It is amazing how many wonderful people I have met giving my talk about my book.  Today I enjoyed a lovely meal at the Mandarin Olive Restaurant on Ogilvy Road as the invited guest of the Ottawa Newcomers Alumni Club.  At my table was a man named Dirk Paul.  He moved with his family from Holland to a farm in Gainsborough Township in the Niagara Penninsula.  He remembers his father walking him and his brother to S.S. No. 4 Gainsborough (Bismark School) on the first day, wrote their names and ages (11 & 9) on the blackboard, and then turned around and walked out leaving his two boys who didn’t speak a word of English.  He grew to love his little blue haired lovely teacher names Miss Cook.  This thin old lady managed to maintain discipline without the need for corporal punishment.  Unfortunately, her replacement, a new graduate, was unable to do the same.  Dirk remembers smoking in the basement, skating at lunch and returning late to class.  What a small world it was to learn that Dirk grew up, graduated in engineering from Queen’s University, and went to work for my father at Bell Canada in 1962.  He remembers coming to my house in Lachine, Quebec and listening to me and my siblings play the piano when we were little!

Brenda Maunder told me that her mother, Maybelle Koen, and her three sisters taught at the one-room schoolhouse in the Sydenham area north of Kingston.  Each sister taught two years, except her mother (who was the youngest) as she was getting married.  Each day she rode her horse bareback two kilometers to school and put the horse out in the little fenced in area.  At the end of the school day, she would send the big boys out to catch the horse so she could ride home.  Maybelle met her husband in Maynooth, north-west of Bancroft.  He was the principal and taught the older students in the two-room school, while she taught the younger students.

Mrs. Mamie Hill was Janet Wright’s teacher for the six years she attended Hill’s School, thirty miles north of Kingston near the village of Godfrey.  Janet started Grade 1 at Easter and was in Grade 2 by September.  She ended up skipping Grade 7 and often would help younger children with their spelling before she started high school in 1944.  Janet remembers putting up one finger for water and two fingers for the toilet.  If you wanted to talk to a classmate, you just had to wave your hand at the teacher.  Fridays were special.  Miss Hill had pictures of cities around the world placed on the walls inside the classroom.  If you got all 10-15 words right in the Spelling Bee, you got to “fly” to the next city.  Janet proudly professed that she “flew” around the world several times.  This was an excellent way to teach geography.  Janet told me the boys used to get the strap regularly for doing something bad like talking back, hitting a girl or using foul language.

Barbara Cresswell owned Hillhead School on the road between Barren Lake and Lachute, Quebec.  This school was built in 1840 and many children from Scottish ancestry went to school there.  She found a picture of school children in the attic.  Fortunately it wasn’t damaged when they had a fire in the house.

As mentioned in my book, there were French as well as English one-room schoolhouses in the Ottawa Valley.  I was surprised to learn that there was a German school near Hurdman’s bridge in Ottawa.  If anyone has more information about this school, I would love to hear from you.

A teacher in a one-room schoolhouse arrives one morning to find a nice
red apple on her desk with a tag tied to it saying T.O.T. Knowing that
she had some not-so-nice pranksters in her class, she cautiously asked,
Can someone explain what T.O.T. means? Mary in the front row raised her
hand to explain it means "To Our Teacher."

The next morning the teacher finds a bigger and prettier apple than the day before. This time there is a tag with T.O.T.W.L . written on it. She asks for an explanation for this note and little Johnny waves his hand to explain, that means "To Our Teacher With Love".

The next morning she arrives to find a great big watermelon sitting on her desk with a tag saying " F.U.C.K." Her jaw drops and she screams.  Who can explain this?"  Little Buckwheat in the back row raises his hand and says, that means, "From Us Colored Kids".

Fortunately, it was a lovely clear for David and I to drive to Renfrew this evening.  Heritage Renfrew had invited me to speak at their AGM at the Legion.  Even a member of the Renfrew local newspaper was there to record my presentation and buy a book.

It never fails that I cross paths with someone I’ve previously met.  Pauline Hughes was in attendance.  She, along with Lynn Clelland, continues to offer a wonderful program to Grade 3 students from Renfrew County schools at the restored one-room school, S.S. No. 2 Admaston (see p. 183 of my book).  Students are so fortunate to experience life in a one-room school circa 1900.

