I had the pleasure of listening to my grandfather, Elwood "Woody" Rehm, reminisce about his days spent at Nitschmann JHS from 1943-46. Times certainly were different then.

For many of us, it would be hard to even recognize the area north of Nitsch-mann as it appeared during my grandfather's youth. The surroundings have changed drastically. What we're familiar with today - neighborhoods, offices, and businesses - were once fields as far as the eye could see.

A few small farmhouses and barns dotted the landscape. Jacksonville Road was more commonly known as "Chickentown Road" because of the many chicken farmers out that way.

At that time only two buildings sat off Eighth Avenue north of the school. One was Roller-Smith, a manufacturer of circuit boards and other electronics. Durkee would later move into this building, and today the spot is home to Lowe's. The other building, built by a silk company called Schwarzenbach and Huber, was further up the street on the corner of Eaton Avenue.

A small shanty sat close to where 378 exits onto Eighth Avenue coming south. This was the office of the State Police and where one could take the driver's exam.

What's hardest to picture is the absence of the prominent landmark, Martin Tower.

"My dad and I used to go there when it was farmer's fields and pick dandelions," recalls Woody.

As for Nitschmann itself, it was just the main building then: no extensions. Each morning students lined up outside either the "Girls" or "Boys" entrance, located on opposite sides of the school. This practice was left over from an earlier era as classrooms were coeducational during the 1940s.

Woody still remembers lining up outside Nitschmann during the 1945-46 school year and discussing the atomic bomb which had been dropped that summer.

"All the kids outside the school were saying, 'Wow. What kind of bomb was it that they dropped?' And there were any number of us that didn't know anything about the atomic bomb or chemistry at that time, and we called it the 'automatic bomb.'"

Students paid close attention to news of the war. Many of them had older siblings in the Service. Two of Woody's older brothers, Joe and Bob, were both in the Marines.

On the inside of the school, Woody has fond memories of the gymnasium. The gym was actually located in the auditorium between the stage and the seating. It consisted of a tiny basketball court that was so small, the center circle and the top of the key almost touched. This is where my grandfather played his junior high basketball under Coach Danny Sylvester.

"The ceiling was like a canvas, and so when we had basketball practice, guys would get coins and wing them up and see if they could throw them through it, because it was so old."

In those days, Nitschmann did not have a cafeteria. Bag lunches were the norm, and for a small price students could purchase milk and graham crackers. My grandfather occasionally received a quarter from his parents for this purpose.

"So what we would do," Woody grins, "was on the corner of 6th Avenue and Union Boulevard there was a tiny mom and pop store. We used to go over there and get a Pepsi Cola and a package of Drake's Yankee Doodles. Ten cents and we had 15 cents in our pockets!"

Sometimes during lunch my grandfather would run to his home at 69 West Goepp St., eat a quick sandwich, turnaround and run back to school.

"I was in good shape then," he laughs.

Nice weather allowed for a variety of outdoor activities during a student's lunch break. One option was to play touch football across the street at the Rose Garden. Those a little more daring could climb to the top of the AM transmitter for WGPA which was located on Eighth Avenue.

My grandfather remembers playing "war" in the fields behind the school. One side acted as the U.S. and flung grass hand grenades at the "Germans," who retaliated with barrages of their own. After lunch the soldiers filed back into their classroom covered in dirt, much to the chagrin of their teacher.

Some distance behind Nitschmann stood a great big culvert.

"We used to take the cover off and climb down inside and walk around," explains Woody. "But we never followed it to the end."

During wintertime an area west of the culvert was flooded to create an ice rink. I wonder how many people can still recall skating there on cold afternoons.

Many of the things and places mentioned in this article are long gone. An open patch of grass is now a rarity. Soon even Nitschmann will be torn down. However, if you squint your eyes and look hard enough, you can still see the area the way it was when my grandfather was a boy.

Please share your stories and comments by writing to me at bethlehemhistory@gmail.com.