School Administrative Assistants- In Charge

Memories are stirring up about two outstanding secretaries who made a difference while I was going to school in the 1960s and 1970s.

Mrs. Mekkelson, our high school principal’s secretary. Photo:  South Lewis School Yearbook.

When we think about high school, there’s likely a favorite teacher that comes to mind.  Sometimes, our memories recall an administrator or guidance counselor who made a difference.

But for the graduates who have walked across the stage to receive their diplomas at my high school, there may be some special memories attached to two very special women.

They made the announcements in the morning, wrote out hall passes when necessary, or tended to unique problems that came about with students, their parents, and the faculty.

They would help keep bus routes on schedule, track down an administrator who was needed immediately in the school auditorium and ran an office with all the associated functions.

They were school secretaries. That’s what we called them back in the 1960s and 1970s.  They are known today as administrative assistants or similar titles that reflect their level of responsibility.

An early picture of Christine Allen (now Christine Chaufty).  She would soon return to the school after graduation in 1971 and build a forty-seven year career in the administrative offices.  Photo: South Lewis year book.

At my alma mater South Lewis in upstate New York, Christine Chaufty retired at the end of the school year.  

She graduated from the school in 1971, and then went to work there as a secretary. With forty-seven years on the job, combined with six years in junior high and high school, she’s been part of South Lewis Junior/Senior High for fifty-three years.  

She was interviewed by the local paper in a story recognizing her service to the students at South Lewis. Her secret to success was very simple.  

She told reporter Jamie Cook, “I have always liked how people worked together here. It is one very large family here.”

Christine stayed in her hometown because she loved her life there.  She remained on the job at South Lewis because she cared about the students, her coworkers, and the school itself.  

She told the Watertown Daily Times, “I live and breathe South Lewis and I have always been happy here.”

Christine had many people to show her the ropes more than forty years ago.  Among them was Mrs. Laura Mekkelson, a school principal secretary who worked for the elementary and secondary schools I attended.  

The Principal’s secretary at South Lewis School who enjoyed a long and prosperous retirement.  Photo: Legacy.com

Mrs. Mekkelson, as I always called her, started her career at Port Leyden Central School long before I entered kindergarten.  When the school merged into the larger South Lewis district in 1967, she continued her work there until her retirement.

Mrs. Mekkelson passed away in June at the age of 96.  Her family made sure her obituary announcement captured the kind of person she was.  

She went to a business school after high school graduation.  She worked for the Ration Board during World War II.

Her working career missed a full inclusion within the computer age, but that didn’t stop her from becoming a master at her own computer that she bought when she was seventy.  She was skilled at spreadsheets and applied those skills to a number of volunteer activities.

Non-profit organizations appreciated her time and many credits her with bringing their organizations into the computer age.  

Her children and grandchildren looked forward to her emails. She did genealogy research, historical searches, and would often go online just to find an answer to a question that had been tugging at her.  

Her obituary also described how much she was respected and loved by the students at the two schools where she served.  

The words sweet, compassionate, and understanding are used to describe how she was regarded by the students she knew from her forty-plus years of work as a principal’s secretary.

I spoke with Mrs. Mekkelson several years ago after delivering a copy of one of my books to her home.  She was a very special person.

Christine Chaufty (third from the left) devoted a lot of her time away from work on such community endeavors as the Lyons Falls Farmers Market.  Photo: LivingInLewisCounty.com

Graduating seniors will leave their high school days with a diploma in hand, and memories of friends and teachers.  

At my high school, this year’s class will remember Christine as a dynamic person who led by her example of enthusiasm for the job and the people who make the job special.  

For alumni like me, we’ll appreciate Christine for those same reasons.

And we’ll call to mind another school secretary who loved her job, was respected by students, contributed her talent to her community, and was adored by her family.  

Mrs. Mekkelson’s life of purpose will be remembered by all who knew her.

Both women made an impact on thousands of people at the schools where they worked.  

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

He has written California Back Roads, available at Lulu.com

A Journey of a Lifetime Cycling Through Merced

Francois Hennebert is a bicyclist from France who takes his recreational activities seriously.  

