of The Retired Teachers of New Brunswick
Published by New Brunswick Teachers’ Association P.O. Box 752, Fredericton, N.B. E3B 5R6
Fall 2004 Vol. XXII, No. 1
ISSN 0847-1703
TABLE OF CONTENTS EDITORIAL TABLE OFFICERS BRANCH NEWS BRANCH REPORTS NBSRT BIENNIAL INFORMATION ACER/CART REPORT “SCHOOL DAYS” MUSEUM TRIBUTES
Madeline Carter Claud Black
3 5 6 16 20 22 24 26 27
Mary Sprague
28 28 29 31 32 33 34 35 37
PROFILES
Laura Smith Edna Ellis
FEATURES
There’s a Panther Under Your Apple Tree Birthday Party Reaches New Heights Schooltime Memories Feisty Former Teacher Still Going Strong at 100 Reader Still Carries Readers In Her Head
IN MEMORIAM
NBSRT SECRETARY : Faye Brophy • 11300 Rte.8 • Upper Blackville • N.B. • E1V 1Z3 • (506) 843-2356 REFLECTIONS STAFF Co-editors George Little 64 Gibbon Road Rothesay, N.B. E2H 1R2 (506) 847-8374 Larry McPhee 64 Lyden Drive Quispamsis, N.B. E2E 4J3 (506) 849-8276 Finance Chairman Ron Grey 40 Chester Drive Wicklow, N.B. E7L 3V4 Tel. (506) 392-6373) Circulation Manager Evelyn Long 60 Woodfield Drive Grafton, N.B. E7N 1P9 Tel. (506) 325-2729
BRANCH CORRESPONDENTS
324 Main St., Apt. 2 Hartland, N.B. E7P 2M8 Central Diane Flynn 38 Simcoe Court Fredericton, N.B. E3B 2W9 Charlotte John Perry 326 Victoria Terrace Rd. St. Andrews, N.B. E5B 1R9 Kings Carol Wilson 534 Gondola Pt. Rd. Quispamsis, N.B. E2E 1E7 Miramichi Shirley MacDiarmid 12 Rigley Avenue Miramichi, N.B. E1N 1S8 (506) 773-5976 Moncton Ms. Jackie Drillio 32 Henry Street Moncton, N.B. E1C 5B7 (506-382-3763) Port Elgin Mrs. Helen V. Walton
6 Lansdowne St., Unit 9 Sackville, N.B. E4L 3Y8 (506-536-1332) Restigouche Mrs. Shirley Berthelot 208 Roseberry Street Campbellton, N.B. E3N 2H5 (506-753-7377) Saint John Ms. Carol M. Harris 636 Ready Street Saint John, N.B. E2M 3S5 (506-672-4259) Victoria-Tobique Emily deMerchant 70 Larley Road Tobique Narrows, N.B. E7H 2S2 (506-273-6587) e-mail: emaedem@nbnet.nb.ca
Views expressed in Reflections are not necessarily those of the co-editors or of the staff. An attempt is made to publish three issues of Reflections a year: fall, winter and spring. The year ends in May.
A year's subscription is $10.00. Subscriptions may be paid as follows: 1. Through the local branches at their annual meetings, or 2. Directly to one of the Reflections staff, preferably the Finance Chairman, Mr. Ron Grey. The Co-Editors rely heavily on the Branch Correspondents for material for the publication. Therefore they hope each Branch continues to keep the position filled so that the magazine will be truly representative of its readership. All correspondents deserve a vote of thanks for their contributions.
Bathurst Elva Dempsey 4116 Cape Road Salmon Beach, N.B. E2A 6C2 (506) 546-3857 elvad@nb.sympatico.ca Carleton John Glass
Typesetter: Loretta Clarke Graphic Artist: Christy Price Printed by: NBTF Printing Services
Note to Correspondents: Please mail copy for next issue no later than DECEMBER 1, 2004.
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EDITORIAL
Time Sure Flies
Where did the summer go? Here we are into that most beautiful of New Brunswick’s seasons with its unimaginable variety of colours, its fresh crisp days and cool nights - and it seems like we haven’t had any summer to separate us Co-Editor from what passes here for Larry McPhee spring. It’s not just that this summer had more than its usual share of cold wet days. It’s the same every year whatever the weather - the elasticity of time always catches up with us about now.. We first discovered this as children when we noticed that the ten endless weeks we faced at the end of June was a much longer, mathematically an incalculably longer time than the two and a half minute months that had suddenly disappeared by the time September came around. And it continued to amaze us all our years as teachers. School was out and there were all those endless days stretching ahead of us; then WHOOSH! - it was Labour Day . How it managed in its precipitous rush not to collide with Canada Day was an annual mystery. And the puzzle continues, or so it seems, into the retirement years. Even though the onrush of Back to School fliers - there is surely a conspiracy to flood our mailboxes with them earlier every year - has a slightly less urgent feeling, now that most of their special offers are less of a concern to us. After all we don’t need to rush around anymore, as we did in our working days spending our own money on the supplies that school authorities acknowledge are necessary but can’t see their way to paying for. Yet there is still that itchy feeling about those disappearing late August days. We may go to bed in those used-to-be sleepless nights as Labour Day approaches with more pleasure and less nervous anticipation than we did when another year of pedagogic challenges loomed before us. But all those years of First Day Back have surely left their mark and the sheer surprise of the vanished summer still lingers, even when we have long since moved
FALL 2004
on from our classroom duties. Fall of course still has its own kind of excitements for many retirees. Just to judge from the many reports people send us of the activities our members busy themselves with in Co-Editor and retirement, at this time of ACER/CART Director, year many retirees rev up George Little the engines that have been idling all summer and shift into the gears required of them by the countless volunteer jobs, committee memberships, bowling leagues, and crafts, not to mention the new careers that many of them have undertaken. We take this opportunity to wish them well - new retirees as well as those long practised in the arts of gainful unemployment. May every elastic hour be as long as you need it to be to fulfil new endeavours and new goals.
Mark Your Calendar
The New Brunswick Society of Retired Teachers Biennial will be held May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th, 2005 in Sussex, N.B. A time for business meeting friends, social events, and fun. Your directors will have information this fall. Plan now. Gordon Lewis Chair of Host Committee
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Looking for a Great Gift?
If you are wondering how to remember friends or family members who are retired or just retiring teachers, consider giving them our NBSRT lapel pin as a tangible memento of their service. They are uniquely designed and locally crafted in pewter and feature our “bell” emblem. They are only ten dollars ($10) and may be ordered through your branch treasurer or directly from:
NBSRT JACKETS
These navy blue jackets with silver NBSRT handbell logo and member’s initials on left sleeve may be ordered through Pat McCluskey. Send required details - initials and size (Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large and Extra Plus) - these jackets tend to run small - with cheque for $44 (that includes $6 for mailing) to: Pat McCluskey, 103 Henderson St., Miramichi, N.B. E1N 2R8.
Ron Grey, Treasurer, Reflections 40 Chester Drive Wicklow, N.B. E7L 3V4 (506) 392-6373
A Teacher Thanks Frank M
This was written back in the ‘90’s when McKenna was king. Have things changed any? (To the tune of “16 tons”, of course.)
A teacher’s life is full of migraines, With thirty-three students with twenty-two brains. They’ll add three others as soon as they can To break down the system is the government plan.
Chorus:
It’s twenty-four hours marking ninety-five tests A weekend free is matter for jests My arches have flattened and I’ve twisted my spine I’d have a nervous breakdown but I can’t find time. Chorus: If you see me coming, please step aside I might not see you for my eyeballs are fried I feel really shaky, need to get to the john But I can’t leave the room till my class has gone. Chorus:
Chorus: You teach thirty-three kids, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter don’t you call me ‘cause I’m not free I sold my soul for a teacher’s degree.
I love my students but they don’t love me, And there’s one loud parent who’s an S.O.B. Like every lost sinner who wants to preach Every dumb politician tells me how I should teach. Chorus: A can of sardines is the meat that I carve A teacher’s degree is a license to starve I can’t match inflation or the rise in rent “Cause my last big raise was a half a per cent.
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Stuart Mills retired in 1994. Yes, I miss those students.
REFLECTIONS
NBSRT TABLE OFFICERS — 2004- 2005
Past President Claudia McKiel 1456 Route 114 Lower Coverdale, N.B. E1J 1J6 President Duncan McGeachy 45 McGeachy Lane Oak Haven, N.B. E3L 3J5 1st Vice-President Roger Nesbitt 5 Keith Court Quispamsis, N.B. E2E 4P3 2nd Vice-President Larry McPhee 64 Lyden Drive Quispamsis, N.B. E2E 4J3 Secretary Gail Brown 5 Wayne Court Quispamsis, N.B. E2G 1E8 Treasurer Doug Spinney 353 Dufferin Row Saint John, N.B. E2M 2J7 Membership Secretary Faye Brophy 11300 Route 8 Upper Blackville, N.B. E1V 1Z3
386-0098
847-2570
466-5401
672-8567
847-5317
843-2356
849-8276
Claudia McKiel
Duncan McGeachy
Roger Nesbitt
Larry McPhee
Photo Unavailable
Gail Brown
FALL 2004
Doug Spinney
Faye Brophy
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BRANCH NEWS
BATHURST
The Bathurst Branch of NBSRT continued monthly activities from January to May. On January 13, lawyer Kathy Quigg spoke on “Wills and Estate Planning”. On February 10 a potluck lunch was held with red and white décor on the tables. This was followed by a presentation by Monique Rousseau who explained Government Pensions for Seniors. March 9 was a regular business meeting followed by a fun auction with The Rosehill Leprechaun as auctioneer. On April 13 a fashion show with models wearing vintage clothing was a highlight. This was followed by a tea complete with dainty goodies, fine china and gentlemen servers all “decked out”. May 11 was the Annual Meeting when most of our Executive and Chairpersons retained their positions. Ron Smith was appointed Provincial Director and Janet Arseneau assumed chair of the Social Committee. Our year ended with a Lobster Dinner held in Christ Church Anglican Hall in Clifton. The Bathurst High School Choir, composed of students and four teachers, entertained with a number of selections.At this meet, each NBSRT member received a Branch Newsletter with dates and description of activities already planned for meets from September 2004 until May 2005.
Kathy Quigg receives Certificate of Appreciation from Francis Goguen.
Some of the retirees who benefited from Kathy Quigg’s presentation: Marguerite Kane, Bella White, Marg Demmings, Marg Teed, Joan Smith
Other retirees at Kathy Quigg’s presentation: (Back) Ron MacMillan, Lena O’Connell, Brian Newman; (Front) Michael White, Bernice Gammon, Natalie DeGrace, Gail White
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Some attendees at the February 10 potluck: Don Crozier, Marie Grant, Gail White, Mary Goguen, Francis Goguen, Ann Crozier, Janet Arseneau, Gerry Arseneau
REFLECTIONS
Jean Smith thanks Monique Rousseau for her presentation.
Pat MacIntosh - The Rosehill Leprechaun
Birthdays March/April 2004: Bernice Gammon, Pat MacIntosh, Marg Demmings, Anita Sealy, Clara Daley, Brian Newman
Vintage Fashion Show
Mary Goguen
Sharon Derouaux
FALL 2004
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Anatalie DeGrace
Edith Clouston
Helen Norton
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Mary Goguen and Julia Kyle
REFLECTIONS
CARLETON Pauline Forrest Bursary Awarded
Every year the Carleton Branch presents a bursary to a deserving student from the county in honour of long time executive member Pauline Forrest, a life member of the NBSRT. This year’s winner of the award was Delta A. Holder, a secondyear student at the Woodstock Campus of the NBCC. Lawrence Farrell, the Carleton Branch First Vice-President, made the presentation to Ms. Holder at the Community College’s Awards Ceremony in March.
he carried the added responsibility of being head coach of the Varsity Girls team and in 1967 he accomplished the unprecedented feat of coaching both teams to the provincial interscholastic titles. With the transformation of Centreville to an intermediate school in 1977, Frank moved to accept an administrative position with the new Carleton North High School in Bristol. Although he earned his IABBO referee rating in 1973, it was not until 1977 that he was able to find the time to referee a full schedule. All recipients of the Willox Award have to be nominated, and fellow referee and former student Vernon Thomas performed this duty for Frank Cluff. In his nomination he noted that: " Since 1977, Frank’s rapport with coaches, players and officials has served him well on the courts while refereeing at all levels within the province." And Peter DeMerchant, Secretary Treasurer of the NBAABO and assigning officer for the zone, accepting Cluff’s nomination declared " Frank’s selection is long overdue and well merited."
