Private Story
Celestine Hayes
Celestine Hayes, 81, kind and hardworking person, educator, musician, United Methodist from generations down, Columbia, MO (lifelong Missourian.)
Portrait taken on 1/21/2024
Portrait taken on 1/21/2024
Because my father was a Methodist minister, we moved a lot. I lived in six different towns from age 4 to 15. I think that experience made me want things to stay the same in my life. I seem to want things to stay the same as opposed to changing. Especially if I like it, AND If it works well. I think anything that is working well should be used again. New things should be done for what is needed. This philosophy seems to show up in my teaching. I can find new ways to teach something, using something old.
I have always tried to do the right thing. I try to follow the rules if there are rules. This only becomes a problem if I don’t understand something or if don’t know the rule. That happens sometimes. 3. I see people as friendly, kind, worthy of my friendship. If they choose not to befriend me, I am a bit sorry. But I move on. I am always surprised when people do nice things for me. I always thank them when I can. Sometimes someone recommends me for an award or recognition. I am humbled and happy whenever it happens.
I enjoy my work—at church (choir director and pianist since 1989) and teaching Suzuki piano to children.(since 1982). I retired from teaching music in Columbia Public Schools in 2019 (49 years). I am a member of the Blind Boone Heritage Foundation Board, Church Women United, and PEO.
Early Years 1948-1949.
Age 5 First Grader in Greenfield, Missouri.
This was a one room school house. All of us Guyton kids attended it. We walked a road to school. My first day I took my bottle. I was five years old. When I got to school the kids laughed at me. I never used the bottle again! I really liked the teacher. And I loved school!
Second Grader. Age 6 and 7 1949-1950
My dad, the Rev. John R. Guyton, was appointed to a church in St. Louis, Missouri. The St. Louis church had a really nice parsonage. I was in the second grade at Cote Brilliant school. Rom The teachers wanted to skip me a grade. But my parents said “No.” I remember that in St. Louis people called me Celestine. I had to correct them. (Celestine) I think they thought I was wrong! One thing I remember: I had a little friend who lived not far down the street from me. One day I went to visit her without asking my Mom. When Mom figured out where I was and found me, she took me right home and gave me a spanking with her shoe. I never did that again! While in St. Louis my brothers often had trouble with others boys wanting to fight them. As a family we often went to gospel programs. My older sister graduated from Sumner High School that year.(1950). My sister Evelyn finished tenth grade at Sumner. My brother, John finished seventh grade in St. Louis. My brother Leon finished fifth grade. And I finished second grade In St. Louis.
Third and Fourth grades Troy, Missouri 1950-1952 Ages 8 and 9.
I remember my grandmother visiting once. One night my Mom thought she heard someone in the house. She and Granny tipped around and backed into each other. They both screamed! We got our ice from the “iceman.” My big brother ,John, carried water from the well. One Christmas I memorized and recited “ The Night Before Christmas” for our Christmas program at church.
Fifth Grade to Ninth Grade. St. Joseph, Missouri 1952-1957.
Horace Mann and Central High Schools Ages 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
Teachers for me at the black Horace Mann were the Kerford sisters for fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. Music teacher—Ms Schalford (s)for one year. One of the Kerford sisters taught tapping at the youth center. I was in that class. We danced on a TV program. My brother, John said “You could tell which one was me—the one with the long arms.” Ms, Schalford told me I needed to play the clarinet because of my teeth shape. I played it one year. She suggested the tuba, but I didn’t want it. When Horace Mann closed I stopped because at Central you had to buy your instrument. I couldn’t afford one. The music teacher had me sing a solo on assembly—“The Psalms.” And she had me sing another one “Bubbles, Bangles, and Beads.” This was the start of my singing— in the Seventh grade. I gave her a music box playing “I’ll Be Loving You” when school closed and she was leaving town. She was a great encourager to me.
