By Mary Kathleen Mehuron
“Our first days at Waitsfield High School started in the fall of 1948. . . there was a total of 13 students [in our class] consisting of: Leona Barton, Earlene Bettis, Roena Jones, Genevieve Long, Anne Mehuron, Dorothy Pecor, Marion Pierce, Clifton Corliss, Lewis Joslin, Delbert Palmer, Lloyd Rivers, Cecil Sherman and Calvin Wimble.
“For the activities of the year, we sold candy bars, hot-dogs, and soda at the basketball games. We sponsored a sugar-on-snow supper and movies during the year. At the end of the year, we went to Mallet’s Bay for a picnic.” They also put on dances.
Thus began the high school journey of 13 youngsters from Waitsfield. The interviews I have been doing makes it clear that children of the Mad River Valley back then didn’t get much of a chance to hang out with their friends. Instead, they worked alongside the rest of their family to put food on the table, whether it be farm chores, or like my husband, turning wheels of aging cheese and sorting eggs for his grandfather at Mehuron’s. They had responsibilities and expected them. I asked one elder recently if he resented it and he looked at me like I was crazy. He said, “I didn’t think twice about it. It was work that had to be done.”
When they did have a chance to be together at school and school activities, most of the students were delighted. But by sophomore year the class had dropped to 10 students and a leader had emerged. Calvin Wimble was class president. The next year, there were only nine kids remaining.
The very talented Ms. Genevieve Long wrote a poem about their class experience. This is what she had to say about Calvin:
“Now, Mr. President Wimble
With the bonnie, brown, wavy hair
Handsome sheik, heartbreaker of many a girl
No basketball without him there.”
Calvin was the editor-in chief of their yearbook, Mad River Echoes, with a nickname of Wimp. Next to his photograph. [And, yes, he is every bit as handsome as Genevieve says], reads, “The boy chosen Most Likely to Succeed at Waitsfield High School. He always found time for study as well as sports and extracurricular activities. He is the one person that we would like to have around always.”
Now there is a statement: The one person that we would like to have around always.
In the section Senior Class Prophecy the seniors write, “As we gaze into our crystal ball we see the following: Calvin Wimble is at a dance for the Norwich Cadets. As usual, he’s surrounded by girls. It’s nice to be popular, isn’t it Wimp?”
The Senior Class Will states, “We, the meritorious, unsurpassed, most worthy, intellectuals of the Class of 1952 of Waitsfield High School, do hereby will and bequeath by our last will and testament and in all earnestness the following:
“I, Calvin Wimble, leave to anyone, who thinks they can replace me, in my position as part of the great trio -- Hayes, Richardson and Wimble.” I have no idea who the other guys are but it’s clear they were thick as thieves.
His favorite saying was, “Curses, I do believe.”
His favorite song was “Slow Poke,” and I must say I am fascinated by the seniors’ song choices. “Slow Poke” is a country song first recorded by Pee Wee King and his Golden West Cowboys in March of 1951. Back then what we think of as Country was a genre called Country and Western music. His choice confirms my belief that country is country when you actually live anywhere in the country, and it speaks to you. Doesn’t matter if it’s down South, out West or Vermont. And it certainly makes me wonder about our regional country star, Jamie Lee Thurston, and the fact that his mother is a Wimble. Here are some of the lyrics:
You keep me waitin' till it's gettin' aggravatin'
You're a slow poke
I wait and worry but you never seem to hurry
You're a slow poke
Time means nothin' to you
I wait and then
You're late again, eight o'clock
Nine o'clock, quarter to ten
Why should I linger every time you snap your finger
Little slow poke
Calvin’s favorite pastime was playing Canasta and going to the movies. His single ambition was to succeed, and his biggest headache was his bookkeeping class. Besides being Most Likely to Succeed he was voted, Most Popular Boy, Best Athlete, Biggest Grin and Wittiest. Quite an array of distinctions.
His future wife was in the class a few years younger, but they didn’t pay each other any mind during high school. It was her sister, Leona Barton, who graduated with Calvin. The younger sister’s name was Norma Barton. It wasn’t till they both worked at Mehuron’s Market that they became an item. Norma told me he was a wonderful husband and father, quite content to raise his family in the Mad River Valley where they lived on Old County Road.
From his obituary: “Calvin E. Wimble, 80, a lifelong resident of Waitsfield, passed away in the comfort of his home on Sunday, June 29, 2014. Born in Waitsfield on October 21, 1933, he was the son of the late Claude and Reta Wimble. On August 25, 1962, he married the former Norma Barton in Moretown. Calvin was a 1952 graduate of Waitsfield High School and then went on to serve his country during the Korean War as a member of the U.S. Air Force. Following his discharge, Calvin worked for several years, first for General Electric in Burlington and then for Mehuron’s Supermarket in Waitsfield. He then embarked on a 32-year career with the Waitsfield Post Office as a rural mail carrier, retiring in 1995. His memberships included the Mad River American Legion Post 75 in Waitsfield. His family lovingly remembers Calvin for the joy he experienced gardening, reading, fishing, maple sugaring and preparing big Sunday family dinners; and for being an avid sports fan, especially the Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics. Calvin is survived by his wife of 51 years, Norma Wimble, of Waitsfield; their children, Amy Tumeinski and her husband, Gregg, of Ashland, Massachusetts; Peter Wimble, of Bend, Oregon; two grandsons, Ethan and Jacob Tumeinski.” It seems that Calvin was predeceased by 11 siblings! Kenneth, Robert, Leo, Donald, Owen Sr., Edward “Bunker,” Sylvia, Kathleen, Caroline, Hannah and Sally.
In my last article I lamented not ever meeting Genevieve Long Terry and feel worse about not knowing Mr. Wimble as he and Norma lived not far from my house. I know Mrs. Wimble but can’t remember talking to her husband. This summer Mad River Valley Television is going to let me use their studio to record interviews. If you know an elder whose story really should be recorded, please let me know who they are. As an additional favor, if you think they need a ride to the studio in Village Square, could you ask them?
Send story ideas to Mehuron at