CHARLOTTE
Lawrence Farrell, First Vice-President, Carleton Branch, presents the Pauline Forrest Bursary to Delta A. Holder.
Frank Cluff Receives Wink Willox Award
Each year the Canadian Association of Basketball Officials (CABO) presents the Willox award to a deserving official in each province of Canada, who has provided a "significant" length of service to the basketball community. Long time physical education teacher and administrator, Frank Cluff, has been involved in virtually all facets of the game in Carleton County for nearly four decades, so he more than meets the criteria. After graduating from Woodstock High School, Frank moved on to further his education at UNB, graduating in 1965. He returned to Carleton County and accepted the position of physical education teacher at Centreville Regional High School. The next twelve years he spent as head coach of the school’s Varsity Boys basketball team. Over those years he produced ten first place teams, with eight appearances in the provincial finals and five New Brunswick championships. During his first two years
FALL 2004
Fall Luncheon, Thursday, June 3, 2004, Tower Hill Community Hall: (l-r) Herb Duplissea - 2nd Vice-President; Ruth Williams, Ralph Williams 1st Vice-President and Director; Duncan McGeachy - Museum Rep and Provincial President NBSRT; Flo McGeachy, Jane Garnett President; and Marguerette Mitchell Secretary/Treasurer. As part of the program, Marguerette told many humourous anecdotes of her years in Spain.
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Tower Hill Luncheon: (l-r) Donna Mitchell, Norma Perry, Marguerette Mitchell and Peter Mitchell, former colleagues at Vincent Massey Elementary School in St. Andrews.
The good word on family Bibles
Shirley O’Neill finds more than the word of God in Bibles. Her pet project is called Charlotte County One - The Collecting and Organizing of Material Found from Bibles. Inside family Bibles wonderful things have been tucked away such as a letter from New York listing an entire United Empire Loyalist’s family history back to 1783, she says. “Several Bibles were previously donated to the Charlotte County archives, so I took on the job of copying the statistics pages. I put them in a binder using plastic sleeves for each set of pages. The project just grew from that beginning ... “Several have been promised to me when they have more time, so I am in hopes of obtaining more,” she says. Shirley, a retired school teacher, is a volunteer with the Charlotte County Genealogical Society, a branch of the parent New Brunswick organization. Incidents besides vital dates were recorded in the family Bible, too, she says, such as “Burton house fire, 1854, got the Bible out!” Bible records of the Abbot and Bixby families were among the bequests of the Bixby descendants to their housekeeper, Ruby Hovey, whose descendants in turn donated them to the archives. Other family Bibles provided to Shirley so far include: Armstrong/Hannaford, Brown, Cook, Craig, Dickinson, Dinsmore, Dyer, Farnham, Fraser (including Parker, Jenkins), Gilmor/Hanson, Grearson/Hoyt, Hill, Lee, Leslie, Johnson, Mann, Maxwell ,McAllister, McCullough, McCurdy, Mears,Moulton/Parker, Nixon, Norris/Brickson, O’Brien/Seelye, O'Halloran, Olmstead/Bannon, Phillips/Connacher, Rose, Ross, Simpson, Stinson/McMaster, Stuart, Trenholm and Young/Hazen.
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Shirley photocopies the “cover” page which shows the date and where the Bible was published. She also copies the actual entries recorded in different writing styles and different inks. In genealogy, Shirley explains, these records are considered a primary source because the recorded information was written at the time of the event (marriage, birth, death and more). Shirley’s most exciting moment in her genealogy research also includes a Bible. “Several years ago I hand-copied the family names from an old Bible from an old rural schoolhouse that I saw in a St. Stephen gift shop. Years went by, but I kept those names. Finally a query came to the archives. I recognized the Murray surnames at once because I had earlier tried in vain to find them. Two Murray women flew into Saint John from Santa Barbara, California, stayed a week in St. Stephen, then flew back home with the Bible. They had it rebound. I still correspond with them.” More recently, Shirley got great pleasure from being able to supply the death dates of a St.George couple to a descendant. “They had given up the hope of finding it.” Shirley continues to collect and record information from Charlotte County family Bibles and information from the project is available to researchers.Contact: Shirley O’Neill, Tel. (506) 529-3658, e-mail: soneill@nbnet.nb.ca (Lifestyles, Telegraph-Journal, June 26,2004)
MONCTON
Shown are members of the Committee for Retirement Banquet, held May 31st at the Delta Beauséjour for teachers in the Moncton area retiring in 2004. Forty retiring teachers, their families and friends attended the gala affair.
From l-r are: Mary Delahunt, Gail Chartrand, Bev English (Teacher Liaison), Marg Trainor, Brenda Steeves, and Anne McLean (Chair). Missing is Marg Cheyne. All committee members except Bev retired in 2003.
REFLECTIONS
Rendez-Vous 2004
Last June members of the Teachers’ College Class of ‘53 celebrated their big 50th. This year everyone decided to meet again in Moncton because our Saint John Reunion was so much fun. We assembled at the Chateau Moncton on June 4 for a wine and cheese and the next day took a boat tour on the Cocgagne River and Shediac Bay. Events ended with our Reunion Dinner at the Hotel. A committee of six, headed by Leona Cormier, worked diligently all through the spring months to make this reunion a success
Restigouche Morin stepping down as principal of L.E.R.
Longtime L.E. Reinsborough School principal Gail Morin will be retiring at the end of the 2004 school year. Morin has been an educator inthe province’s school system for several decades. She said recently that she has enjoyed her time at the Dalhousie schooland thanks the staff and students of L.E.R. for all their support during her tenure. Morin’s efforts on behalf of the student body have included countless hours devoted to enrichment and educational efforts, promoting literacy and active living. Morin retires at the end of June. Donna Trafford will take over the principal’s duties on July 1.
From l-r are: Thérèse Pollock, Julia Bourgeois, Claudette Bourque, Emerise Leger, Léona Cormier, and Lilianne Laplante.
Greater Moncton Retired Teachers Participate in Their First Triviathon
For the past two years, our French counterparts have assisted the house of Nazareth in their annual money-raising project. So this year, the English teachers agreed to join in the venture. Sandra Dimock, our president, headed up the affair and assembled a group of volunteers, including her quiz masters who prepared a bank of questions. Ken and Annette Carroll took on the task of selling tables and Helen Viger did the typing. “You see, I did learn something useful in college.” On the afternoon of April 4th, everyone was ready for the big event held at the CEPS building Université de Moncton. Ken Carroll acted as judge and in the photo he is pictured resplendent in his robes of office. It was a fun-filled time for everyone, and next year we hope to sell more tables to enable this charity to continue its work helping those in need.
FALL 2004
District 1536 Honors Retiring Teachers of 2004
On Saturday, June 12, 2004 a gala evening was held at the Manoir Adelaide in Dalhousie to honor the retiring teachers of 2004 — Karla Culligan,Allison Derrah, Charity Derrah, Allan Hayes, Gail Morin, Patricia Talbot, and Patrick Taylor. Cindy Arsenault, president of the local NBTA, welcomed everyone. Mae Lawlor, in absence of the President of the Restigouche Society of Retired Teachers, Sandy MacLean, brought greetings from their members and congratulations as they retire from a wonderful profession, wishing them years of good health and happiness. “May the memories of your teaching years comfort you with an everlasting pride and personal satisfaction.” She then presented each retiree a card with a personal message. Cards were a beautiful natural flower creation of Alida Leveille-Brown, a retired teacher. An invitation was extended to all retired teachers to join our Society. She added, “We retired teachers always have a soft spot in our hearts for all teacher, students, secretaries, custodians and bus drivers and continue to be disturbed by any form of violence, abuse or bullying. She ended by showing issues of the Reflections
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magazine, a great and popular magazine with retired teachers. Mae Lawlor Restigouche Society of Retired Teachers
N.B.: A minute of silence was observed in the memory of Emery Johnson.
April 2004 - Many retired teachers gathered at the First United church in Campbellton for a soup and sandwich luncheon.
District 1536 Retirees of 2004: Front row l-r: Charity Derrah, Patricia Talbot, Karla Culligan, Gail Morin; back row l-r: Allison Derrah, Allan Hayes, PatrickTaylor
District 1538 Restigouche Activities
Sugar Camp: (l-r) Leo Berthelot, Gemme Gallant, Shirley Berthelot, Irene Mahoney, Claudette Maillet
With the help of Claudette Maillet, an outing and luncheon was held at Doucette’s Sugar Camp in Charlo in Spring 2004: (l-r) Sharon’s daughter, Darlene Pollock, Sharon Hickey
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Annual Spring Meeting & Supper, May 4, 2004, Nash Creek United Church: (l-r) Adrian Brown, elected President at this meeting; Sandy MacLean, retiring president, John McLaughlin, Superintendent of District 15 (Speaker)
REFLECTIONS
As Branch Director, Louise Plourde presented Teacher Appreciation Certificates to the retiring teachers. Very happy retiring teachers set the tone of the evening.
(l-r) Muriel Blake, Alida L-Brown, Mary Jamieson, Cora Murchie, Elise Savoie, May Lawlor, Mr. Lawlor Retiring teacher Ora Watson and retired teacher Kay Bursey
Retiring Teachers’ Banquet - June 2004
The Retiring Teachers’ Banquet was held at the Campbellton Curling Rink in Campbellton on June 5, 2004. President Randy Hunter welcomed retiring teachers, retired teachers, teachers, speakers and guests. Congratulations to the following retiring teachers: Rick Flann taught grade 9 science and math at the Sugarloaf Senior High School Dorothy Firth taught Business Educationn and for the last 11 years was Guidance Counsellor — 6 yrs in Dalhousie and 5 yrs in Campbellton at Sugarloaf Senior High Kathy (Walsh) Lefurgey was Vice-Principal at the Lord Beaverbrook School in Campbellton and also acted as Guidance Counsellor and taught English to French Immersion grades 1 and 2. Marjorie LeBrun taught 32 years, beginning her career in Richardsville, grades 5 and 6 at the middle school, and grade 4 at the Lord Beaverbrook School in Campbellton. Marion (Dawson) Humphrey was the Co-op teacher at Sugarloaf Senior High. Ora Watson was the English Lit teacher for all grades at the Sugarloaf Senor High. It was a pleasure to have District 15 Superintendent John McLaughlin present, and representing the NBTA from Fredericton was Jim Dysart and his lovely wife, Donna.
FALL 2004
Retiring teacher Marion Humphrey
Retiring teacher Marjorie LeBrun
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Retired teacher Kay Bursey (l), NBTA representative Jim Dysart and his wife, Donna
Saint John
The following are photos of the AGM and Luncheon and the Website Committee.
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REFLECTIONS
History Gardens
Joan Pearce holds some herbs that the Popular Events for the Celebrations Committee recommends people plant in honour of this summer’s celebrations marking the 400th anniversary of the naming of the St. John River. She found these herbs at Peacock’s Flower and Garden Centre.
Respected teacher was every inch a lady
She could well have been Saint John’s own version of Miss Manners. Articulate and every inch a lady, world traveller, respected educator and Beaverbrook Scholar, Doris E. Whipple was a jealous guardian of good manners and good grammar throughout her lifetime. So much so, in fact, that her nephew, David Whipple, jokingly recalls some of the early life lessons he and his seven siblings learned from their good-hearted aunt. “The rich families sent their kids to finishing school,” he says. “We got to go to lunch with Aunt Doris. She would take us to lunch and talk about being a gentleman, which cutlery to use and how to conduct yourself.” Known as a strict disciplinarian (although she never used the strap) in the classroom, Miss Whipple included New Albert, King George and Aberdeen among the schools where she taught before being named supervisor of mathematics for the old District 20 school board. But following her death at Kennebec Major earlier this month at age 89, it was Miss Whipple’s globetrotting ways that both family and former colleagues remembered most about the determined woman they described as knowing what she wanted in life. “And she made the most of it,” says Barbara Lordly, a retired home economics teacher with whose family Miss Whipple boarded for 12 years.