Francois Hennebert is a long way from his native France, but he’s enjoying California and the western states as he travels from Mexico to Canada on his bicycle.  Photo: Steve Newvine

François has cycled all over the globe and is currently on a four-month, twenty-five hundred mile journey that started in Guadalupe, Mexico in March and is expected to end in Vancouver, British Columbia in July.

François enjoyed his repair pit stop at Kevin’s Bikes in Merced.  Photo: Steve Newvine.

One way to get from Mexico to Canada is to cycle through the Golden State.    The trip has already taken him through the desert of Death Valley and to the high peaks at Yosemite National Park.

He encountered a tire and wheel problem while in Yosemite, so he sought out the help of a professional.

Francois inspects the tire that was damaged on his bicycle.  His tire and wheel were fixed at Kevin’s Bikes in Merced and he was on his way after a couple of hours.  Photo: Steve Newvine.

His bicycle wear and tear problem led him to Kevin’s Bikes in the Save Mart Plaza at Olive and G Streets in Merced.

For the better part of an afternoon in the week before Memorial Day, Francois watched as the staff at Kevin’s Bikes repaired the wheel and got the bike back in tip-top shape.

The staff at Kevin’s Bikes understood the problem and knew immediately what needed to be done.  While the staff worked on the bike, Francois kept everyone entertained with his stories and his personality.

I would have missed the story entirely had I not run into an associate who was leaving the shop with his own repaired bike.  As he relayed the story to me, I was hooked. I went inside to meet Francois Hennebert.

Francois Hennebert estimates he has put over forty-five thousand miles on his bicycle.  His current trip from Mexico to Canada will add another twenty-five hundred miles, and probably many more miles as he takes various detours to see the western United States.  He’s shown here with Kevin from Kevin’s Bikes. Photo: Steve Newvine

He spoke hardly any English, but he was able to understand some of my questions.  He wrote his name on the paper I was using to make notes. He also provided a web address where he maintains a site dedicated to telling the stories of his worldwide bicycling adventures.

In 2008, Francois and a group of one-hundred people cycled from Paris to Beijing China.  That trip took one-hundred, forty days with all but twenty of those days spent on a bike seat.  

That trip is five-thousand, one-hundred miles (or eight-thousand, two-hundred kilometers).

In 2010, he bicycled in South America.  That trip started in Buena Aires, Argentina.  

Anyone who understands French can read about it at his website velo.hennebert.fz  

Francois at the Great Wall of China during his 2008 trip with one-hundred other bicyclists that took them from Paris to Beijing.  Photo: velo.hennebert.fz

The Mexico to Canada trip has been a dream come true for Francois, who is seventy-two years old.  So far, he has seen the Grand Canyon, Death Valley, and Yosemite National Park.

During these trips, he tries not to bike every day.  If he’s on schedule, he’ll take time to enjoy the vistas, meet people, and rest.  

Usually, he camps in a small tent. He lives his bicycling life on the road with backpacks and saddlebags carrying all he needs.  He’s prepared for just about any emergency. A highway map is with him at all times.

 This is the luggage Francois carries with him on his bike as he travels all over the globe.  Photo: Steve Newvine.

Whether it was the universal language of bicyclists, or just the common decency of being a good neighbor, anyone who stopped in Kevin’s Bikes that spring afternoon enjoyed the company of Merced’s international visitor.  

Francois guesses that he’s put about seventy-three thousand kilometers (or forty-five thousand miles) on his bicycle.  

With all those miles, repairs are just part of what most cyclists expect as they put their bikes through some of the toughest tests imaginable.  

This is Francois’ bike loaded with his travel bags.  This picture was taken from a South American journey in 2010.  Photo: velo.hennebert.fz

Upon arrival later in the year in Vancouver, Francois will fly back to France and get to work on planning his next bicycling adventure.

“Thailand and Laos,” he told me when I finally phrased the question about his future travels in a way he could understand.   

And after a slight pause, and a smile, he was quick to add, “Maybe.”

Steve Newvine lives in Merced.  

His new book California Back Roads is available at Lulu.com