On Thursday, February 10, 1977, I was a seventh grade student at the Mid-Valley Junior High School on Albert Street in Dickson City, PA. I was a member of the Mid-Valley Spartan Band. We had band practice after school. We were learning music for our spring concert.
The Mid-Valley Spartan band was comprised of seventh through twelfth grade students. Seventh through ninth students attended the junior high school in Dickson City. Tenth through twelfth grade students attended the senior high school in on the corner of Susquehanna and Lincoln in Olyphant. This is now the Lackawanna Heritage Apartments. We had band practice in the auditorium in the Olyphant Elementary School which was across the street from the senior high school.
After school, the junior high school band members needed to go to the school in downtown Olyphant. We were all too young to drive. Most of our parents were still at work, and many families owned only one car. At the beginning of the school year, some band members’ mothers who were not at work and had cars available drove band members from Dickson City to Olyphant. Later in the school year, our band director, Mr. George Kinsley and the Band Parents Association convinced the…show more content… The building had highly flammable oil-soaked wooden floors. There were also open stairwells that would aid in the ventilation of a fire. Their concern was that if there was a fire while classes were in session, the building would be fully engulfed in flames. An evacuation would not be able to be completed in a panic situation. They also cited health related concerns such as the permanent stench in the lavatories. They said that if the remediation was not performed to bring the building into compliance, they would condemn the building, and order it