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“She was delving into many aspects of life — concerts, sports, travel — to broaden her mind.” Carol Harris, a retired math teacher, says she remembers Miss Whipple best as a traveller and as a valued member and past president of the Saint John University Women’s Club. “She had friends all over the world and used to keep in touch with these people.” Pauline Allan of Carleton-Kirk United Church remembers a time when Miss Whipple played a key role in the life of the old West Side Kirk, including serving as president of the Minnie McLean Unit of the United Church Women. “She was well-admired,” says Miss Allan. “To talk to her was a joy because she had a depth of knowledge on a wide range of things.” David Whipple’s mother, Ramona, who married Doris Whipple’s late brother Maurice, remembers her teacher sister-in-law as “a real lady, very gentle” who took a shine to all her nieces and nephews. “She spent every Christmas with us,” she recalls. “She would come on Christmas Eve and get up with the kids on Christmas morning. It was a tradition for
a long time.” Born in McAdam Junction on Sept. 8, 1914, Doris Edna Whipple was the second of five children — three girls and two boys — of CPR locomotive engineer Ralph Whipple and his wife Alice (Gillies). The family moved to Saint john just days later. Miss Whipple graduated from Saint John High School, Provincial Normal School and Mount Allison University, Sackville, from which she held Bachelor of Arts and Education degrees, before studying at the University of London, England, on a Beaverbrook scholarship. She served in the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Second World War. As well as knowing what she wanted in life, Miss Whipple clearly knew what she didn’t. Ramona Whipple recalls that her sister-in-law once divulged her surprising reason for spurning one determined suitor. “She could have married, she told us, but the man that asked her, he didn’t dance.” ( Lives Lived, Mike Mullen - Memories, Telegraph Journal, June 23, 2004)
BRANCH REPORTS
BATHURST
The Bathurst Branch of NBSRT has had a very busy year. We have already met eight times with two more meetings yet to come. We have quite a capable executive with Sharon Derouaux as president; Margaret Demmings, past president; Joan Smith, 1st vice-president and Edith Clouston, 2nd vice-president. Our secretary is Mary Goguen and her husband Francis is treasurer. Provincial director is Pat MacIntosh with Mary Williamson as alternate. We have a dozen committees with capable chairpersons and team members. Our September meeting was a marina excursion. Members had the option of driving or boating to and from the marina. There was a walk along the boardwalk and lunch at the marina at noon. Our October meeting was a travelogue by Gwen Sturgeon, one of our members. She presented a video and souvenirs of a recent trip to the Philippines. We also conducted our business meeting, followed by birthday cake and a 50/50 draw. In December we met at the Civic Centre at 11:30 for “Meet and Greet” then dinner at noon. Members who wished to do so brought gifts suitable for the patients at the long-term care facility at the hospital.
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We were entertained by two retired gentlemen who provided appropriate Christmas music. It was a very enjoyable time. In January we invited a local lawyer, Kathleen Quigg, to speak to our members about wills and estate planning. A question and answer period followed. We closed with more birthday cake and again, a 50/50 draw. In February our meeting was a very sociable potluck lunch. We met in March for our business meeting and auction. We earned about $300 for our scholarship fund. We also had a 50/50 draw. Our April meeting was a fashion show and tea. We had about 17 models and vintage fashions from the 1920s to the 1990s. There were even a few early Acadian outfits included. Tea and sweets were served during the show. We are going to be very busy again in May. We have the election of the officers for next year and a book sale planned. Proceeds will go to our scholarship fund. Birthday cake will be served and a 50/50 draw will take place. Our final gathering will be our Lobster Dinner on May 25th. Respectfully submitted, Pat MacIntosh Director, Bathurst Branch NBSRT
REFLECTIONS
CARLETON
The 2003-2004 year has proven to be an active and successful year for the Carleton Branch of the NBSRT. During the year the Executive has met four times to conduct the business of the branch. Our fall meeting of the entire membership was held on September 26, 2003 at the Y’s Men Centre in Woodstock. We were honored to have Claudia McKiel, President of the NBSRT, in attendance at the meeting, and Mrs. McKiel brought greetings from the NBSRT to our branch. The highlight of the meeting was the conferring by Mrs. McKiel of Honourary Life Membership in the NBSRT to Mrs. Pauline Forrest for her many years of dedicated service and inspiring leadership in the Carleton Branch. One hundred and five members were in attendance at the fall meeting. Following the serving of a delicious roast turkey dinner with all the trimmings, we were entertained by a very talented vocalist, Mrs. Vera Doherty. The meeting concluded with a short business meeting. During the present year, membership dues were paid by 115 retired teachers in our branch-91 elected to have their dues deducted from their pension, and 24 paid their dues locally. At present, we are establishing a Membership Committee whose mandate will be to look at ways of increasing a presentation at the Retirement Seminar hosted by the NBTA in our area. The Sunshine and Remembrance Committee under the effective leadership of Evelyn Long made numerous visits to members who were sick or shut in delivering gifts of flowers, fruit baskets, jam and jelly baskets, plants or personal items. Thirty-two visits were made during the Christmas season alone. The same committee sent out 102 cards to members during the year, including Christmas cards, birthday cards, Get Well and Thinking of You cards, special anniversary cards, and expressions of sympathy. Members who were celebrating milestone birthdays and wedding anniversaries were remembered with cards and flowers. To assist with the expenses of the Sunshine and Remembrance Committee, the members of the Carleton Branch during the fall of 2003, sold ticket on a hand-made quilt. The ticket sale net a profit of $875, and the quilt was won by one of our members, Mrs. Gladys Tracey. In addition donations of money, cards, stamps and gifts were gratefully received from some of our members. During the year to date, twelve retired teachers in the area covered by our Branch have passed away. A book in memory of each former teacher was or soon will be placed in the library of the school where the teacher had taught or in a public library with
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which he/she was closely affiliated. During the 2003-2004 year, Carleton Branch awarded four bursaries valued at $300 each to deserving students who are furthering their education – one to a student at each of the three high schools in Carleton County, namely Woodstock High School, Hartland High School, and Carleton North High School in Bristol and one to a student attending the Woodstock campus of the New Brunswick Community College. In order to supplement out Bursary Fund, a committee is currently examining the feasibility of republishing a book of poetry and the same for sale. The book of poetry referred to is the book that was originally published in the early years of Carleton Branch to establish a trust fund that was invested so that the investment income would provide the forementioned bursaries. The funding of the bursary program is also made possible through gifts by individual members and through memorial donations to Carleton Branch, memorial cards having been placed in each of the local funeral homes. We are currently establishing a Social Committee whose mandate will be to organize activities for the retired teachers in our area above and beyond the two annual meetings. A Christmas party is planned in 2004 – a first for Carleton Branch. Our annual spring meeting is scheduled for May 28, 2004 at the New Brunswick Bible Institute Dining Hall in Victoria Corner commencing at 12:30pm. Respectfully Submitted by Ronald J. Grey President
CENTRAL Annual Meeting Held
The annual meeting and banquet of the Central Branch NBSRT was held at the Heritage Center in Marysville, May 28, 2004. Richard Carr called the meeting to order and a moment of silence was observed for those deceased in the past year. The treasurer’s report was presented by Joey Niles who also moved that a donation to the Memorial Scholarship fund be increased to $1,000 on a continuing basis. Richard Carr, in his report, thanked Carolyn Brown for designing our newsletter which has been very successful. All committees have been active. the president spoke on the importance of trying to boost our membership. Entertainment from well-known musicals was provided by Patrick Maubert and his accompanist, Stephanie Burgoyne. The new executive includes: Richard Carr - Past President; Elizabeth Smythe-James - President;
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Carolyn Brown - First Vice-President; Vern Harding Second Vice-President; Margaret McKay Secretary; Joey Niles - Treasurer
KINGS COUNTY
Annual Meeting April 19, 2004
During the 2003-2004 school year the Kings County Retired Association has seen an increase in memberships from 53 to 93 members. This is attributable to some recruiting efforts but more so to the deduction of dues at source. The difficulties in seeing this plan come to pass are bearing fruit across the province and will continue to do so in future years. During 2003-2004, our branch provided two $300 bursaries to students graduating from high school. These students have gone on to further education and appear appreciative of the financial help. We expect to continue to provide these bursaries in the coming year. In terms of activities, our branch held two lunchtime dinner meetings. One of these in October and the second is planned for May. These are largely social occasions but we do conduct any necessary business. We look forward to the coming 2004-2005 year and plan to carry on the operations of our branch and provide support to the provincial body so as to assist the development of a strong voice far all retired teachers in the province. Respectfully Submitted, Roger H. Nesbitt President
with items of a recurring nature which are the setting up of our general meetings and our Special Projects. In addition, I have reported on the Fall NBSRT meeting, and I have decided to try to schedule our future general meetings and Board of Directors Meetings in relation to NBSRT Board Meetings, in order to bring our membership up to date with NBSRT decisions soon as possible. All of our Board meetings have also dealt with the needs and the difficulties we are facing resulting from centralizing of dues. A great deal of our time has been spent trying to come to terms with the results of central deduction. An added difficulty is that a new executive is implementing a new policy while still learning how the branch operates. Some Topics: – updating our local constitution by-laws; precise wording of same. Notice of motion given to members at Fall General Meeting. – changing our local constitution by-laws; our NBSRT Director will be our current President and our current Vice-President will also attend NBSRT meetings in order to maintain continuity from one Executive to the next. Notice of motion given to members at Fall General Meeting. – discussions on local lifetime members, both current and future; cancel future ones, ignore present ones who have not signed up for central deduction, and reimburse those who have signed up for central deduction – eventually, all will cease to exist. – discussions on future recruitment; cancel the oneyear free membership offered to newly retired teachers. – discussions without resolution on what to replace the previous 2 items with. – updating our membership list(s); determining number of members; using central deduction list and local lists to determine just who is and is not a local member; getting addresses and telephone numbers. – assisting our new Membership Cairperson (who was ill in the autumn) with duties. On February 7, I attended the NBTA preretirement seminar, presented a brief explanation about NBSRT and our local branch and invited prospective retirees to join us. Our last meeting was on March 30: – We now note that our membership numbers are not quite as low as we had earlier thought, even though we have lost some numbers due to central deduction. – We discussed the proposed changes to the NBSRT Constitution. – The President should ask to add the following to
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MIRAMICHI
M.A.R.T.A. – Board of Directors Meetings: Held special meeting September 10, 2003; regular meeting October 2, 2003; special meeting March 30, 2004; projected regular meeting April 29, 2004 General Meetings: Held on October 21, 2003; projected May 18, 2004 Special Projects: • Annual Craft Sale • Annual Christmas Social and Crafts Auction • Annual Scholarship – given each year to a high school graduate from one of the four high schools in our area, on a rotating basis. • School Days Museum Reports – from past president on NBSRT Biennnial Meeting in St. Stephen, June 2004; from chairpersons of Social, Telephone, “Reflections” and Special Projects Committees. All of our Board of Directors Meetings have dealt
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the agenda; a) dues absent from the T-4 b) NBSRT should add its collective voice to those against the government policy regarding seniors’ health care Bill Rigley President
MONCTON
We have had a very successful year in Moncton and have succeeded in including retired teachers from Branches 14, 16, 17 along with retirees from Branch 15. The “Traditional Fall Barbecue”, held for the last two years at our president’s home, and intended for everyone, but held especially to welcome newly retired teachers, attracted approximately 120 teachers. We have actually outgrown this facility and next year we’ll move to Centennial Park. Our first official meeting of the year was held at Rotary Lodge, Centennial Park. We had many speakers informing us of programs, events, and opportunities for retired teachers. The main event of the day was a presentation from a local travel agent, who shared”best value ideas, and recommended destinations”. Our Christmas Meeting saw us enjoying a turkey dinner and entertainment by Ivan and Vivian Hicks. As always, we prepared trays of cookies for shut-ins. February provided the opportunity to hear Ellen Gélinas; humorist, educator, counselor, and entertainer in a workshop called “You Might As Well Be Happy.” May will see us at our typical “End of Year Banquet”, where we always hold our memorial service. We look forward to offering two, $500 scholarships this year to local high school graduates. The continuing availability to the “newsletter has enhanced communication.” Our “interest groups” have also prospered. We have had a very successful year. Attendance at our meetings has been excellent and our executive has worked harmoniously under the direction of our President Sandra Dimock. Respectfully Submitted, Peggy Atkinson
new retirees with our society and to encourage them to join us, we arranged a “Drop out Brunch” on the first day students - but not retired teachers ! - were to return to school. This was attended by many newly and not-so-newly retired teachers, and the Branch Executive. The positive response to the Brunch and the additional members we acquired through it were most gratifying. We are to repeat the brunch with this year’s retirees in September. The difficulties we experienced with the introduction of the automatic deduction of dues at source seem to have been resolved and we hope for a much smoother enrollment period this year. The other major initiative of the Saint John Branch was the establishment of a committee to set up a web site. With a great deal of work, led by Kathy Dalling and John Gahagan, the committee eventually succeeded in having the site up and running. (You can find us at www.nbsrtsj.nbta.ca.). The local school board was unable to have us join up with their web-site, so we joined up instead with the NBTA site. We hope that the provincial executive will be able to tap into our experience in setting up a site for the provincial body. Kathy Dalling has offered her assistance also. We commend that considerable effort at the provincial level to encourage cooperation between the NBSRT and SERF, our sister francophone organization, and hope that this effort will also occur wherever possible at the local level. Respectfully submitted, Allan L.MacDonald, Director
VICTORIA-TOBIQUE
The Victoria-Tobique Branch is pleased to report that again this year for the third time, we were able to present bursaries of $100 to a graduate from each of three schools — John Caldwell High School, Grand Falls; Southern Victoria High School, Perth andover; and Tobique Valley High School, Plaster Rock. These awards, made available by donations in memory of a former Superintendent - Gordon Mosher, are presented to graduates who are or will be enrolled in a university in New Brunswick. Our membership is low, with about twenty feepaying members. We are engaged in a campaign to encourage other retired teachers to join and hope for an increase in the coming year. We have four luncheon meetings each year, held in four different communities, and always enjoy these times of refreshing socializing. Our table officers for 2004-2005 are: President Robert Penny; Secretary/Treasurer - Emily DeMerchant; Director - Joyce Schofield.