Pat Patterson told me that his wife, Margaret Jamieson, went to S.S. No. 5 Wilberforce, a one-room school near Lake Pore.  She told him that in the early 1940s, students brought jute potato bags to school.  Students would all go into farmers’ pastures and pick the cottony pods off the milkweeds.  The bags were picked up at school and they went away for the war effort, supposedly used to fill lifejackets.

Earl Martin went to S.S. No. 12 Westmeath on the road between Beachbury and Pembroke.  He had some lovely memorabilia on display and I hope he will send me some pictures and information I can add to my website.

Jim MacGregor went to S.S. No. 7 Douglas.  If anyone has any pictures or information about this school, please let me know.

Judi Luker Brisco attended Rosebank School (S.S. No. 8 Admaston) on Highway 17 from 1954-1962.  She said students were always under the impression that the inspector came to judge the students and they had to be on their best behaviour.  Her teacher, Mrs. Ivy Latendresse, for her first three years at Rosebank, eventually taught her daughter in Kindergarten twenty years later.

Aunt Luella was Bert Brisco’s teacher for eight years at the Northcote School (S.S. No. 6 Admaston – see page 61 of my book)   Discipline at his school was important and was fully supported by the parents.  He remembered that if he did anything improper, be it noisy, sloppy, bad language, talking back and if his mother found out, the punishment was worse at home than at school.  And with one sister and two brothers at school at the same time that he was, his Mom always found out!!!

My first speaking engagement in the New Year was at Riverpark Place Retirement Residence in Ottawa.  It is a beautiful facility overlooking the Ottawa River.  There was a good crowd to listen to me, and as luck would have it, I reconnected with two people I hadn’t seen in awhile….both former students in one-room schools.

The first person was Graham Ritchie whose story appears on page 121 of my book.  He recounted his fun rolling tires down a hill at S.S. No. 2 Gloucester, laden with apples from a nearby orchard.  Of course the apples would go flying in all directions.  Graham purchased another book for his son Neill, who is currently the owner of Ritchie Feed & Seed.  http://www.ritchiefeed.com/

The second person was Doug Fleming.  Doug used to manage many large craft shows around the Ottawa Valley.  My parents and I used to sell hand-crafted jewelry, china painting, knitting and woodcarving at some of his shows.  Doug was a former pupil at Sadler’s School (S.S. No. 2 Pakenham) from 1939-1945.  He informed me the school is now a home.  All his memorabilia from that time is now at the Archives Lanark at Drummond Centre.

A couple of other people I met were Teresa Robson (Chevrier) who attended S.S. No. 5 Morrison Township in Gavenhurst, Ontario and Kathi Timmins who went to S.S. No. 22 Mountain from 1960-1967.  This was a two-room school.  Every winter her Dad (who owned the General Store) and a farmer would take turns flooding the school yard so that the children could have a skating rink.  Then the community would have a winter carnival with hot dogs, homemade baked goods and candies, and of course skating races.

Happy New Year everyone!  Thank you to everyone who has sent messages, telephone calls, bought books and emailed me this year.  Researching about one-room schoolhouses has been such a fulfilling experience.   The people I've met through this experience have enriched my life.  I hope I have done the same for them.

I was so pleased to receive a Christmas card from Judy Jesse.  She is on the Southern Door School Archives Committee and sent me a lovely picture of the newly restored Waniger School in Brussels, Wisconcin.  The doors to this school will be open for children to experience education in a one-room school.  Jesse tells me it is much fun sharing memories and facts with students and how excited they are to get involved.

It is fun sharing past experiences.  Keep those stories coming in the new

Last week, I was the guest speaker at the Smiths Falls Lions Club Christmas Party.  Everyone was so welcoming.  The dinner was delicious (served by students) and the room was festively adorned.  We also had fun stealing presents during a gift exchange.  After I spoke, a lady mentioned, upon learning that I was to talk about one-room schoolhouses, said she was not looking forward to my presentation.  Apparently I won her over as she now found my subject of interest fascinating too.  Perhaps it was because I looked fascinating wearing my fascinator!

