Here is a frontal view of the main Lutheran Home building.
The Home itself was comprised of dormitory space, kitchen, dining facilities, offices, etc. and was contained in a main building and two additional buildings immediately behind it. The main building was at the top of a horseshoe driveway, lined with pine trees, facing North Main St. about 75-100 yards back from the road. Incidentally, the picture I sent w. orphans and staff and the other picture that you already had, show the Southerly side of the main building. The 'home kids' as we called them were attending Avon public schools when I entered first grade in 1948 and my siblings also had 'home kids' for classmates and friends. I think the Lutheran home population had dwindled from an earlier peak and before the 'displaced persons' arrived around 1949 or '50 I don't think there were more than 25-30 'home kids', if that. Also the regular 'home kids' were a somewhat different population from the 'orphans' of the turn of the century. That is they were more likely to be there due to family problems than from the death of a parent. When the DP families and children arrived the Lutheran home reopened the old school and used it for temporary housing for them until they could be learn rudimentary English, obtain jobs and find homes. Later, when the Gifford school burned down and the town was allowed to use the Lutheran Home school, I believe the remaining DP's were accommodated in other Lutheran home buildings. The school itself was a very large building with many rooms and an auditorium/gymnasium.It was located approximately 200 yards behind the dormitory buildings with it's front facing in a southerly direction. For whatever it's worth the online history incorrectly stated that the Lutheran Home school building housed grades 9-12 after the Gifford School was destroyed. I was there for my seventh and eighth grades (1954-55 and 1955-56) and I loved it as it was only about 300 yds from my East high St home. My siblings and I would go out our back door hop over a stone wall cross a field, hop another wall and we were on the Lutheran Home grounds about 100yards from the entrance to the school.
George Lally
