A special thank you to all those who have participated in our “I Remember Rippey” series. Your remembrances have allowed readers to share in our town’s history, activities, sports, school, church and daily life covering 150 years. We will continue collecting your stories through April 30. Phyllis McElheney Lepke is serving as our volunteer coordinator and stories may be sent to her at Rippey150@gmail.com.
There are many more wonderful articles to enjoy if you click on this link to reach the Rippey Library website: https://www.rippey.lib.ia.us . Then from the home page, click on Rippey History/Genealogy and you’ll be taken to a wealth of articles and news clippings, many provided by Rippey historian Jean Borgeson. Jean is a tireless researcher and great story teller, so you can continue to read about Rippey into the future.
.
AL Bell Day At School by Phyllis McElheney Lepke
If you heard the tolling bells today, you might still remember the excitement of what came next. After his signature bells, Al Bell and his wife launched into school assembly programs that amazed and amused elementary students around the State of Iowa for 30 years (1949-79).
The Bells traveled every year (international trips every other year) for six weeks and made their own 16 mm films of what they saw and did. Then they spent the rest of the summer editing the material into programs, which Rhea marketed.
For Rippey grade schoolers like me, these far-away, exotic places were made real by the Bells, who wore costumes from the year’s location, displayed artifacts typical of the region, and even sang or danced to convey the lives of those about whom they were talking. Al was the consummate showman.
Do you have a favorite Al Bell program? My husband’s is the Everglades program where one of Bell’s daughters was filmed diving into water that potentially was home to alligators. The whole family participated in making the films exciting!
When I talk with friends who grew up in other school districts, what we have in common is Al Bell Day. The assembly, which originally cost the schools $10, was presented in as many as 500 locations in one year. Sometimes there were four programs a day; Al was committed to reaching as many young people as possible.
Nostalgic for the Al Bell Day of your childhood? The State Historical Museum of Iowa, Des Moines, is the resting place for much of the Bells’ memorabelia . And Becky Bell-Greenstreet wrote a book about her dad (available on Kindle) called, Al Bell Remembered.
You will be reminded of a gentler time when we children were still captivated by seeing the state capitol or dining at Bishop’s cafeteria, both in “far away, big city” Des Moines. You will realize that the Bells opened up a world of places that you had barely heard of and took you to many places that stirred your imagination. Weren’t we lucky that Al Bell and his family were Iowans!