S.S.#3 Peel School has been closed for nearly 50 years, but former students seem to remember their time there like it was yesterday.
“There are lots of good memories,” Alice Martin (nee Brubacher) said on Aug. 14.
Martin was one of about a dozen former students who gathered last week at the farm of Carl and Carolyn Israel, located southeast of Conestogo Lake on the 4th Line of former Peel Township just up the road from the one-room school, which now forms part of a private residence.
The group gathered to reminisce and discuss the details for Sept. 12, when the Israel farm will host a much larger crowd.
About 190 former students and teachers were invited to the school reunion, and organizers expect about 125 to 150 to attend the event, with people ranging in age from 55 to 93 and coming from all over Ontario and as far away as British Columbia, Virginia, and Colorado.
In 1889, one acre of land on the 4th Line was severed from the 100 acre farm of James Sturgeon McDowell and sold by McDowell to the school board. The earliest known teacher was Ella Leslie in 1917, at age 21.
About 30 to 48 students, in grades 1 through 8, attended the school each year, with one teacher in charge of them all. Former students said the teacher would instruct younger students while the older ones read or completed work on the chalk board, and vice versa. Often the older students would help their younger classmates.
The room was split down the middle by a large furnace, which also served as a makeshift drier for hats, scarves and mitts in the winter.
“We used to say, ‘It stinks in here, because someone’s mitts are almost on fire,’” Elaine McMahon (nee Foerster) said with a laugh, eliciting nods of agreement and chuckles from others.
Also helping students warm up in the winter was the free Campbell’s soup they prepared every Friday.
During the colder months students enjoyed toboganning and skating, and a yearly treat was the student gift exchange. Martin said she still has several items from the exchanges, including her favourite – a picture story book she received in grade 1 (1959) from grade 8 student Laverne Logel, who was also in attendance last week.
But without a doubt, the highlight of the winter season was the annual Christmas show, preparation for which began in November. Wires and bed sheets formed the curtains, which were pulled back to reveal students in homemade costumes performing duets, presentations, and plays of all sorts. The event also included a visit from Santa Claus.
In warmer months, three huge windows on either side of the building were opened and, if it was really hot, class would sometimes be held outside under a tree.
Students kept their own garden, which was judged by the local 4-H Club, and during recess female students kept busy by skipping while the boys spent most of their time playing baseball. Often a game of “Aunty Over the Shanty” – which involved throwing a ball over the school roof, with a team on either side trying to capture the other side – would break out, with both boys and girls taking part.
Most former students last week shared fond memories of the school’s annual summer picnic, which included races, games, prizes, tons of food, and ice cream brought in from nearby Glen Allan.
“It was the social event of the summer,” said Brian Mitchell, adding entire families attended the event.
Many also fondly recalled winning several musical contests at annual festivals in Drayton and Moorefield under the guidance of travelling music teachers Barbara Wildfang and Jack McFarlane.
Also travelling to and from the school on a regular basis was a library of sorts. The Peel school had an old walnut stained cupboard with glass doors that held many books, but they were on a constant rotation with other township schools.
Caretaker Tobias Brubacher – who, with his wife, Leah, once owned the 99 acre farm surrounding the school and even bought the one school acre in 1960 – was a fixture at the school from 1941 to 1960.
Teachers, who often boarded with local families, often had a difficult time dealing with so many students from different age groups. Former students agreed that female teachers often had a very difficult time with male students, who were easily bored and would misbehave.
“Some of the teachers looked younger than the older kids,” Mitchell said, explaining part of the problem.
At least one teacher had to take an extended hiatus due to what former students called a “nervous breakdown,” though the men last week joked the female students also played a role in her alleged mental illness.
Don Foerster explained a few of the boys – himself included – were deemed so disruptive, they had to be shipped off for a year or two to the schools in Glen Allan or Alma, which at the time had male teachers. They later returned to S.S.#3 Peel school when it had a male teacher of its own.
One very interesting turn of events last week came when Martin presented to Mitchell his grade 4 reader, complete with his signature. Apparently Martin’s mother years ago had discovered the book at a sale and purchased it with the goal of one day re-uniting the book with its rightful owner.
Other random memories relayed to the Advertiser included:
– raising money for “the poor” through the Red Cross;
– being creeped out by the jars of frog legs at the school, which were apparently left behind by past students completing some sort of science experiment; and
– a small plane crashing near the school.
The last graduates from S.S#3 Peel were in the class of 1959-60. The arrival of a large number of Dutch immigrants to the area following World War II did result in an influx of new students, but enrollment at the school had otherwise been in decline over its last decade of existence.
The opening of Centre Peel Public School on the Sixth Line, east of County Road 12, likely also helped to expedite S.S.#3’s closure.
Organizers are hoping to recapture some of the memories from the old school at the reunion, which will take place rain or shine (there is a large shed if it rains) on Sept. 12 at 1pm at the Israel’s farm on the 4th Line.
In addition to any school memories, photos, and artifacts, those attending are also asked to bring a lawn chair, their own drinks, an item for the pot luck supper (which will be held at 4:30pm) and a free will offering to help offset costs. If there is any profit, it will be donated to a local charity.
For more information contact Carl and Carolyn Israel at 519-638-2486 or Brian Mitchell at 519-669-5382.
