The Rural Voice, 1980-12, Page 9Memories of the one room school
Christmas concerts at Greenbush and Salem
BY GISELE IRELAND
Yesterday . . . things we remember
and things we would sooner forget.
Blazing vividly in the hearts of parents,
teachers and former pupils are memories
made in the one room schoolhouse -
especially the annual Christmas Concert.
No matter that there was no place to sit,
that the room swam with bodies, either
actively involved in the concert or
watching, that the room was overheated
by the box stove belching temperature
higher and higher with no thermostat.
Many a helper chalked the stencils and
tried to cover the helper next to him at the
same time. The decorations were made
by the pupils, which meant they had to
be imaginative but inexpensive. The
combination worked beautifully as colour-
ful paper chains, strings of popcorn and
cranberries and little treasures from
home decorated the tree. The tree always
had to reach the ceiling, and was usually
cedar. The aroma of cedar coupled with
the fragrance of wood burning in the
stove filled the entire room.
All ready for a concert at Salem school in 1938: Rena Miller,
Marguerite Jamieson and Vincent Austin.
These things were secondary to the fact
that all were gathered together on this
occasion to watch their children
performing the miracles of the Christmas
season.
All of a sudden, the plainest child wore
a beautiful glow, the most monotone
voices were raised in perfect harmony to
sing the familiar and well -loved songs of
the season. On this one particular night,
every child that attended that school was
a star.
Pearl Whitehead taught in the Salem
public school from 1946 and the Culross
#4 school until 1952. She averaged
anywhere from 18 to 42 pupils in a year.
Mrs. Whitehead fondly recalls the days of
preparation required to put on a
successful concert. All the blackboards
were decorated with stencils filled in with
chalk. Imagine the little ones saturating
brushes with chalk and banging them on
the stencils to get the outline.
Catherine Sinnett,
The concerts were held by lantern -
light as most of the schools were not
equipped with hydro until the late 1950's.
Jean McIntyre taught in the one room
schools from 1926 until 1965. She spent
from 1933 until 1965 in S.S.#8 Minto
school known as Greenbush. Miss
McIntyre recalls one concert where she
read the play and the children acted the
parts in mime. The actions of the children
doing the performing were so hilarious
that Miss McIntyre had trouble reading
the script because she was convulsed
with laughter watching the little actors.
Every child, no matter what his talents
or lack of them, got a chance to perform.
In a way it was the only chance they
would get to exhibit their talents in
public.
The concerts helped the community
evaluate the quality of the teacher.
Teachers agreed that they were judged
by the concerts they produced at
Christmastime. Teachers often had
pupils for successive years, and the
empathy developed between teacher and
student was a special bond. You were
aware of shyness, of speech difficulty, of
personality differences and worked with
them and around them but you never
ignored them.
The teachers always received gifts
from the students at Christmas. Often
these gifts were made or little treasures
purchased. You would be astounded to
know how many teachers have kept
certain little mementoes to the present
day. Each has a pleasant or humourous
memory attached to it.
Mrs. Whitehead always tried to find a
gift for the school that all the students
could use. It could be a handcranked
victrola, equipment to play with outside
or books that all the children could enjoy.
The concerts came to a close at the
same time the one room schools came to
an end. Now the children attend large
central schools.
Students of yesterday, and parents of
today watch their children in concerts
now and memories wing back to the night
that they too stood up in front of loved
ones and rejoiced in the telling of the
Christmas Story.
Of Christmas Past
BY GISELE IRELAND
BILL MILLEN, retired farmer now
living in Teeswater.
Bill remembers Christmas in the
1920's. Money then was scarce and the
gifts received at this time were things
that you needed like scribblers and
pencils and articles of clothing. He says
that toys were rare, and the ones received
were always home made. _
New Year's celebration. always
included home made cider and
schwartelmagen. This is a mixture of
pork and spices smoked in a pig's
stomach. The goose was reserved for
Christmas dinner ... A lot of people still
serve goose at Christmas but not too
many experience the smoked delicacy of
days gone by washed down with home
made cider. Perhaps our capacity for
these treats enjoyed then is as rare as the
characters who blasted the old year out.
THE RURAL VOICE/DECEMBER 1980 PG. 7