, way of treating them, or are

they treated like all other students?

He said, you better believe it. He said, I, and he named one, uh, can't think of his

name now, but he said, I flunked him because he didn't attend enough, uh, classes he

had, uh, and, uh, he said he and one of the other student, uh, basketball students

came to appeal to me. Not, not passing him, and the other one said Oh, come on, you

know, you were, you [00:30:00] were told that you had to attend that class, uh, a

certain number of times and he said it didn't count off if they were away on

basketball and so he had to take the course over again.

Henry: Wow.

Bill Chappell: That's the way Peter was. He was, didn't beat around the bush. He'd

tell you, said what he thought.

Henry: Martha keeps winning the oldest runner in the Turkey Trot.

Bill Chappell: Oh, is that right?

Henry: Yeah, well, that's not Turkey Trot.

Bill Chappell: You mean where they run for part of the way and ride a horse for the

rest of the way?

Henry: No, it's over at the New Hope Improvement Association. We have the turkey

trot every year.

Bill Chappell: Oh yeah.

Henry: And so Joan and I have been doing it ever since they started. It's a way to

raise money for the New Hope Improvement Association. And Peter marks the

course and been out there starting it and he keeps doing it. Martha still running in

it.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.Henry: I remember a story from Gretchen that she stopped . Uh, running for

competition, because she kept worrying [00:31:00] about all the people that lost.

Yeah. If it would enable somebody to win.

Bill Chappell: Uh, that's something.

Henry: I'd have to talk to her to make sure that memory is all right. If you could tell

people at the school what you want to make sure that we keep remembering.

Bill Chappell: Keep, keep remembering that the students are the most important

people at the school. Thank you. That's why they, that's why they're there. That's

why we're there. That's why all of us were there. You don't take, you don't, uh, uh,

lower your standards or anything like that. That, that wouldn't help the students.

I remember one of the things that Don made, made crystal clear, uh, that anybody

caught using drugs on campus would be expelled and no second chances. Two boys

were caught and they called the parents in and the parents of one of them, I'm not

sure about the other [00:32:00] one, said, we understand the situation and we know

that, that that's the way it was.

And so they had to leave the school. I can't remember the names of the boys. I don't

even need to.

Henry: That kind of tough love.

Bill Chappell: Yes.

Henry: Is important. We had a teacher at the school, just retired. He got, when he

was in the back, he came about the same time I did in the early 70s as a student, and

I came as a teacher.

And he got, uh, dismissed from school.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And he said it was the best thing that ever happened to him. Because it really

helped him get his whole thing together. And he was one of the most gifted teachers

that I've worked with.

Bill Chappell: Well, another thing that occurred, too, that, uh, was, the decision was

made. I don't know who made the decision, but the decision was made that nosmoking would be allowed within the gates of the school.

And two of the teachers, two of the administrators, Don Wells was one of them, uh,

were a [00:33:00] smoker. Uh, and

Henry: Bina.

Bill Chappell: Bina. She smoked. And when they smoked a cigarette during school

hours, they walked outside the gate to smoke.

Henry: I can't believe it. You remember when we started MLK Day? Martin Luther

King Day?

Bill Chappell: Yes.

Henry: Because Bina was not sure about that one. Yeah. I think she thought that we

should just be off that day.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Yeah.

Henry: And her husband was Cecil.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: And he taught at the school too.

Bill Chappell: That's right, I remember him.

Henry: But we've lost Cecil. He died some years back. One of the things that we did,

I'll note. Right, that was November 1st this year.

We're going to do it every year, the first Friday after Halloween, we're going to have

Day of the Dead. We're trying to find pictures of all the people who have died that

were part, associated with the school. And we put them up on a slideshow and have

a meeting for worship, remembering [00:34:00] them.

Bill Chappell: That's great.Henry: So this year, I'll make sure that we have Hilda early on in the slideshow.

Because that's just, remembering her is really important to a lot of us.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: She not only was the first of the staff at the school, but she was just vital to

keeping the school going and providing kind of glue that held the school together.

It's a lot of what you did, part of the glue that held the school together. You were an

amazing team there.

Bill Chappell: Indeed.

Henry: Often, in friends education circles, people talk about being called. It's a

calling. Yeah. And somehow the spirit is calling. This is why I'm there. And when I

first came to the Friends School, I walked in and I just kept saying, everybody's

smiling and the lower school.

And it was just a beautiful thing. And it's just, I went, Whoa, this is what I want. I

keep teaching there because I get more energy after [00:35:00] teaching there. Then

I, it calls from me because the very thing you're talking about, keeping the kids at the

forefront and just, This is what can help people discover how incredible they are.

And I applaud you for everything you've done for those 23 years you were at school,

and the way that you still are a guiding light to those of us that remember you.

Bill Chappell: It was hard work, don't get me wrong, because I had a lot of

responsibility. But, you know, I look forward to going to school. In fact, I remember

one time there was a number of break ins at, at the middle school and minor, little

things were stolen, taken. So the decision was made that we would, uh, we would,

uh, uh, purchase a security system.

And we were talking to the security, the people that were [00:36:00] going to install

it for us. And one of them mainly was just talking to him about the break in. And he

said, well, you know, it wouldn't be much additional charge to include, uh, fire, uh,

uh, fire, uh, protection. Yeah, well, let's add that to it. We did. And one time, uh, fire

broke out in the middle school.

It was, uh, it was, no, it was in the upper school. It was in that back room. , uh oh.

Where the administration was, but it was in the back room.Henry: It's in the Center building.

Bill Chappell: Yeah.

Henry: I got a picture of it on the wall where, thank goodness it had sheet rock

there.

Bill Chappell: Yeah. And you know, the, the, I, I, when I got there, they, they notified

soon the, the alarm went off.

The, the security people notified a, a local volunteer fire department. Yeah. And told

[00:37:00] them exactly which building it was in, the fire was in, which room of the

building it was in. It was in that back room where the telephone system was.

Henry: Yeah.

Bill Chappell: And they broke, and I was talking with one of the volunteer firemen

after I got to the school and they'd put it, everything was secure then.

And, and he said, when we broke in, Uh, the fire was, uh, the telephone system was

on the wall and it was, that's what, the lightning hit it or something that, that was on

fire, and he said the fire was roaring all the way up to the ceiling and across the

ceiling. And he said, we estimate, and we put it out with, with smoke rather than

water because it was electrical fire.

Henry: Okay.

Bill Chappell: And he said, uh, Uh, all the damage that was done was smoke damage.

And of course the telephone system was destroyed. And we've been talking about

[00:38:00] upgrading our telephone system. Our insurance, uh, paid for the

replacement of the telephone system. So, uh, it didn't cost us anything.

Henry: That sounds good.

Bill Chappell: And it was, uh, he said it was, uh, he estimated if they had been ten

minutes later, it would have taken that building down.

Henry: Well, Bill, we certainly appreciate your sharing some stories with us, and I

hope we can do this again.Bill Chappell: Well, thank you so much for helping, letting me share. I wish my

memory was better than it is now, that I could-

Henry: I think your memory is doing great. Just not remembering a few names, but

you remember, the intensity at which you remember the important stories is a

delight for us. Thank you very much, Bill.

Bill Chappell: Thank you for being here. And my prayers still go with the schooling.