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Mom's Family - The Wootten Family of Hampton |
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My mom, Carol Virginia Wootten Bernard, is the middle child of Stafford Scott
Wootten and Marjorie Hundley Wootten. She
has an older sister named Charlotte and a younger brother named Scott. She
was born about a month early, in Buxton Hospital, Newport News, at 7 a.m. on
12/1/1942. Moomaw and Poopaw were shopping for the suit Poopaw would wear for
Emmett's wedding, and Moomaw tripped on uneven pavement and could not catch
herself. She was probably born on Emmett and Gertie's wedding day, as Moomaw
always said that they came to see her in the hospital after the
ceremony.
Carol was named for the Christmas season, and also Aunt Virginia, who always insisted that children be named for her. (She wanted Charlotte named for her, too, so they told her Charlotte's name was Charlotte Scott Virginia Wootten.) Click for more pictures of Charlotte and Scott. Left: high school senior portrait |
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| Moomaw stayed home and took care of the children.
She had a preschool class at their home when Carol was still too young to be a
part of it. The children who came were Charlotte's age, usually neighborhood
kids. When Carol was 4 and 5 she attended a kindergarten at Mrs. Paulette
Crockett's home in Wythe. She used to ride the CRT bus to her house. After
getting off the bus she had to walk a few blocks. In those days parents were
not fearful about letting their kids walk places. For Halloween the
kindergarten class had a party and they all dressed up. Moomaw dressed Carol
as a gypsy. She remembers all the jewelry and long skirt.
Carol attended Armstrong School, the same school Moomaw went to and also taught at after teaching in Gloucestor for her first year (the school is still in use). |
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Moomaw pulling Mom and Charlotte in a sled |
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At Armstrong, Carol's 2nd grade teacher took away a
coloring book Carol brought to school. She was so upset that she sneaked it
back and ran all the way home from school. The teacher seemed to think Carol
could not do anything right. After a parent conference things improved. Moomaw
asked the teacher to try to find something Carol could do well and praise her
for that. As it turned out, art was Carol's talent, and the teacher let her do
drawings for the class. Mom said sometimes she thinks that teacher's meanness
was one that that pointed her toward teaching.
Carol's best friend was Carolyn Hawkins. They played every day together either at her house or Carolyn's. She remembers playing hid and seek inside Carolyn's house. There was so many neat places to hide, like a huge closet among the winter coats. (The Wootten house had normal sized closets, so Carol thought this one was great.) Once Carol and Carolyn converted a chicken house to a playhouse complete with blinds. Mom said she can't believe they did that, with all the chicken dirt. They used to pick rasberries for Carolyn's mother for her to make jam. Sometimes they were allowed to play with her older sister and some other girls. They had a play wedding in her mom's flower garden. Also made mudpies and covered the tops with crepe myrtle blooms for icing. They pretended to have a store in Carolyn's garage where there was a low window which they used as the place to wait on customers. When Mom looks back on the creative things they did, she thinks much of what they pretended was a mini preparation for things that came later in life. |
| Picture 1, April 1954
(Easter?): Mom, Moomaw, Poopaw, Scott, and Cousin Bob Picture 2, Christmas:
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In later years of elementary school, Carol and Carolyn used
to go to the skating rink in Newport News on Friday nights with her dad.
He got his exercise, and they learned a few social skills. They also went
on Saturday mornings, riding the CRT bus to Newport News. Moomaw even made
Carol a skating outfit complete with short skirt, vest, and blouse with
fluffy sleeves. They used to make big pompoms to decorate their skates.
Sometimes they rented skates, but Mom was lucky enough to have bought hers
from Pud who had outgrown them and sold them to her for $5.00.
Carol attend the 7th-9th grades at George Wythe Jr. High. She enjoyed most of her classes except for algebra with Miss Winnie. She would embarrass students at the board in front of everyone. She was still kind of shy in the 7th grade and hated having to take showers in the gym. But she soon crawled out of her shell and tried out for cheerleader and made the team. At that time, they were not chosen by popular vote but by the gym teachers. She also took Latin in 9th grade and did very well. Carol enjoyed Hampton High School. She became active in a number of clubs including Future Teachers, and was also an office assistant in the guidance office. She was a member of the Concert Choir and the Mixed Chorus. Her grades were good and she was accepted at the college of her choice, Madison College. (She had attended Massanetta Camp every year during junior high so she felt close to the area.) She worked at Poopaw's shoe store in the afternoons. She guesses he lost money on the deal, but it helped her to learn more about dealing with people and their differences. She was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" in the class Hall of Fame, so she worked hard to accomplish that in college. |
| From 1961 -1965 Carol was a student at Madison
College. Charlotte was there two years ahead of her, so it helped her to
settle in a bit faster than other students. They really did not see each other
much, but just knowing she was there helped. Mom made her first D in English
on an interim report her freshman year. She got serious after that. Most of
her grades were As and Bs except for swimming...she's thinks she got a D in
that.
Carol was hired to teach for Hampton Public Schools in January of 1965 because they needed teachers so badly during that period. (She started teaching the following September after she and Dad were married.) She taught in Hampton for two years and three more years in Chesapeake before I was born. Mom met Dad in the spring of 1963 when Charlotte and Wilkie were rehearsing their wedding. He was Wilkie's best man and Carol was Charlotte's maid of honor. (Mom says Dad is still the best man in her eyes.) They had their first date going to the family cottage in Ware Point in Gloucestor. They were bringing supplies to Moomaw and Poopaw who had gone the day before. They stopped at Morgan's Drug Store for a Coke and to check things in the trunk. They found that the gas for the lawn mower had dripped on some of Mom's clothes. Carol remembers Moomaw saying that she should "set your cap" for him, meaning that she thought he was a great prospect. Carol certainly agreed. They saw a lot of movies during the next two years. He visited her at Madison, once almost having an accident due to the snow on the mountain roads as he was traveling home. They wrote many letters and spent a lot of time together. He had to serve in the Coast Guard for 6 months. They became engaged in the summer of 1964, announcing it on Palm Sunday. They were married July 3, 1965. |
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