Friday, February 7th, 2025

By Helen Blackburn

The Grade 8 graduating classes in recent years typically go on overnight trips to some far away city. Ottawa is one of the places often visited, sometimes Quebec City. Once I even heard of New York, and this spring, some Nottawa students went to France!

This is a far cry from the graduating Grade 8s of 1950. We had a ballgame with Dunedin, which was then a one-room school on Lavender Hill. We thought it the height of excitement.

We had no lavish graduating exercise, no lovely dress or elegant hair-dos, no speeches. On the last day of school, the bell didn’t go until about 10 am. We trooped in, sat expectantly, and the teacher said a few pleasant words and passed out report cards. For the Grade 8s, we received a certificate that stated we had passed the “Entrance” (meaning the entrance to high school). At our school, we were given a bottle of pop, which we drank, chattering all the while. We were dismissed and off we went, the happiest creatures on the planet.

The school year at Creemore Public School on Caroline Street, now called the Annex, was considerably duller than it appears to be in 2014.
For many of the school’s years, there were three rooms at the elementary level. There was no kindergarten, and Grades 1 and 2 were in the north room on the first level. Grades 3, 4 and 5 were in the southwest room, and Grades 6, 7 and 8 were in the southeast room. In the fall of 1948, a fourth room was added in what had been the girls’ playroom in the basement. The Grades were now neatly divided into two’s.

Although I said the school year seems to have been considerably duller than now, we did have some excitement. The first event of the school year was the School Fair. It was held in mid-September. There were two in Nottawasaga Township; one in Duntroon and one in Creemore. First thing in the morning, the children and their parents brought in items for judging. Entries ran from beets and carrots and annual flowers to grain samples and poultry. At about 10:30 am, the exhibit hall was closed so the judges could get to work.

The pupils then went to the park where there were races of all kind. Lunch was picnic-style followed by excited preparation for the parade. The students from Creemore had been drilled in marching. Those from one-room rural schools dressed up in parade attire, often made of crêpe paper. There was an award for the Best Dressed, Best Marching School. For many years, the parade was led by Hughie McLaughlin playing his bagpipes. We marched from the school on Caroline Street to Mill Street where we turned right, left onto Elizabeth Street and right into the park. We then lined up on the ball diamond. There, we did a ridiculous set of exercises called the Strathcona exercise. Various dignitaries made speeches and each school gave its school yell.

Next came a set of contests such as spelling, public speaking, and board sawing for boys and darning for girls. Also there was calf and sheep judging. By mid-afternoon we ran to the exhibit hall to check on the prizes we may have won, then to collect everything and go home.

Hard on the heels of the Fair came Field Day. This was serious business, with the racetrack marked in lanes. The primary grades had only a few events, but eventually all the events were available to the older pupils. We had shot put; ball throw; hop, step and jump; standing broad jump; running broad jump; high jump; and of course, races. We did our best and wore our winning ribbons proudly.

About the end of November, preparation began for the Christmas concert. Each room prepared for choir, plays, recitations and dances. The concert was held in the Town Hall, the building now partly used by Curiosity House Books. Our concerts were nights to remember. Last December, I wrote about the Christmas concerts in the Echo in more detail, so now I will move on to Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day was mainly about the Valentine’s box, which was emptied on the big day. A couple of designated postmen delivered the cards as we sat at our desks and decided how popular we were.

Easter vacation always came at Easter. There was no March Break. Often the winter term was unbearably long and students grew weary and unmotivated. The move to March Break was an excellent idea.

There was more excitement in June besides the Dunedin ballgame. The School Picnic was held on the last June Saturday before school closing. All the schools in Nottawasaga Township participated (this did not include Stayner). We went one year to the park in Creemore, the next to Sunset Point in Collingwood. There were races and hotly contested ballgames. Some of the schools were small so they were in their own league. Even though we are so proud of our Creemore Braves, the team doesn’t hold a candle to some of the school teams. Reporters for the local papers wrote about the home runs, errors and pitchers with tricky pitches. Races were held, the playground equipment was well used and the refreshment booth had long line-ups.

At Sunset Point, we were all thrilled to go swimming in the Bay, but found it to be icy cold – not at all like the warm waters of the Mad River. Many families took the day off from farm work and drove to the Picnic, often taking along neighbours. In Creemore at least, the local drover cleaned out his cattle truck, packed it with children and drove off to Collingwood. We’d never think of doing that now, but at the time it worked well.

Thursday, June 19 has now been designated for the closing ceremonies of the Caroline Street School. I certainly plan to be there and I hope you come and share your memories.

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