Video: Pheba Old School Restoration Project

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PHEBA, Miss.(WCBI)–An old school building in Clay County holding a lot of history is being restored a little bit at a time.

Nothing like reminiscing about the good old days in school. For Buddy McGee and Bobby Champion of Pheba those good old days were long ago. Buddy McGee attended Pheba Ag High School through 11th grade, then the school closed. McGee remembers being in grammar school on this campus.

“When I first started the first grade, been there about two weeks and I fell in love with a little girl up here. I went and asked my mother how old a feller had to be to get married. And she said boy you done found you a girlfriend,” said Buddy McGee/Pheba.

Students attending the old school lived during a period where the pace of life was slower and quieter, very little or no crime in the neighborhood.

“Not like it is today, you got to watch your children and people will do just anything now, but they didn’t back then,” said Buddy McGee.

“School was never locked, churches never locked, just everybody enjoying living here,” said Bobby Champion/Pheba.

Hallways of the Western Clay County school that use to be filled with laughter is pretty much quiet now, except for an occasional student reunion or other get-to-gether. After class each day, these students looked forward to going home and doing their chores. Finishing just in time to listen to the radio after dark.

“Mysteries, on there you want to get home to be sure and get Johnny Dollar, Amos And Andy, them folks.”
Bobby Champion “Everybody was dedicated to educating the kids, of course some of us more interested in other things. We didn’t much want education but, we got it anyway,” said Buddy McGee.

A humble place of learning some would say, but successful students came through this little institution of learning how to read write and do arithmetic. Simple, but in the mind of these two guys, so much better.

“That feller had that R C Bottling Company in Columbus. Whats his name, Smith Henley. He went to this school. He finished at this school,” said Buddy McGee.

Buddy McGee mentioned listening to the radio. There really were not too many television sets, if there was one in the neighborhood everyone crowded into your living room to watch it.