When Horace Mann was closed that year, we went to Central. The next year I took chorus for sure at Central and looked forward to being in their choir the next year. Another memory I have is being in a citywide spelling bee. It was fun. You stayed in by writing the words correctly in the round. I stayed in for several rounds. Judith Hunter, also from Horace Mann stayed in one round longer than me. I couldn’t believe this! I thought I was the smartest.(s). Judith came to Columbia years later and looked me up. We had a good reunion.
I had one really good friend at Horace Mann. Her family was a military family. She was black. They moved away one year. I was so sad. Another memory I have is having a boy ask me to a school dance in the ninth grade and having to tell him I couldn’t go because my parents said I couldn’t date yet. In my elementary years in St. Joseph I remember playing outside the house. We played games there, like “Mother, May I, Hide and Seek,”etc. Leon, one time was swinging in the tree playing Tarzan and fell and broke his arm. A family lived next door consisting of a couple and two girls. One day the dad came home and the mother shot him, killing him. Also we had a dog who belonged next door stay at our house a lot. We loved him, but knew we had couldn’t keep him. My algebra teacher found that I copied numbers wrong from the chalkboard and got it wrong. She recommended I get my eyes checked to my parents. When I picked them up it was amazing how I could see!
I also had a friend, who was white, from one of my classes. Her name was Sheri Bohrer. She was Mormon. I was so sad when she moved away during the school year. We wrote each other for a while. She moved to Utah. One class I had did a Sun Rise service at Easter. It was so much fun. The teacher was really nice. Friends at church were Myron and Priscilla Cruise and the Crouch siblings, Harold (I think) and Vergie. They had a nephew who also lived with them who was a friend of Leon. We walked to Dairy Queen after Methodist Youth Fellowship often. The Alexanders drove my family to Columbia when we moved in 1957. They were funeral home owners. Helen, my sister worked for them. She babysat their kids and also helped with funeral business.
Central High School was a pleasant school for me. I was a freshman there. I really liked Mr. Gench, the music teacher. The choir was great. A black girl, named “Tookie”who lived near us was in the choir. I was impressed with her! There was also a girls drill team that I joined at Central. I sometimes did get a ride from school with Nolan Tapp. His two brothers dated my sisters. They were cousins of the Tapp family in Columbia I learned. They lived in Elwood, Kansas. The Tapp boy who dated my sister, Evelyn, was drafted in the army. When he came home he was a bit weird. When I was eleven years old I started piano lessons. One time when my mother was practicing piano at the church next to the parsonage I kind-a went into a fit like I used to do when I was younger—-crying, stomping, and not being able to breathe. My mother came to me, held me and asked why I was doing this. I yelled “ I want to play the piano!” She started teaching me right then, and soon got me another teacher. Her name was Mrs. Esther M. Morgan from Kentucky. She was white. I already knew a lot so she took me on and on. I was a prize student for her. After the lesson she gave me a cold Pepsi. I loved her so much. I took piano for about two and a half years from her, until we moved. I practiced on the piano at the church. I kept writing to her after I moved for a while. One day in the park I was doing cartwheels and hit my leg on a park bench. I had to get it looked at by a doctor. I was a bit sad when we moved. But it was a way of life for us. I looked forward to new things in the new home.
- Columbia, Missouri. 1957.
- I was in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grades from Hickman High School and got my B.S. and M.A. here from the University of Missouri in 1964 and 1966. 1957-1966 I married in 1965. Helen married in 1960, John in 1962, Leon August 16, 1969, and Evelyn in 1968. After graduation I lived in Kansas City, Missouri in 1966-1969, in Cleveland, Ohio in 1969- 1972. I taught two years at Southeast Junior High School and one year at King Junior High School in Kansas City. I taught at Cleveland University in Cleveland. We moved back to Columbia in June, 1972. I took a position with Columbia Public Schools teaching music at Ridgeway and West Boulevard Elementary Schools. Raymond took a position teaching Social Studies at Jefferson Junior High School.
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