SAINT JOHN
The Saint John Branch this year as usual held two dinner meetings, one in the fall and the other in the spring, and the executive met on several occasions to plan these events. Our major and successful initiative of last year was to increase membership in the NBSRT, and this year we added a new feature. In order to acquaint
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New Brunswick Society of Retired Teachers’ Biennial May 2nd, 3rd & 4th, 2005 Sussex, NB
You are invited to register for the 2005 NBSRT Biennial and enjoy a program which offers time for business, meeting friends, social events and fun. The Convention Hotel will be the Quality Inn, Roachville Road, Sussex.
Registration: Guests:
$35 by April 15 $40 at door $20 for Dinner & Casino Night
Program
Day One - May 2nd
10:30 am 12:00 noon 1:30 pm 7:00-10:00 pm Executive Meeting General Registration Begins General Business Meeting Social/Entertainment — Tammy Feeny & High School Swing Band — Memory Lane Troubadour: Hal Williams
Day Two - May 3rd
9:00-9:30 am 9:30 am 12:00 noon 1:50 - 4:00 pm Registration General Business Meeting Lunch (on own) Divided Sessions • Group Insurance • Pension • Wellness 6:00 - 7:00 pm • Panel - Nursing Home Regulations • Financial Planning • Travel Tours
Dinner followed by Casino Night 8:00 - 10:00 pm; Auction 10:00 - 10:30 pm
Day Three - May 4th
9:30 - 10:30 am 10:30 - 12:00 noon
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Reports from Divided Sessions General Business Meeting
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The New Brunswick Society of Retired Teachers Sussex, NB May 2nd, 3rd & 4th, 2005 REGISTRATION FORM
Name _____________________________________________________________________________________ Address ___________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ Postal Code _______________________ Phone _________________________________
E-Mail _________________________________________________ Fee before April 15, 2005 After April 15 Guest for Dinner/Casino $35 $40 $20 Name of Guest __________________________________ __________________________________ Total Payable to: ` $ _______________ Kings County Retired Teachers c/o Bob Cotterill 6 North Street Rothesay, N.B. E2E 3L8
Please pick two divided sessions from the list (check mark) 1:50 pm - 4:00 pm _____ Group Insurance _____ Pension _____ Wellness ______Panel - Nursing Home Regulations _____ Financial Planning _____ Travel Tours
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ACER/CART
13th Annual General Meeting
1. Attendance & Greetings
The 2004 Annual General Meeting of the Canadian Association of Retired Teachers was held in Ottawa on June 4 and 5. Representatives from every provincial retired teacher organization were in attendance. The meeting was held at the office of the Canadian Teachers' Association. President Val Alcock presided. Greetings were brought by the Secretary General of the Canadian Teachers' Federation, Dr. Julius Buski. One of his observations was that teacher organizations existed because of the work of retired teachers and as a result the "cycle of teachers" should be honoured. ACER-CART logo B. Pension and Retirement Income Committee Set up to respond to request from member organizations, no specific requests had been received, so the committee undertook to deal with pension and benefits issues that lay in the federal arena. Various specific policy statements were developed from the general policy of ACER-CART and brought to the AGM for ratification. As well, support for the policies would be sought from other organizations of seniors. Policies presented and adopted were: a) That the RRSP and pension contribution limits be increased to $19,000 immediately - with further increases to $27,000 by January 1, 2006. b) That the age at which RRSPs must be annuitized or converted to a Registered Retirement Income Fund (RRIF) be immediately raised from (age) 69 to 71 and to 73 by January 1, 2006. c) That Registered Pension Plan contributions be shared under the same rules as CPP/QPP pensions. d) That defined benefits pension plan limits be increased from $1722 to $3000 immediately. e) That household income splitting for tax purposes be implemented immediately. f) That the federal government permit deductions for medical expenses in a similar fashion to charitable deductions - i.e., allow the option of carrying forward unused medical expense amounts for up to five years. g) That age tax credit benefits be raised and not tied to income. h) That fees levied by professionals for advertising and/or managing self-directed RRSPs and RRIFs be treated as investment expense and be eligible for income tax deductions. ACER-CART member organizations were urged to recommend similar policies to their members and lobby government for support. C. Health Services and Insurance Committee The committee made an effort to narrow the general principles of already existing policies of concern to members. In summary the general policy on health advocates:
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2. Committee Reports
This was the first full year of operation under the new constitution, and utilizing three major committees to focus the action of the association. Each of the committees gave a report on their activities and achievements: A. Communications Committee Website - Secured a domain name (acer-cart.org) and an Internet Service Provider. A bilingual website was developed with several pages of information. Some sections were set up as prototypes and will require the input from member organizations to be useful. The issue of translation cost and efficiency is under review.
Newsletter - One issue was produced in late November, 2003. The plan is to have two a year and issue these via email, snail mail, and posted on the website. Media Releases - Mainly the prerogative of the President and Executive Director, this awaits an issue of interest.
Recommendations made and carried were: a) to adopt ACER-CART as the official acronym (replacing ACER/CART) b) to recommend that each member organization designate a person to ensure ACER-CART website names, addresses, etc. are up to date c) to reinitiate the contest for a newsletter name and
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a) acceptance of the five core principles of the Canada Health Act b) ensure that national standards are adhered to c) establishment of a funding formula d) meet the growing demands for home care e) support a national Pharmacare program f) create geriatric centres to provide health care to the elderly. Specific steps to bring about these objectives require a starting point and the committee concentrated on health issues of concern to seniors: Long Term Care, Pharmacare, Visual Health Care. Long Term Health Care was the priority issue and the following emphasis was accepted as the basis of a comprehensive policy: a) to receive long term care for as long as possible in one's own home b) to have access when it becomes necessary c) to live in dignity in one's home with a standard of living when spouses institutionalized that is not threatened d) not to have hard earned and frugally saved assets taken into account when long term or home care are assessed.
CPP to relieve pressure on those who have to discontinue jobs to care for sick family members. STS: That national training and standards for home care givers be established and integrated into the health care system. BCRTA: That the Federal Government raise the current tax credit of 16% of the first $200 of charitable donations to 100% of all charitable donations. BCRTA: That the Federal Government change the current tax credit for medical expenses to include any medical expense over the lesser amount of $1775 or 2% of net income. BCRTA: That any provincial medical service plan premiums be considered a medical expense for tax purposes. BCRTA: That the Federal Government reduce the GST of transportation fuels to 4% or less. STS: That ACER-CART urge the Government of Canada to reduce the effect of bracket creep by indexing tax brackets to inflation, increasing the basic exemption or give a special tax credit credit for low income earners increase tax credits for home care to reflect the true cost of services.
3. Member Organization Resolutions
The following were passed: QPARSE: That ACER-CART endorse the CTF position with respect to CPP - survivors CPP benefit not affected by any other benefit paid. QPARSE: That minimum withdrawal rates from RRIFs be lowered. BCRTA: That the Government of Canada be urged to establish a National Prescription Drug Agency to [control costs], establish a national formulary, review the Canada patient law, use the Catastrophic Drug Transfer to offset the costs of drug plans, and integrate prescription drugs in the national formulary into the Health Care system. BCRTA: That the Health Care Act be amended to ensure accountability of funds transferred to provinces and territories. BCRTA: That ACER-CART members write to their governments to request that an annual audited health report be published. STS: That increased funding be provided for direct compensation to caregivers and to adjust EI and
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4. Member Organization Reports
Several of the organizations gave detailed written reports on their activities. It was noted that few followed the recommended standard format, and time limits were very prohibitive to a full discussion on the issues raised, so the AGM delegates agreed to add a half day session to the 2005 AGM devoted to this activity. Using the ACER-CART website on a regular basis will also aid in keeping directors and members updated on provincial issues.
5. Budget
A new budget format was used and found to be more useful in understanding the revenues and expenditures of ACER-CART. No increase in fees was necessary.
6. Election
The current executive officers were re-elected by acclamation. President: Val Alcock Regional Directors: George Little (Atlantic), Patricia Steele (Central), Patrick Brady (West)
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The delegates selected a Vice-President from among the three regional representatives, and Patrick Brady was selected for a second term.
page which could be linked to the ACER-CART website. Cathy Kuhlmann of Johnson, Inc. spoke on wellness initiatives being advocated.
7. Constitution Regulation Amendments
Two regulation changes were agreed upon at the AGM: 1. The AGM will be held on the first Friday and following Saturday in June. 2. The signing officers will be any two of the President, Executive Director and Accounts Manager.
9. Other
The CTF support staff person, Aline Petrie, who was assigned to assist ACER-CART, has accepted an early retirement. A replacement has been promised by CTF. Aline was honoured during the banquet sponsored by Johnson, Inc. ACER-CART's membership is expected to grow from 122,000 members to 128,000 this year.
8. Presentations
The AGM heard from two presenters. Jean-Guy Soulière spoke on behalf of the Congress of National Seniors. He recommended an informational web
“SCHOOL DAYS” MUSEUM
“School Days” Museum Inc. Report To N.B.S.R.T. Annual Meeting
NBTF Building April 19,2004 At our fall meeting on September 23, 2003, I reported to you concerning the year’s vistiors, summer employees, plans for our website, expenses, special acquisitions, workshops attended. Although this is an annual meeting, I will not rehash the contents of that report. I refer you to it and will concentrate today on activity since then. Our website is now well established and growing steadily. The Board’s committee members (Robert Hawkes, Clive Roberts, Harvey Malmberg) meet or are in contact with David Nielsen frequently. We are justly proud of what David is accomplishing for us. He will demonstrate it and answer questions today. Our Wednesday afternoon work sessions have concentrated on a complete inventory review of all the collections. Maxine Ross continues to volunteer, entering her acquisitions in the computer. Phyllis Reynolds volunteers maintaining written records of artifacts and recently deaccessioning surplus texts which we then sell. Jean McFarlane is preparing for another open
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season with two new student employees. Our collection of Normal School and Teachers’ College composites has been arranged in better order for retrieval. Doreen Armstrong oversees the care of the collections and making changes in preparation for our opening. Clive has made new signs. The province has been divided into regions to facilitate museums working together. We are part of the Central Valley Heritage and Attractions group which includes the Saint John Valley from Woodstock to Gagetown. Harvey Malmberg represents us. A brochure will be ready for mid May and shortly after a thirty page supplement in the Woodstock, Fredericton and Oromocto newspaper. Kaye Lister and Vernon Harding are preparing our information and pictures. The Board has recently completed a disaster plan as approved by provincial museum and archive standards. Should there be fire, resulting in water damage, etc., we have on paper what, who, where, to do (provided we keep level heads). Letters were sent to all branch liason people dated October 24, 2003, asking them to confirm our
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information (re. name, address, etc.) On January 19, 2004, a second letter was sent to branches that did not respond. Our Publication and Publicity Chair, Kay Lister, intends to keep in more frequent contact and to encourage branch members to realize it is their museum. We have had no reply from three branches. Two other branches replied but no liaison person was named. This concerns us greatly. How should we interpret it? I hope each of you will encourage others to visit us at the museum this summer. We are in the heart of teh Fredericton tourist are, the Historic Garrison District.
