Homedingers by Mike Quinn

Growing up in Wheeling I went to school with a lot of orphan children. The orphanage pictured happened to be located in a very well-to-do neighborhood full of mansions. As one of nine children I had the protection of a tribe. If you harmed one Quinn child, you could be subject to the wrath of nine of them. There was only one tribe more fearsome....it was the Homedingers as we called them. Those kids were smart enough to form a union. Most of them were tough enough on their own to kick a lot of butt. I was a pretty tough kid in my time, but Gary Caldwell from the orphanage always was nearby to tune me up if needed. He was the only kid on the playground I had to respect. The homedingers were in our scout troop and a lot of them were nice kids. some of them had mental problesm. Once I recall one of them stabbing me with a handful of darts on the wrist. Most homedingers were a grade or two behind, so that meant they were extra big for the class they were in, one more reason to give them a wide berth. I always felt sorry for the poor home kids as they were politely called. They forced those poor kids to go to Sunday School, which was a fate worse than death. Only once did I ever know of any of them getting adopted. I am not sure what happened to the place. God bless the homedingers!

Editors note: The old, scary Gothic building shown has been torn down and replaced by a new, modern building. The home now only takes boys.