Sisters Ann Sloss Carter and Sally Sloss Wasson recently purchased chairs for the Skipworth Performing Arts Center in memory of their past teachers. Wasson decided to dedicate her chair in memory of two beloved English teachers who made a lasting impression on her, O.W. Stewart and Alleen Ramsey. Mrs. Stewart also taught Latin and French. Wasson and Carter both remember Ramsey as very strict and demanding. “We knew we would not have trouble with English in college if we had Miss Ramsey,” said Carter. “She didn’t put up with any nonsense,” Wasson added. Carter especially remembers how Ramsey helped her late husband Charles. “He dropped out of school during the Depression and later went to World War II,” she said. “After the war, he came home and decided to finish his high school diploma. Miss Ramsey helped him, and he always remembered and appreciated her help.” The sisters also have vivid memories of Stewart. “She was a widow whose father lived with her. She raised four children on a teacher’s salary, which was very little back in those days,” said Carter. “Mrs. Stewart was a very positive person. She was a great teacher, and we never would have survived Miss Ramsay without the background from Mrs. Stewart,” Wasson added.Carter has chosen to dedicate her chair to the memory of three piano teachers, Eleanor Guyton, Thelma Skipworth, and Nellie Hayden.The sisters took piano from Hayden and Skipworth, and they knew Guyton as the pianist and organist from their church, First Presbyterian. As a matter of fact, all three women were organists at their respective churches, Hayden at First Methodist and Skipworth at First Baptist. “Our parents were divorced, and we lived in an apartment on one side of my grandmother’s house. We didn’t have a car, and all we had to do was read and play the piano. Wesley Methodist Church was a white frame building at that time, and we would sit outside and listen to the music during the summer when all the windows were open,” remembered Wasson. “That’s where I first learned the hymn ‘Lead On, O King Eternal.’” They started taking piano lessons from Skipworth when she moved in adjacent to them.“When the Skipworths moved into the apartment on the other side of our grandmother’s house, we quit taking from Mrs. Hayden and began taking from Mrs. Skipworth,” said Carter. “She exposed us to a lot of different types of music and insisted that we purchase tickets to community concerts, which also helped our music appreciation along.” The sisters were also in the Kosciusko high school band.“We were both in the band under Mr. Skipworth. I played snare drum and Ann played French horn. We also went to their get-togethers on Saturday nights where Mrs. Skipworth played the cello or piano, Mr. Luther Hines played the violin, and Mrs. Hines sang,” said Wasson.“I really had a lot of musical inspiration in my life,” said Carter, who, in turn, has played and learned music in a variety of settings.“I have taught piano at home and played in churches, including the Jewish Temple. I played at the air base when I lived in Blytheville, Arkansas, where there are chaplains from every denomination, and I really learned a lot,” she said. “When we lived in Texas, I played in the Catholic church, and one of the sisters played the harp. She offered to loan me a harp and let me learn to play. How could I turn that down?”Now organist at First United Methodist Church, Carter is quick to give credit to her past teachers. “I have had a lot of good people, both piano and high school teachers, inspire me. I’ve been fortunate to have these wonderful teachers in my background,” Carter said.