Respectfully Submitted, David A. McCormack Museum Committee Chair
Museum Displays Fredericton Students’ Art
By Lori Gallagher – The Daily Gleaner A unique collection of artwork is on display at the School Days Museum in Downtown Fredericton. The exhibition, called Very Young Art: A History of Fredericton Student Art form the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s, includes a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, a wall of photos highlighting art classes around the city from that time, and a variety of framed paintings. It was put together by Clive Roberts, the art director of the Fredericton City Schools from 1952 to 1981. Fredericton City Schools later became School District 26. “It’s great to relive this,” said Roberts. “It’s something I’ve put into the background for the past 23 years.” Most of the art was first displayed on 1981 at City Hall, the year Roberts retired as an art coordinator. When one of the summer students at the museum recently suggested putting together a display of student art, Roberts contacted City Hall to see if any of those original pieces still existed. Luckily, they were all stored away. “I’m glad those were available,” said Roberts. “I wouldn’t have known where to look otherwise.” When Roberts started teaching art in 1952, he was the only art teacher in the city. He travelled between six schools, giving classes to students in grades 1-4. In the years after, the program grew, adding more staff, classes and schools. By the time Roberts retired, he and more than 10 co-workers were going to 27 schools. He credits those teachers with doing a lot to build
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the art porgram in the city, including John Corey, Brenda Liston, Kathy McBride, Alex McGibbon and Michael Michaud. “My philosophy was that art was education,” said Roberts. “It was a way to reach children.” He said every child could say something with crayons, paints or clay, without being inhibited. Roberts said he didn’t run the art program on his own, as he had a staff of travelling teachers that worked with him. Though cutbacks have since caused the school art program to change a lot since he left, Roberts said, it was healthy when he retired. Since 1981, he had been pursing other interests, including his own artistic talents. As an 85th birthday project, he held an art exhibit in Yarmouth, NS, featuring 30 of his paintings. “I set out to convince myself I could still do it,” said Roberts. Mireille Eagan and Katie Mulholland, the two summer students working at the School Days Museum, helped Roberts put the art exhibit together. Eagan is the one who first suggested doing a show featuring children’s artwork. But she said Roberts is the one who brought it all together. “A lot of people really like it,” she said. The response from museum visitors has been positive, she said. “Many of them enjoy the images of children working in art classes.” To see the display of student art, visit the School Days Museum in the Annex of the Justice Building on Queen Street in Fredericton. Aside from the art exhibit, the museum features textbooks, resource materials, teaching aids, students’ work, archival materials and school furniture and fixtures. It is sponsored by the New Brunswick Society of Retired Teachers. For more information, call (506) 459-3738 or visit online at http://museum.nbta.ca.
Mureille Eagan, a summer student with the School Days Museum, and Clive Roberts, art director of the Fredericton City Schools, have put together a display of student artwork from the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s.
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TRIBUTES
Ruth Morrell began teaching in Saint John High School in 1946, just about a year after Madeline Carter. They were colleagues, travelling companions and friends over the course of more than half of the momentous twentieth century. When Madeline died earlier this year, Reflections could think of no one better suited to write a personal In Memoriam for Madeline, and we were delighted when Ruth so willingly agreed to take on the task. As she told us, this is not an obituary - simply a tribute to and a memory of a remarkable woman.
Both made lifelong friends during their exchange. Travel continued to enrich her life. Having been with her on several trips, I can witness to her enjoyment of new places, near and far. One year Saint John was having an especially sloppy winter and we decided to spend a few days in Quebec City after Christmas. After days in the snow, we spent the evenings marking exams we brought with us. After her year in Edinburgh she wanted to show me Scotland thoroughly. She drove the rented Austin on the left side of the narrow roads north to Lochinver where one of her Edinburgh friends was living, then across and down the east coast - a royal tour. Among her most memorable experiences was a trip to Iceland. She went alone and joined a walking tour. After Madeline retired we went together to Australia and New Zealand with stops in Fiji and Hawaii. Each of us had a friend in Melbourne, and though these two women were somewhat incompatible they were excellent hostesses. We hiked under the tree ferns, saw koalas and kangaroos and miles and miles of sandy beaches. She was a good friend with a reliable sense of humour - essential for teachers and travelling companions. But even her good friends were convinced that Madeline loved animals more than people. People, she said, could look after themselves; animals could often use her help. There was always a cat, and she once acquired a second by default. A neighbourhood cat, sensing a friendly atmosphere, appeared on her doorstep while its owners were at work. At first she fed it only outdoors, but on a cold day she invited it in. Eventually its owners told her she might as well keep it. On a car trip to Scotland she opened her door to feed oatcakes to a nearby sheep. Soon the sheep was half in the car with its head in her lap. During her last years, four or five deer came regularly through the trees beside her house. She bought
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Madeline M. Carter
Madeline spent the last years of her life in a wheelchair in hospital, and we admired her courage and stamina during that time. But this is an attempt to blur that picture and to focus instead on her long and rewarding life before illness grounded her. At every stage in her life she made friends and kept in touch with them wherever they might be from Vancouver to Europe. She was born in Moncton but the family moved to Saint John while she was still a child. By the time she left Saint John High School for the University of New Brunswick, her career goal was in sight. She wanted to teach French. She graduated with honours in Philosophy and French and continued to hone her skills in the language. The next step was a Masters Degree from Middlebury, Vermont, and for several summers she attended the Sorbonne in Paris and a school in Switzerland. Before SJHS claimed her, she taught for a year in Beaver Harbour and another in Winter Street School. For over thirty years Madeline taught French with increasing skill and became Head of the French Department. Her standards were high and she showed little patience with slackers. But pupils who tried to live up to her expectations admired and respected her. She was a stickler for correct speech in English as well as in French and when formal grammar began to fade out of the teaching of English, she voiced her disapproval. Thirty years in the same school might have turned "Miss Carter" into a hard edged prototype, but she would not allow the mould to harden. An early mould breaker was a year in exchange at a high school in Edinburgh. Maisie and Madeline were so well qualified that it is doubtful if their native accents, Scottish and Canadian, contaminated their French.
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sacks of feed for them. Her neighbours were not amused. It follows that she took a serious interest in the Saint John Zoo and served on its Board before her illness. Madeline’s academic leadership in the province was recognized in many ways. She served for four years on the Senate of UNB and on the Provincial Curriculum Committee She was a member of the Church of Saint Andrew and Saint David and a patron of Symphony New Brunswick. As long as she was able, she delivered Meals-on-Wheels. In other words, she enjoyed her city and province and served them well. The motto on the crest of Saint John High School sums up well her approach to living: Vita Vitalis - A Life Worthwhile. Footnote: Symphony N.B., to honour Madeline Carter’s lifelong support, named its first concert of the 2004-2005 season “The Madeline Carter Memorial Concert”.
Claud Black
Noel Horgan, longtime Head of the Business Department at Simonds High School, wrote this tribute. He and Claud Black graduated together from Simonds, and enjoyed a wonderful friendship for over 50 years. Claude died in April this year.
Claud Black and I met when we were students at Simonds High School in 1950. We had quite a wonderful friendship for over 50 years. We graduated from the same high school, we graduated from UNB on the same day, and we were attendants at each other’s weddings. We picked peaches in Ontario when we were young, we played shuffleboard in Florida when we grew old, and we played hundreds of games through the years at his and Betty’s house or at Margie’s and mine. Oh, the memories! Much good stuff has already been said by many people about this buddy of mine. Lest you think he was a total paragon of virtue, I would like to point out some flaws—bear with me, there are many! Golden Oldies. No one could blame Claud for loving the songs of his youth, but it would have been so much kinder of him (to friends and strangers alike) if he hadn’t tried to communicate those tunes orally. Such terms as "tin ear," "discord," and "offkey" come to mind. Chess. He loved this game, taught me the rudiments, and for years I thought it was obligatory to take several minutes between each move. Not so, I learned! This was just my friend’s deep mental process at work. Come to think of it, he wasn’t that
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speedy when it came to Phase 10 and cribbage either! For many years Claud was a member of the local Chess Club. I was never sure if he legitimately won the matches he said he did, or if perhaps his opponents just gave up in frustration. Shuffleboard. This is hard for me to write because it is still a sore spot. Claud came to our Mobile Home Park in Florida for a visit, and I (having shuffled for several years by that time) gave him the benefit of my considerable expertise, and we shuffled daily. I even encouraged the ingrate to join the park shufflers in a tournament. Not only did he play much better than I did, he WON a trophy. If this were not enough, he arrogantly displayed it in his living room back in Saint John, carefully positioned at eye level so that guests couldn’t miss the point that he was the superior shuffler in the room. Our friendship survived, but just barely. My wife often says that it’s hard to find a good friend but even harder to lose one. She’s right, isn’t she?
Arden Doak
Co-editor, Larry MacPhee Dear Sir, In regards to the profile on Arden Doak page 18 of the Spring Reflections. In 1951, Mr. Doak became principal of the Upper Miramichi Regional High School in Boiesetown; there wasn’t a new school in Doaktown at that time. I was in the class of the first Grade 7 to enter the school, always referred to as UMRHS. I will never forget Mr. Doak or his daughters Ardeth and Edith who attended school with us. I remember his wife’s death and his re-marrying. Mr. Doak is without doubt one of the best that the old Normal School ever produced. He was also my Math teacher when I attended Teachers’ College in 1957-58. A salute to one of the best from a former student. Also, I had a tour of the school before it ever opened, a rare treat. My father was the cook for the constuction crew who built it and they took us on a guided tour. Yours Truly, Wilma (Price) LeRoux
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Mary Sprague
This article was passed to me by Ann Wood, daughter of Mary Sprague. Mary is a teacher who retired after many years of teaching, most of them in Port Elgin schools. She was a diligent worker, who certainly had the interests and welfare of her students at heart. Mary is now a dialysis patient, residing at Kenneth E. Spencer Memorial Home, in Moncton, NB. Although the condition of her health leaves much to be desired, she still has that indomitable spirit that carries her along from day to day, and we wish her well. Sincerely, Helen Walton
The Little Orange Horse
With no present in hand, but inside a big heart Fifty cents in his pocket, which was the start. He wanted to give his teacher at Christmas time, So told her to buy something special with these 5 dimes, A sweet young boy was he in grade four, And he knew Mrs. Sprague was a great teacher for sure.
So one trip to the store in the winter she went, To find that special gift for fifty cents. A little orange horse caught Mrs. Sprague’s eye, She knew that was exactly what she wanted to buy. She brought it to school in the New Year, To show him the 50-cent gift she would hold so dear. A lot of time has come and gone for sure, She’s had that orange horse for 30 years or more. So thank you to Kevin with the big heart, The 50 cents in his pocket that was the start.
PROFILES
A letter from Laura Smith - accompanying a feature about Laura published in the Gleaner.
Reflections NB Retired Teachers’ Association Fredericton, N.B. August 9, 2004. Dear Partners: As you peruse this article by Laverne Stewart of the Daily Gleaner, you will note that it was published in the Daily Gleaner, May 25th 2004. I, Laura Smith, am a retired teacher , a poem enthusiast and writer, having published 7 books among numerous poems in newspapers and periodicals. I am best known for inspirational poems but also have done many humorous and fictional poems. I contacted the Gleaner and they gave me permission to send this to you for publication if you desire. I taught in N.B. schools for 30 years, 20 of which were in Oromocto. I retired in 1978. I live in a beautiful apartment and enjoy all the
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social activities here as well as in my special church where I recently retired from teaching Sunday School for many years. I am a member of the local branch of the Retired Teachers Association, Christian Women’s Club, etc. Also I have been involved in the 80+ program at St.Thomas University since 1978. Trust this article in part or whole will be of interest to other retirees. Thank you! Laura M. Smith In the article Laura refers to, Laverne Stewart gives us a vivid picture of an enthusiastic active 85 year old retired teacher ( she has since turned 86), with a passion for writing. "I think I’ll always write" Laura tells the reporter."It’s such a part of me, I can’t avoid it." Yet in her younger days she says she lacked confidence in her ability. "I didn’t realize I had any gift at all. In fact, even when I published my first book, I didn’t think my poetry was good enough I had a little trouble with my self image." She estimates she has written over 1000 poems, all by hand - she regrets that she never learned to type or use a computer.
