London
School Explosion
New London, TX
This page
is dedicated to the visitors who will make the journey to New London during
March 2009 for reunions, fellowship and healing. As we continue to teach,
inspire and educate citizens in this small rural community, we as teachers and
employees of the WRCCISD work to keep the rich history of this community
alive.
Poem By Debbie
Kitchings
From her book:
Somewhere Down the Road
London School Explosion
It was in a small town in Texas in
March 1937,
When a chool full of children went to Heaven.
It was almost
time for the school day to end,
The children were making plans with a
friend.
They never knew the bell wouldn't ring that day,
The buses
wouldn't run and they would never play.
That afternoon the children would
have no fun,
The children's homework would bever be done.
There was a
gas leak but no one could tell,
No one had thought about making gas
smell.
A flick of a simple light switch was all it took,
And the whole
school building crumbled and shook.
The building come down upon them
all,
On teachers and children it did fall.
Our dear children were crushed
by debris,
Everyone offered their services free.
Men brought trucks to
take those they had found,
To all of the hospitals in towns all
around.
They dug and they worked and they cried at the scene,
For a
generation of children that would never be seen.
A whole generation lost
to the small town,
Lives lost forever because a school fell down.
The
people gathered together to mourn and to weep,
To find memories in the rubble
that they could keep.
A memorial was set up in the middle of the
street,
Dedicated to the lost lives and the children so sweet.
Once again
the school is filled with children and laughter,
But those dear children will
live in our hearts forever after.