“Hey, listen. We just sat down to dinner. I’ll come and pick her up as soon as we’re finished.” That was the response I got one afternoon at 5:30 after finally reaching a parent to remind him that the field trip return time was 5 p.m., as was stated in bold print on the permission slip, the top half of which I told the kids to keep and hang on the refrigerator.

I replied to the father that I was also hungry.

In the days before cell phones (and it wasn’t that long ago!), getting ahold of parents who didn’t show up to get their kids could be a challenge.

I remember one trip when we arrived at Fitch Middle School after the school was closed, the Town Hall next door was closed, and the pay phone (remember those?) at the convenience store next door to Midway Pizza was broken, as usual.

The library wasn’t open. The nearest pay phone was at the gas station across from Grasso Tech.

It was that situation that finally convinced my wife and me to get cell phones, primitive as they were at that time.

Even that didn’t always help. I remember trying to call one girl’s home phone over and over and getting a busy signal each time. This was in the days of Internet dial-up, and the child confided to me that her father was probably online playing a game.

I finally called the Groton Town Police and asked them if an officer could knock on the family’s door and remind them to get their child.

When my wife and I finally decided it was time for us to go online, I called SNETCO and had a second phone line installed. The sales lady offered me all sorts of upgrades, but I told her I wanted plain vanilla. She replied with a chuckle, “That must be for a computer.”

She was right.

In years since, when I’ve described dial-up to my students, I explained that one dialed the number, got the site, started the download, and then went and brewed a pot of coffee and made a sandwich, after which the download might be finished.

Many of my field trips were in the role as adviser to the Amistad Friendship Society at Fitch Middle, a LEARN program. LEARN’s policy for dealing with youngsters whose parents couldn’t be reached was to turn the kids over to the local police department. The police would in turn try to locate the parents.

This policy was made very clear in writing at the beginning of the year. I only had to resort to that once. Needless to say, I never had to do it again!

Communication during a field trip is also made easier with cell phones. It is not unusual for classes on field trips to be broken up into smaller groups under the guidance of a chaperone, either another teacher or a parent.

I used to use inexpensive walkie-talkies to keep in touch with other chaperones. On one trip to Sturbridge Village a boy in my group got a cinder in his eye. That meant that I had to take him to security/first aid to be treated.

Using my walkie-talkie, I arranged for my wife, who had her own group, to add my kids to hers while I stayed in the first aid room.

Each year I took the kids in my stamp club to Philatelic Show in Boxborough, Mass. This is the biggest show of the year in New England and I let the kids wander around as they wished, in groups of no more than three, and without backpacks.

The show organizers and dealers inevitably complimented me on my students’ good behavior and politeness. At this show I’d give a walkie-talkie to a responsible eighth grader so that I could be contacted if necessary in an emergency. Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

School policy at one time was that students should not bring cell phones on field trips. (I don’t know the current policy.) There are a number of legitimate reasons for such a rule, possible loss being one. As cell phones became more and more common, enforcement became almost impossible.

Coming back from our annual Fitch Middle School end-of-the-year eighth grade trip to Lake Compounce one June, the bus broke down on Route 9. The second yellow bus in our convoy pulled over and took a few of our kids who needed to get back in time for medical reasons, and the rest of us sat and waited for a replacement bus.

I called the State Police and requested that a cruiser come behind us to warn other drivers, as we were on a curve. I then said to the less than happy youngsters, that it was too bad nobody had a cell phone. If they did, they could call their parents and tell them they were going to be late. Then I stepped off the bus.

On another trip my cell phone was put to use when it was obvious we were going to be late. Coming back from Boxborough, traffic was fierce around Worcester and the end result was that, while we had planned to be back at Fitch at 5 p.m., at that hour we were just approaching Norwich. I knew that there would be parents waiting for us at the school.

I called the Groton Town Police (I have the non-emergency number in my contacts) and asked if an officer could go to the Fitch parking lot and explain to the parents that we were late and should arrive in about 20 minutes. The police department agreed, and the parents who were waiting were glad to get the notice.

The majority of field trips go reasonably smoothly, the kids enjoy themselves and maybe even learn something. When the bus pulls into the parking lot there are generally parents standing there waiting for their children. Most of the kids and their parents say thank you before they leave.

The departure of the last kid and car is the teacher’s signal that it is time to go home and get dinner – until another car pulls into the parking lot. This happened to me, and my first thought was that I’d forgotten a student (despite having called the roll prior to leaving).

A very attractive young woman got out of the car and hurried across the parking lot towards where I was standing. When she reach reached me she embraced me and gave me a big hug! I checked and I still had a pulse. I hadn’t died and gone to heaven. It seems that she was a former student who had been with me on field trips years earlier. I hadn’t seen her since she was about 12 years old. When she approached the school and saw the kids and cars she realized what was happening and just wanted to stop and say hello.

Now that was a nice way to end a field trip!

Robert F. Welt of Mystic is a retired Groton Public Schools teacher.