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" The thoughts come to me sometimes early in the morning or even in the night. Sometimes they come to me after I‘ve heard a stirring sermon or read a devotional." Once satisfied with what she has written she takes her work to her editor, Millie Morrison; Donalda Fox types the final copy. Although most of her work is religious in nature, though she produced, mostly for the amusement of her four children and her 52 grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a family reminiscence called Tater Eaters. Her books are available at Christian bookstores locally and at the Nashwaaksis United Baptist Church.. A seventh book of inspirational poetry, Come soar in the Spirit , is now on sale. "By the time I pay to have this one printed, I doubt there will be much left, but the proceeds will go to my church, to its audio visual project." Laura Smith, when she is not writing, is active in various other activities from Scrabble to bowling, and readily shows up for potluck suppers and other church and seniors’ functions. Yet she is young in spirit, enjoying the company of the young people in her church. "I enjoy spending time with them," she says. Reflections thanks the Daily Gleaner and Laverne Stewart for their permission to use the material in this article in extract form.
Edna V. Ellis
by Elva Dempsey Bathurst Branch Correspondent A friend and I spent a very pleasant afternoon visiting with five ladies in a Special Care Home in North Tetagouche recently. One was a long time retired teacher, Edna V. Ellis – Miss Ellis to us, and "Tedda" to her many friends. One resident is Tedda’s best friend and all the ladies have keen minds and good memories. How fortunate to be surrounded by such interesting and newsy people! As I began to discuss Miss Ellis’ life with her, I immediately realised she was very humble and private. Even as we shared the fruit, goodies and lemonade we had taken, she quipped, "Now I know why you came to see me!" Miss Ellis taught in Bathurst Grammar School and BHS. She taught grade 9 after the war, and for many years taught academic subjects to commercial students. She maintained a keen interest in her students long after they left school. Some have told me she was their best teacher. When asked if she liked all her students, she very honestly replied "No. Not ALL." Edna was a loyal member of the Nicolas Denys chapter of the IODE for over seventy years. She was Regent and became a Charter member. When this chapter closed she and other members continued their IODE support in the Gloucester chapter. She is a member of St.George’s Anglican Church Guild and the Altar Guild. Edna was a social member of the Golf Club. She is an Honorary Member of the NBSRT Bathurst Branch. Edna has done crewel work and smocking and still knits today. She has enjoyed reading as well. Edna has travelled, but in her privateness, she would describe only one trip – an interesting account of a trip to Europe with Mis Derenda (Dee) Anderson ( a former BHS friend ) and a very large group of other teachers. She humorously described a tour of the ancient Roman city of Chester in England and the view from a wall they had mounted. She knew we’d like to learn that they had met Carolyn McMaster and Betty Glendenning (two schoolmates of ours) in that place. What a memory! Edna lived in apartments for over thirty years, since her parents passed away until two years ago. She still has a re-upholstered chair of her father’s with her. She showed us this as she took us to her room to allow us to see her collection of many bells.
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Smith plays Scrabble with her friend, Kay Stultz.
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Her family consists of three nieces who live in Park City, Utah, Boothbay, Maine, and Clifton Park, New York. Miss Ellis told me this write up had to be BONA FIDE so I can assure you readers that the information has been edited by the lady herself. When I asked her how she got the cute name Tedda, she explained how she had named herself this when she was too young to pronounce Edna properly. This article lacks many dates (by Tedda’s choice). However, we should hear of a centenarian celebration not too many years hence, because when I told our ninety-year-old NBSRT member Yvonne Bourque (see the following article) about our pleasant visit, she remarked, "Oh, Miss Ellis was my grade 9 teacher. She was strict but GOOD! Bless those true seniors!
Early in 2004, The Northern Light published an account of why Yvonne Bourque, one of our NBSRT members, was nominated for Senior of the Month. She had been my Grade 1 teacher and would teach us English kids how to read French from a Primer in spare class time. I had not spoken to her since Grade 1, but I decided to send her congratulations and thanks for developing an interest in French for me, and explained who I was. This is the reply I received. Remember, she’s ninety! Dear Elva, I was surprised and pleased to receive your congratulations note. Thank you for your kind words. I remember when you came to school you knew your numbers and alphabet, your grandfather Moore had been your instructor. I meet so many of my former students; they come up to me and tell me I had taught them in a certain grade. I don’t always know them, but I am always pleased to meet them. I always enjoyed teaching; for 15 years I taught Grade 7 and 8 Math and Science. I never dreamed the little French I gave you would serve you later on. Again, thank you. Sincerely, Yvonne
A teacher replies to a former student’s tribute
(Elva Dempsey, our faithful correspondent from the Bathurst Branch, in her profile of Edna V. Ellis, mentions Yvonne Bourque, a long-time member of that branch, and her memory of Miss Ellis, who had been her Grade 9 teacher. Elva sent us the following note she received from Yvonne, who had been her teacher long ago, and an introduction )
Remember When?
Written by Kaye Lister for the February 3, 4, 2005 “Remember When” Conference on Health and Physical Education.
Let’s reminisce and turn back time; And put our cares away Let’s take a trip down Memory Lane To scenes of yesterday. Remember many years ago When all our chores were done? We’d meet our friends just down the street And have all kinds of fun! Remember when we’d play outside? (No video games back then!) And not come home ‘til supper time? Oh, yes, remember when? What fun to play a game of catch With tattered baseball mitt, And "Simon says: Do this, do that" And playing tag – "You’re IT!"
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Remember twirling hula hoops And doing jumping jacks? And hopscotch fun for many hours And jumping sidewalk cracks? "Go In and Out the Windows" too And angels in the snow And races run across the field, "Get ready!" "Set!" "Go!" The baseball games with splintered bat – No Ump? We didn’t care! Each base a stone or stick of wood And special rule: "Play fair!" And "Cops and Robbers" was such fun; Our guns were never real! Remember when the bad guys lost How good it made us feel?
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Remember when we’d scrape a knee Or even break a bone? We’d never think to sue the town; The fault was all our own! We’d never hear a friend complain, "There’s not a thing to do!" For when we’d tire of "Hide-and-Seek", We’d bike a mile or two. Remember when a healthy snack Was such a special treat? No gummi worms or gummi bears Or drugs from off the street! Oh, we had our spats and argued long About the final score But somehow fights would fizzle out And then we’d play some more. Though years fly by and times will change, Oh, for one thing to stay! The voice of children through the years, "Come on outside and play!" In Fine Voice: Former physical educator Kaye Lister has been either coaching, officiating or volunteering at elementary school track and field meets in District 26-18 for more than forty years. This school year, hundreds of athletes from the District 18 schools participated in four meets, coordinated by the district’s physical education mentors.
Remember When?
FEATURES
There’s a Panther Under Your Apple Tree
(A true story of life in Charlotte County) By Jack Crammond For twenty-six years following my retirement from teaching in 1975 my wife Doreen and I lived on the eastern bank of the Magaguadavic River about three miles upstream from St. George. This area was sparsely settled ( our nearest neighbour was half a mile away) and was on the edge of a wilderness stretching two miles to Lake Utopia to the east of us. During our time there we had many experiences involving wildlife, but the most memorable of these was one that neither my wife nor I experienced directly. Three pre-teenaged girls , Julia and Hannah Gillmor, daughters of Dan and Pat Gillmor of Saint George, and a friend of theirs, were visiting my wife on a late fall day in 1982. I was working in St. George where Doreen had dropped me off previously that day and it was nearly dusk when my wife said to the girls : " It’s time to pick up Jack." The girls were first to leave the house via a screen door, but were quick to step back inside. One
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of them exclaimed "There’s a panther under your apple tree !" When they arrived in St. George the girls were still excited about what they’d seen and despite my close questioning were unshakeable in what to me was their incredible conviction that they had indeed seen a panther. Nevertheless, when I returned home after dark I used a flashlight to thoroughly examine the hard packed ground under the apple tree which was about thirty feet from the house. I could find nothing. However, the thought persisted in my mind that they had indeed seen something. Early the next morning I began a more thorough search. At the top of a steep bank close to the apple tree was the Canal Road which at that time was unpaved. I was a little surprised to see that an animal had scrambled up the bank and there were even claw marks where the ground had been disturbed. When I went up to the highway itself I found additional evidence in the form of indistinct marks in the middle of the road. But it was on the clay bank
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on the opposite side of the road that I found an unmistakable track of what must surely have been a panther where it had landed after a prodigious leap from the centre of the road. There it was - the four toes (claws retracted now) and the heel clearly imprinted in the clay ! I returned to the house where I got paper and pencil and a tape measure. The very well defined track measured four inches in diameter. In addition to Doreen and me, others who witnessed the track were Dan Gillmor and Herb Matthews of L’Etete ( near St.George) who happened to be driving by and stopped to see what Dan and I were so intent on examining. Something I will always regret is that I didn’t make a plaster cast of that track instead of a drawing on a piece of paper. As to whether or not a remnant of the Eastern Panther population still roams the forests of New Brunswick, I know several people who believe it does - or at least it did on a late fall day in 1982. Note about the author: Jack Crammond spent much of his childhood in St.George, where his father was the manager of the Bank of Nova Scotia. After spending some time in the RCAF, he taught for his first few years in Elgin in Albert County. He says that in spite of the meagre salary there, he has never felt better off in his life - there was little to spend his money on and all the mothers in the community with marriageable daughters were quite keen to treat the eligible young bachelor to delicious Albert County meals. It’s no surprise that his wife Doreen is an Elgin girl. For the large part of his teaching career, Jack taught English in Saint John High School; for many years he worked on the committees assembled in Fredericton each summer to mark the Matrics. As the story suggests he has always been a keen woodsman and naturalist. Jack and Doreen recently took up residence on the East Side of Saint John.
Pilot Dennis Moore, left, who is 74 years old, took his friends Arden Doak, who’s 88, and Carl Hay, right, who is 80, out for a flight as part of a birthday celebration. The trio flew in the Piper Cherokee Cruiser in the background.
Birthday Party Reaches New Heights
by Lori Gallagher, The Daily Gleaner Two local men were flying high as they prepared to celebrate their birthdays this week. Arden Doak, who turns 88 today, joined friend and former pilot Carl Hay, who is also celebrating his 80th birthday today, in a 45-minute flight that took them all around the area. “I thought it was a good way to celebrate,” said Hay, who flew on his own for more than 40 years before giving it up last year. He only learned a week ago that he and Doak share a birthday. “So I invited
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him to come on this flight,” he said. Hay still tries to go up regularly with friend Dennis Moore, 74, the pair’s pilot for the day. Moore took them up in a Piper Cherokee Cruiser, a fourpassenger plane with 160 horsepower. While Hay is used to flying in a small plane, the experience was a relatively new one for Doak. Although they’ve been friends for years, said Hay, this is the first time they’ve flown together. “The first flight I ever had in a small plane was about 30 years ago,” said Doak, adding this flight marked his second time in a small plane. “It was lovely,” he said after the flight. “I really enjoyed it.” He admits he did give the idea a second thought when Hay first suggested it, but was glad he decided to go. He said he’d definitely do it again. Though the time in the air was fun, Doak said, he did feel it in his stomach when the plane would bank to the left or right. “Other than that, it didn’t bother me,” he said All three participants said the flight was enjoyable, including the pilot. They flew at about 2,000 feet for most of the trip, which took them up the Saint John River to Mactaquac Dam and back, as well as around the city a couple of times, said Moore. “It’s very pretty. Lots of islands and lots of water up there,” he said “We had a good look at the city.” Moore took the opportunity to point out various places in the area with which Doak was familiar, such as some of the golf courses and the street where Doak lives on the city’s south side. “Carl is used to flying, and Arden seemed to really enjoy the trip,” said Moore. “At one point he said what a great day it was and how much he liked it. All three men are retired, but enjoy keeping active. As Doak, a retired teacher and avid bowler explained, “I keep as busy as I want to.” (Daily Gleaner, August 20, 2004)
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Schooltime Memories
Over seven decades later, this man’s first-grade teacher remembers him New Brunswick Readers - Book IV By Laverne Stewart – The Daily Gleaner When Gerald Boone turned 80, he never dreamed he’d get a call from his Grade 1 teacher. But that’s exactly what happened when Hazel Brewer saw his birthday announcement in the newspaper. “I said, ‘Oh my goodness, I taught him in Grade 1 and now he’s 80’!” Brewer immediately recalled the shy six-year-old boy with curly hair. She decided to call and give birthday greetings to her former student. Soon to turn 94, Brewer says, she remembers the name of every student she taught in the late 1920s and early 30s. Boone was one of 36 students in her one-room schoolhouse in Tay Creek in 1930. Brewer was 20 and determined to give the children the best education she possibly could. “Everyone said I couldn’t do it because the kids there were bad. They said I was too young but I didn’t have any trouble managing the kids.” She did so by walking up and down between the rows of double-seated school desks while she taught. Brewer kept a strap in her desk but she only had to use it a couple of times – she now regrets doing so, she says. She never had to use corporal punishment on Boone. He was, she recalls, a shy, quiet boy. “I remember when I first saw Gerald. He was wellbehaved. He didn’t move. He was scared silly. I remember he did his work and I graded it. Some of it was right and some of it was wrong.”
