More memories of the Armory

Each time the Healdsburg Armory comes up in our outstanding local newspaper, I am saddened by the omissions of a very significant phase of its history.
I promised myself to write this FYI for the Tribune, the many newcomers who have chosen Healdsburg as their new home since 1978, for the Staff and the 840 children who were educated at what was once our National Guard Armory. From September 1973 to June 1978 the armory bore this name on a large professional sign above it’s doors: Fitch Mountain Annex. In the early seventies Fitch Mountain Elementary School faced a population explosion approaching 800 students. Healdsburg Elementary was full, and Foss Creek School didn’t exist until the fall of 1990. In 1973, however, neither elementary school could handle more portables on campus. The quick fix was to rent the abandoned armory from the state. Seven Fitch Mountain teachers volunteered to create a 70’s version of the One Room School concept, and labored during the summer months to plan and ready the building. Healdsburg students who attended the “Annex” as it was fondly called, enjoyed a new experience. Many students were with us from Kindergarten through Third Grade.    Both parents and students enjoyed the unique daily opening, as all classes gathered around the piano for the flag salute and group singing. The mainstreaming of students, the afternoon rotating learning centers, and the annual Spring Musical productions were featured in the Tribune. The final Musical in 1976 celebrated our country’s Bicentennial. Students from the Healdsburg High School’s woodworking class, under the direction of Rich Bermudes, made a huge 50 states’ puzzle for the event. The entire school performed enthusiastically, and the evening ended with the presentation of our flag in a unique way. It was made of over 200 red, white, and blue cupcakes forming the Stars and Stripes. Made by the mothers for the children, it was carried in on a 4-by-8 plywood board by Bob Rodgers and Jeff Cohen in matching red, white and blue polyester suits! The annex teachers who have held fond memories of those years are Lucile Ware, Judie Giampaoli, Mary Potasz, Valerie (Dreisback) White, John Griffin, Carol (Passalacqua) Novak, Candy (Rodgers) Danhausen, Larry Berner, Charlotte Silveira, and Maddie Mount. We would love to hear from students or parents of that era with memories or pictures to share.
I would also like to see the Tribune do an article recalling the sad day we arrived to find our school trashed and vandalized, with furniture, typewriter and copy machine tossed to Powell Ave. At the back of the building, scratched boldly on the chalkboard was, “we’re sorry…we didn’t know it was a school.” The following morning the PD headlines blazed a far more serious vandalism of the Santa Rosa National Guard Armory.
Candy Danhausen is a retired Healdsburg Unified School District  educater.