Great memories of S.S. No. 3 Kincardine Township – Hillsdale School

I wonder if any other school in Kincardine Township was as well-built and maintained as our school was, in my eyes. The date inscribed high in the wall between the entrance doors is 1910 and I’m happy to know that the building, still standing proudly on the corner of the Southline and the Millarton Sideroad (Concession 2SDR and Sideroad 10, Lot 20), is serving as a private residence.



Hillsdale School

The first school, built about 1865, sat at the top of the hill on the opposite side of the road. That’s where the well was from which the big boys carried a pail of water each morning until the trustees installed the necessary pipes and plumbing under the road. However, in my memory, I see only the pail sitting on a corner shelf with the enamel dipper that we all shared.

I was fortunate that I didn’t have to go out to an outdoor toilet. But even the indoor ones for boys and for girls had tanks that required cleaning out. I remember Daddy and other trustees dealing with that task. There was always a cap or two found that had been pitched down in some teasing or arguing event.

Of course, there were blackboards across the front of the room and around the corner to the right. Near one side, was a cracked blotch where Dorothy Stewart was said to have thrown an inkwell at the head of someone whose teasing had upset her. Either that person ducked in time or her aim was not perfect.





 


















The teacher’s desk on the low platform provided a handy cubbyhole for a hiding place during Hide and Seek games or for the home of the Town or Country Mouse when that playlet was being performed.

The pupils’ desks, of various sizes, were mounted on slats that allowed them to be pushed about as we wished for co-operating on projects, at party or concert time, or for a thorough floor cleaning when we sprinkled the dust-bane around on Arbour Day.
On the east wall, were the piano and several benches where we lined up for opening exercises – a hymn from the little brown book - Roy Fenwick’s Hymns For Schools - and the Royal Anthem or when the itinerant music teacher arrived. In my day it was R. C. Ireland.



A class photo shows, in the back, Harvey Orr (left), Lois Orr, June Stewart, teacher Eileen Huston, Ila Stewart; and in the front, Delbert Stewart (left), Bernice Stewart, Janet Farrell, Glenda Farrell, Ruth Anne Hollands, and Billie Stewart; absent, is Gail Hollands

In the corner next to the boys’ cloakroom, on the west wall, was a large workbench with a vice attached at one end. We had coping saws, brushes and paint for building birdhouses or whatever project we had in mind.

We were lucky to have several shelves and cupboards for books although there were never enough to satisfy my need for reading material. I must have read the Elsie series a dozen times!

The big, high, round stove which stood in the middle near the back of the room, kept us quite warm and dried our mitts and hats on the railing and our boots underneath.

We had ample space to play in the large yard surrounded by young maple trees.

At the back corner of the school, two tall pines supported a swing. We played Prisoner’s Base and Scrub on the east side for the other side was not mowed regularly.

When chestnuts were ripe, we threaded a string through and had contests to see if anyone could “Ante” their missile over the high roof of the school. I think it was Delbert Stewart who had a long, fancy, blue shoelace one year that took his chestnut to enviable heights.

On stormy days, we didn’t have to brave the cold or rain to get out of the classroom. The basement had a cement floor and provided lots of room for games, such as May I and Red Rover.

We skated or played hockey on the ice on ponds in the field behind the school. Sometimes, after a thaw, there would be more water than ice and we would be warned to stay away from the flooded area. One day, I did not heed the warning and I slid on my backside into the water. I was glad I had not worn my pajamas under my pants that noon hour but embarrassed when I had to sit for the rest of the day in my PJs.

It is not only the spelling or geography lessons that we remember well from our school days!

January, 2022
Ruth Anne Hollands Robinson