A photo of Hazel Brewer when she used to teach in the late 1920s along with the textbooks she used to teach. Boone’s memory of this time is less clear. But he does have a mental image of what she looked like then. “I remember she was a very beautiful young lady and that she was very prim and proper.” He remembers using a slate and pencil to practise his reading, writing and arithmetic. “Math was never my favorite subject but when you were only taught reading, writing and math, you knew you had to get it right,” he says. On the first day of school, she brought her box camera to school to take a class picture. It is a cherished reminder of those days. She lined all of her students up outside the school door on a sunny September day. Boone is standing in the second row at the far right in the picture. It was the first time Boone had his picture taken. “I was very excited about it. There was no camera at home until I was a teen when my mother got one,” he says. She was Hazel Wilson then. She was engaged to Leslie Brewer and she knew it would be her last opportunity to teach. When the school year ended the couple married and her teaching career ended. Married women gave up their careers back then so others could work during the Depression, she explains. She raised a family and her little student grew up. In April, Boone celebrated his 80th birthday. She wanted to send him a card, but she says she didn’t think he would remember her. She was wrong. He knew exactly who she was. He’d inquired about her through her brother-in-law over the years. The pair chatted on the telephone. “I remember all of those kids. Every one of them,” she says. During that chat they decided it would be fun to have a teacher-student reunion. When he arrived at her apartment she discovered
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The photo that Hazel Brewer took of her students in 1930.
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the little boy she’d once taught had grown and his once light brown hair had turned snowy white. “When I saw him I thought he looked a little bit like his father,” she says. Boone realized she’d matured too, but he could still see signs of the young lady who first taught him his ABC’s so long ago. They spent the next hour reminiscing and looking at her school days photo album. Both are pleased they’ve had the chance to meet and, they say, they’re looking forward to another reunion. But this time, they say, they won’t wait so long.
Hazel Brewer, 94, and Gerald Boone, 80. Brewer taught Boone in first grade and when she saw his birthday announcement in the paper, she decided to give him a call.
Feisty Former Teacher Still Going Strong at 100
By Everton McLean – Telegraph Journal One-hundred-year-old fingers dash across the keys of a piano down sleepy English Settlement Road, just outside Stanley, NB. And over the green yard, past a clay statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary, you can hear a 100-year-old voice singing. “It’s a long way to Tipperary, it’s a long way to go; It’s a long way to Tipperary, to the sweetest girl I know.” Those fingers belong to Linna O’Hara. The voice is her’s too, the same one that echoed the dance halls in the 1920s. And today they turn 100 years old.
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Mrs. O’Hara was born Linna Quigg in Welsford, NB, on August 19, 1904. She went to the Provincial Normal School in Fredericton, and later the Agricultural College in Sussex. It was around this time that she met one Alton O’Hara. The two hit it off and started a love affair that would last decades. They soon planned to marry, but when Linna’s parents found out about the plan, they disapproved. “They thought he was too old,” says Mrs. O’Hara’s daughter, Mary O’Hara, of her late father. He was 10 years older than Linna. Like the heroine of the Shakespeare play, she snuck away with her husband and was married without her parents’ approval. Exactly how they did it is a mystery, but Mr. O’Hara was an altar server at the Roman Catholic Church, and good friends with the parish priest. It looks likely he married them. Mrs. O’Hara brought the feisty nature that led her to defy her parents into the classroom for the 23 years she taught school in New Bruswick. She taught students everything from reading and writing, to music and knitting. She was always working for the benefit of her students. “If some of them needed clothing, she would make clothes for them,” says Mary O’Hara. “If they didn’t have footwear, there was a way that it could be arranged.” She was awarded the Centennial Award for her service to the nation in 1967, and she was awarded a Strathcona Medal in the 1920s for her extra effort and care in education. This came with $20, a hefty sum in the 1920s. No doubt it was a good help to her family, which could almost fill a classroom on its own, with 15 “little babies.” Having her last child at the age of 47, Mrs. O’Hara was as much a mother as she was a teacher. She taught her children to share and strive for an education. But Mrs. O’Hara’s life was far more than teaching and homemaking. With a zest for almost everything, she could do almost anything. She was a figure skater in her youth, and a member of numerous clubs and organizations. She was a musician, who kept the music flooding the dance halls of New Brunswick for much of her young life, as her husband sat by her side. She was a integral member of her church, with a strong faith that stays with her to this day. And, little known to most people, Mrs. O’Hara could paint. “Her paintings were ‘beautiful’,” says Mary, remembering landscapes and colours from early childhood. Most people have not seen her artwork. It was all lost in a house fire, one of the many challenges Mrs. O’Hara faced in her life. Mrs. O’Hara was announced as a recipient of the Order of New Brunswick this month for all of her
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contributions to the province. At 100 years of age, she will receive the award in Fredericton. For her birthday, she will be surrounded by family and friends. She’ll smile intently, as usual, with the same glow that lights up a portrait of her and Alton on the wall. She does not speak a lot these days, but once in a while she will quip lightly at someone less than a third her age as she sits at the piano. Taking congratulations on her piano playing modestly, she points at the young woman. “You could do it better,” she says. Back to her old teaching trick of encouraging someone younger, as always.
A feature article by Andrea McAuliffe, in the Saint John Reader
Reader Still Carries Readers In Her Head
90-year-old can recite poem from the New Brunswick Reader of her childhood Mabel Fitz-Randolph still has a worn copy of her old school readers from the 1920s complete with the gold stars her teacher put in the margins after she learned her lessons. Fitz-Randolph, who celebrated her 90th birthday in late October, has fond memories of the one-room country schoolhouse in Musquash where she learned about literature, history and other subjects. When she started at the school in 1919, there were only about eight students attending, including herself and two brothers. Fitz-Randolph, who had 11 siblings, used handme-down readers that were part of the New Brunswick Reader School Series. They were published in Ontario by W.J. Gage between 1900 and 1936 for use in schools across this province. The readers were intended to be not just learning tools, as the introductions say, but were packed with interesting stories in the hopes that students would acquire a love of reading. It is from this collection of schoolbooks that the New Brunswick Reader magazine gets its name. The readers Fitz-Randolph studied made an impression on her young mind. She remembers the stories of Wolfe and Montcalm, and Madame La Tour and poems such as The Children’s Hour by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and The Charge of the Light Brigade by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. It takes no time at all for Fitz-Randolph to recall the exact wording of these poems. “I always think of this one on stormy nights,” she says, and then recites A Night With a Wolf by Bayward Taylor:
Charlotte McCluskey and her mom, Mabel FitzRandolph, holds Mabel Fitz-Randolph’s 1926 New Brunswick Reader. Little one come to my knee! Hark how the rain is pouring Over the roof in the pitch dark night, And the winds in the woods a-roaring Hush, my darling, and listen, Then pay for the story with kisses; Father was lost in the pitch-black night In just such a storm as this is. High on the lonely mountain Where the wild men watched and waited; Wolves in the forest, and bears in the bush, And I on my path belated. The rain and the night together Came down, and the wind came after, Bending the props of the pine tree roof And snapping many a rafter. I crept along in the darkness, Stunned and bruised and blinded... Crept to a fir with thick-set boughs, And a shelter rock behind it. There, from the blowing and raining, Crouching I sought to hide me; Something rustled, two green eyes shone, And a wolf lay down beside me. Little one, be not frightened; I and the wolf together, Side by side through the long, long night, Hid from the awful weather. His wet fur pressed against me; Each of us warmed the other; Each of us felt in the stormy dark That beast and man was brother. And when the falling forest No longer crashed in warning, Each of us went from our hiding place Forth in the wild wet morning,
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Darling, kiss me in payment... HArk! how the wind is roaring! Father’s house is a better place When the stormy rain is pouring. Fitz-Randolph is obviously moved by the words. “Can’t you just picture it?” she asks. She and her husband Albert, who died in 1977, would often retell poems for their three daughters. Daughter Charlotte McCluskey’s favorite poem was The Arab’s Farewell to his Steed, by Caroline Norton. “I was horse crazy,” says MsCluskey. “And she would read it to me.” After digging up and flipping through her mother’s old Third Reader, McCluskey found the poem and a note her mother made in the margin: “Read to Charlotte, Oct. 12, 1956.” “Reciting was always a part of our life,” says McCluskey. Fitz-Randolph credits the teachers she had over the years with making those words come to life and stay with her. She had many teachers. Her first grade teacher, Violet Beyea of Smithtown, turned out to be one of her favorites. South Musquash School was a mile from FitzRandolph’s home and she would bring her lunch every day. The students would sit with Beyea by the little box stove in the middle of the room and eat together. “I loved her dearly,” says Fitz-Randolph of Beyea. The two kept in touch over the years until Beyea died in 2000 at the age of 99. Many young women who taught in that schoolhouse impressed Fitz-Randolph. She remembers how well she liked Margaret M. Hamilton, who taught her in 1926. Hamilton later went on to be assistant county superintendent for St. John County schools. Another teacher who got her start in Musquash was Theresa Glyn. Before she moved on to become a doctor, Glyn boarded with Fitz-Randolph’s family in 1921 while she got her first teaching job in Musquash, says Fitz-Randolph. They became fast friends and have kept in touch for many years. Fitz-Randolph also says many of the poems and stories struck her when she was in school because she was patriotic and the First World War had recently ended. Things were returning to normal in Musquash and many soldiers were coming home. “Some of them were disabled from being gassed,” she says. “Some never came back.” It was around this time she learned John McCrae’s In Flanders Fields from one of her readers.
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Fitz-Randolph says another reason her mind holds fast to the tales she read is because on Friday after`noons each student would have to commit a verse to memory. The population of South Musquash School grew little by little and a new “Warm Morning” heater burned coal instead of wood. Fitz-Randolph says the school district owned only a quarter of an acre and on that land was the schoolhouse, a wood shed and an outhouse that was split in two with a partition for boys and girls. Time spent at the school almost always lade her happy, says Fitz-Randolph. Her fondest memories included Christmastime, when the teacher would decorate a tree and bring in treats for the children. Arbor Day was also memorable. The students would help clean the school and plant flowers and trees. Fitz-Randolph was always a good students and loved school but often had to stay home to help her mother. Fitz-Randolph was working in the Fourth Reader, the equivalent of being in Grade 8, when her mother died in 1928. She had to leave school to take care is her younger siblings but what she learned in that little schoolhouse would forever be part of the fabric of her personality. Fitz-Randolph says her readers were “pretty rickety” when they were passed on to her all the years ago. But they served her well. The words that spring up as readily to her mind are an obvious source of comfort and pleasure to her and her family. The country schoolhouse where Fitz-Randolph spent so many days burned to the ground in 1932. It was replaced the same year with another one-room schoolhouse. That schoolhouse was moved next to the community fire hall in 1969 and is now the Musquash recreation centre. It’s not far from FitzRandolph’s home.