Does anyone have any pictures or information about the one-room school Piperville Public in Gloucester South near Carlsbad Springs?

Yesterday, I was in the middle of the hustle and bustle at the Fisher Park Community Centre Christmas Craft Fair.  I met people who had attended one-room schools in Ontario, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island.

Gwen Du Vall Boyles told me a great story during her time at a one-room school outside of Chrysler.  In 1962, her family moved from Cornwall to this rural community.  As this was primarily a French-speaking area, the English children were bused by the local post master, Leo McGillvery, to the one-room school off Highway 43.  The children derived a unique way to ensure they had more time outside to play baseball.  In the spring, they would pick the wild garlic and leeks and stuff as much as possible in and on top of the stove.  By the time the teacher arrived in the morning, there was quite a distinct smell that required everyone to be outside until it abated.  Gwen also recalls frying dew worms on the stove during the rainy weather.

June Akins told me she attended S.S. No. 11 Goulbourn from 1945-1952. As she thumbed through my book, she noticed several people that she knew.

Arriving from London, England to live in a rural community outside of Pembroke near Lake Dore was quite a shock for a minister’s son.  Tom Busing attended Rankin School from 1949-1951 before moving on to his father’s next charge.

As each school in Manitoba came into existence, they were numbered.  Jim Lowe went to No. 544, otherwise known as the Springbrook School in Austin, Manitoba (1947-1955).  He feels he was blessed with excellent teachers.  He spoke fondly of Miss Pasco who was probably only 18 years old when she taught him.  Even though this ‘permit teacher’ didn’t have the teaching certificate from the Manitoba Normal School, she had come from a teaching family and did an wonderful job with her charges.

Gordon Mackenzie was there at the Rose Valley School in Prince Edward Island.  Later his son, Brian attended in 1965 uIt was located between Charlottetown and Summerside in Queen’s County on Lot 67.  The island was divided into lots, and there was a school every three miles so children could walk to them before they were bused to high school in Charlottetown.  Gordon used to throw a big log into the stove to knock out the back of it so the kids would be sent home.  Brian told me of another pupil getting the strap for writing a bad word in the dirt of the teacher’s car.

I'm in the process of updating my website with information about the schools in the Front of Escott Township, obtained from the Leeds and 1000 Islands Historical Society.  Bill Boulton gave me a lot of information that I'll share with you soon (once I type it all out). 

I had a pleasant 300km return trip to Lansdowne, near Kingston.  Many people in the audience I spoke to went to one-room schools in Canada and the United States. 

Margie Clark went to Coles Hill School in Halley, New York.  She remembers a couple of boys wrapping two spotted adler snakes around the handle of the teahcer's car doors!  She was grateful for being born on a farm and going to a one-room schoolhouse.

John Zimmer remembers making bags of newspapers to go to the soldiers in hospital during World War II and wondered if anyone else recalls doing that in school too.  They were placed on the side of the soldier's bed in case they threw up.

Evangeline Chisamore attended S.S. No. 16 - Dulcemaine School from 1938-1946.  Her mother, Eula Patience, attended there with her twin sister, Liza.  She felt she received a good education and remembers the older students helping the younger ones.

Parks Canada has taken over the Genadier Island School, located on Genadier Island in the Thousand Islands.  It is still standing.  A summer resident, Anne Thaxter Eaton, donated most of the books in the school library.

I was delighted to receive the following email about schools in Door County, Wisconcin:

Four years ago, our Southern Door School Archives volunteers were gifted a  one room schoolhouse, which we moved to Southern Door School property and just recently completed the restoration.  We are having so much fun having classes visit and learning how different education was like.  A friend sent me the Little Red Schoolhouse web site and through that I discovered you.  I can't wait to get your book to read and share.  This is my Christmas present to me!  Our restoration project was so rewarding, but now we are realizing that the fun is just starting.

Our School Archives group was formed about ten years ago, with the purpose of preserving the history of all the early schools in our school district.  This has been such a fun project and we have uncovered 37 schools to date.  This generated a project I was involved in this past summer with our local Door County WI Historical Museum, researching all the early schools in Door County, which today total 97, which is quite a few for our little county.  It's exciting to see all the interest this has generated!    
Judy Jesse