REFLECTIONS
IN MEMORIAM
CARLETON
Marion Burnham (1911-2004) - May 21, 2004) — A graduate of Provincial Normal School and Mount Allison University, she taught in several Carleton County Schools, including Greenfield, Upper Kent, Lakeville and Florenceville. Throughout her life she was active in her community and her church, and maintained her life-long interest in education after retirement as a member of the Carleton Branch NBSRT. Pearl I. Boyd (1916-2004) - April 14, 2004 — Pearl taught for 29 years in Carleton County and was an active member of the Carleton Branch NBSRT. Marie F.(Bragdon) Bryant (1933-2004) - March 30, 2004. She taught school for over 29 years, with 25 of those being at Hartland High School. Freeda Frances (Clair) Orser (1914-2004) April 22, 2004 — She had taught in Mineral, Mount Pleasant, Biggar Ridge and Good Corner; and also did some supply teaching in Carlisle. several small schools in Minto and Edmundston but mostly in Fredericton. She was a member of the Retired Teachers Association and the Retired Teachers’ Craft Group. Hughenna Luella Knox - July 28, 2004 — She was a graduate of the Normal School (Teachers’ College) Fredericton and taught school for 26 years at various schools throughout York County before retiring from Nashwaaksis Memorial School in 1964. Grace E. Cook (1934-2004) - April 17, 2004 — Grace graduated from Teachers’ College in Fredericton and taught for many years at the Pleasant Street School in Lewisville. Ruby Charlotte Trail - July 2, 2004 — Ruby was a teacher, graduating from the Provincial Normal School, and taught in several schools in York County. Grace Eunice Brooks - June 9, 2004 — Grace was a member of the Retired Teachers Association, having taught for 36 years in numerous schools throughout the area. Being a retired teacher, she was noted for her dedication to her profession and keeping in touch with her former students. Roberta MacFarlane Gaddess - June 11, 2004 — She attended the Provincial Normal School and received her B.A. and B.Ed. from UNB. She taught school in Minto for 16 years and in Fredericton for 21 years. She was a member of the Retired Teachers’ Association.
CENTRAL
Glen MacKenzie - August 23, 2004, aged 101. Born in Elgin, he had a long and wide ranging teaching career, beginning in Lower Coverdale and covering terms as a Principal in Grand Manan, Bristol and Florenceville, twenty years in Fredericton High School, three years in Teachers’ College, two years in Ghana and two years in the College Maillet in Edmundston . He was active also in the NBTA. D. Isabel Meade - July 9, 2004 — Isabel attended school in Lower Jemseg, Gagetown Grammar School and the Normal School in Fredericton. She completed her post education studies at UNB and taught at various country schools,retiring from Summerhill School in Oromocto. She was a member of the NB Teachers’ Federation. Evelyn Pickard McKay - July 23, 2004 — She graduated from Keswick Ridge High School in 1935 and attended Teachers’ College in Fredericton and later UNB where she received a Bachelor of Teaching and Bachelor of Education. She taught in
FALL 2004
CHARLOTTE
Hazel Louise Clinch (1927-2004) - June 28, 2004 — Hazel was a graduate from Moncton High School, the Provincial Normal School, and the University of Moncton. Hazel taught for over 35 years in various schools in New Brunswick. Most of her teaching career was in St.Stephen where she retired in 1982. After retirement, Hazel did supply teaching and volunteer work. (Hazel started teaching when she was 15. She was a very active member of Charlotte County NBSRT executive and was responsible for the name tags at the Biennial meeting in St. Stephen, June 2, 2003. — A. John Perry)
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Phyllis Elizabeth Butler - July 22, 2004 — She attended the Provincial Normal School in Fredericton and upon graduation began her teaching career first in Greenock, Tower Hill and Breadalbane Schools. As her children became older, she returned to teaching at Deer Island Regional School, and Forest Hills Junior High School and Simonds Junior High School in Saint John. She was a skilled teacher of English and to the very end of her life took a keen interest in the life events of all her former students. Wylie Louise Kempton - May 7, 2004 — She studied at Acadia University and later at the University of British Columbia where she received her Masters of Education Degree and Educational Administration. Teaching in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, she had also held principalships in Alberta, British Columbia and Grand Manan Island where she finished her career in teaching.
E. Helena Kingston (1909-2004) - April 20, 2004 — She was a teacher by vocation, prior to retirement. Mary Alice Nolan - May 7, 2004 — Mary Alice was a retired school teacher with District #10. Hilda Anne Arsenault (1913-2004) - April 9, 2004 — Hilda retired from teaching at the Gunningsville Elementary School from 1961-1978. She was a member of the Retired Teachers’ Association.
MONCTON
Mary Elizabeth Roach (1912-2004) - April 29, 2004 — She was a retired school teacher. Lyla E. Hicks - April 28, 2004 — Lyla began her teaching profession in a one-room schoolhouse in McKees Mills. Marie Leger - April 5, 2004 — She worked as a school teacher until her retirement. Fraser Eugene Clark (1936-2004) - April 7,2004 — Fraser was a retired school teacher who graduated from Teachers’ College of UPEI in 1971. He last taught at Hillsborough Elementary School. Hilda Anne (Barry) Arsenault (1914-2004) April 9, 2004 — She taught at the Gunningsville School for many years, retiring in 1978. Her two great loves were the Miramichi and her three grandsons from Dartmouth. She will be sadly missed by daughter Janice, family and friends and by former students in Riverview who remember her kindness and dedication.
KINGS
Myra E. Dykeman - April 20, 2004 — She was a teacher in various New Brunswick schools. Neil H. Scott - July 17, 2004 —Neil was a kind and gentle soul who loved learning and teaching others. He was principal of Hampton Elementary School for the first part of his career. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, he became an Associate Professor of Education at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. Laura Marguerite (Gorman) Miller - June 25, 2004 — Marguerite was a school teacher and taught at Noel Shore, Northfield, New Ross and later in Elmsdale, N.S. Each of her students held a special place in her heart and she mentioned many of them over the years.
RESTIGOUCHE
Ida Mary Culligan - April 27, 2004 — Ida graduated from Normal School/Teachers’ College, Fredericton in 1929. She taught in South Tetagouche her first year and in Jacquet River until 1941. She returned to teaching in 1956 in Jacquet River and in 1960 accepted a position in Campbellton until retirement in 1971. She was a member of the New Brunswick Retired Teachers’ Association.
MIRAMICHI
Dennis Bennett - August 19, 2004, at the age of 67. His teaching career covered posts in several regions of the province - Miramichi, Plaster Rock, McAdam and St.Stephen. Pearl E. Cameron (1907-2004) - July 16, 2004 — She was a teacher by profession and was an honorary life member of the Retired Teachers’ Association. Thomas G. Lanteigne (1945-2004) - July 9, 2004 — He was a former teacher by profession and taught in schools in both the Loggieville and Chatham area.
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SAINT JOHN
Marion Alice Cassidy - July 12, 2004 — She was a graduate of the Provincial Normal School and was a primary grade teacher at the former King George School in Saint John, where her classes enjoyed “Miss Harrison’s” excellent teaching and
REFLECTIONS
exhibited the high standards of behaviour that she expected of them. Eileen “Natalie” Lee - July 10, 2004 — She was a school teacher working in both Canada and the United States. Sarah Josephine (Lucas) McQuade (19202004) — Sarah graduated from the Provincial Normal School after which she pursued a career as a school teacher. She taught in many school districts across N.B., touching the lives of many students. Captain John Macarthur - June 3, 2004 — Captain Macarthur taught from 1950-1958 at the Saint John Vocational School and coached the Voc Rugby team of 1957 to the city championship. At Voc he taught math and also operated a Navigational school at night. Margaret R. Ryan - July 1, 2004 — She was a graduate of the Provincial Normal School and UNB and had taught in Dorchester Corner,Campbellton and at St. Peter’s School in Saint John. She was a member of the Saint John Retired Teachers Association. Rino Jean Cormier - June 12, 2004 — Mr. Cormier was retired after a 22-year career in teaching. Doris E. Whipple - June 8, 2004 — A graduate of Saint John High School, Provincial Normal School, Mt.Allison University (BA., BEd.), University of London England (Associateship) on a Beaverbrook Scholarship. Doris belonged to the NB Teachers’ Association. David William Dobbin - June 22, 2004 — David was a dedicated English teacher in Saint John.
Dorothy P. Weston - June 25, 2004 — Mrs. Weston was a school teacher in her younger years in Tynemouth Creek and Bayview, in a one-room schoolhouse. Jean Young Robinson Bates - April 19, 2004 — She was a local school teacher throughout her career. Sister Rita A. (Sr. Marie Anthony) - June 7, 2004 — She received a B.A., B.Ed., and M.Ed. from the University of New Brunswick and a Masters Degree in Pastoral Studies from St. Paul University in Ottawa. A teacher by profession, Sister Keenan taught in Woodstock, N.B., Mount Carmel Academy and St. Vincent’s High School in Saint John. Following her retirement from classroom teaching, Sister Keenan taught at St. Thomas University. Verna W. Mawhinney (1911-2004) - May 11, 2004 — A graduate of Provincial Normal School, Verna taught school in Jeffrey’s Corner, Saint John, Lepreau and Mace’s Bay.
VICTORIA-TOBIQUE
Yvon Leclerc - July 8, 2004 — Mr. Leclerc was a physical education teacher for many years. Lillian Geraldine (Farris) - July 14, 2004 — Lillian was a school teacher in the Plaster Rock area for 25 years. She was a member of the VictoriaTobique Branch. Ella Mae Howard - June 17, 2004 —She went to the Tobique area as a young school teacher and eventually made her home there. She was a teacher in the Plaster Rock area for thirty years and a member of the Victoria-Tobique Branch.
There Was An Old Bishop of Tours ...
We can find some intriguing, not to say bizarre connections in the history of words. What else but words could link a short cloak - a short, ancient, tattered cloak, a small church in a village on the Fundy coast of New Brunswick, unaccompanied choral singing, a military padre, and reformed drunkards. Just before you decide that I have really flipped my etymological lid for good, let's have a look
FALL 2004
at the perfectly logical links in this seemingly unlikely linguistic chain. Let's start with that short cloak, for instance, that ancient, tattered cloak. It was the kind of garment preserved not for itself but for its association with some holy figure from the past who wore it - what we call a relic. Objects connected with saintly personages were much revered by the early church 39
and there was one short cloak, once worn by Martin, a fourth century Bishop of Tours, in France, that for centuries was reputed to have miraculous properties. Before and after he became a bishop, Martin was a celebrated soldier and later a miraculous healer. So famous was he that after his death the Kings of the Franks used his cloak as a talisman, and had it carried into battle before them to remind God whose side they were on. In the few days when they weren't fighting, they had the cloak kept in a special shrine, watched over by the same priests who carried it into battle. Now the Latin word for a short cloak is capella - chapelle in Old French and the word came to mean not just the cloak, but the shrine where it was kept; and through time it came to be applied to any holy shrine or place of worship, especially a small one. Hence our word chapel, and hence, of course, the small church. The priests set to guard the cloak, the capella, were called chapelaines, and this name, perhaps because their job was especially to protect the relic in battle, came commonly to be the title given to priests connected with the military, chaplains - there's your padre. That same Martin, the Bishop of Tours, became a much revered saint in the mediaeval church, so revered in fact that many churches and even towns and villages have been named after him in Europe and by extension here in North America. Which takes us of course to Saint Martins, that pretty fishing village on the Bay of Fundy. All right, you say, but what about those reformed drunks? Remember, this is only a linguistic connection - I wouldn't like to suggest that Saint Martins, New Brunswick has any more than its fair share of drunks, reformed or otherwise. No, you see in the histories of the saints there are many stories making Saint Martin the patron saint of the drunkards; he was able to reform their dissolute ways. Which leaves us with only one loose end to tie up, in this series of connections. Why was the choir singing unaccompanied ? We have to go back to the Latin for the answer, and the word for chapel, capella. Long after the word came to be applied, first
in Latin then in Italian, to small places of worship, chapel choirs, as distinct from the great chorales in the cathedrals, developed their own distinctive style of singing, called chapel singing. Since the chapels were too small to have room for instrumental accompaniment, the singing, in delicate harmony, was unaccompanied. And nowadays the term a capella is used as a quite general description of any unaccompanied singing, choral or otherwise. So, as you can see, words can make the strangest links. Here they have formed a chain joining a warrior bishop with a New Brunswick fishing village, reformed drunks with military clergy, all by way of an ancient tattered cloak. In the face of such dazzling leaps of logic, miraculous victories and saintly rescues from the bottle can seem almost ordinary. —George Little
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REFLECTIONS
Fall 2004
Vol. XXII, No. 1
A Magazine By and For Retired Teachers In New Brunswick
ISSN 0847-1703