Whenever S.C.I. classmates get together, very early in the conversation we ask one another if we have seen or heard from other members of the old school gang. I'm sure it's similar for classmates of all years. The school years are an interesting time in anyone's life. Keeping in touch with people and events that played a part in our lives, and reminiscing, can rekindle a fond moment of times past.

Thinking about those times in school has stimulated far more memories than are related in this article. It is my hope for readers who may browse through this bit of nostalgia, that other fond memories will come to mind.

The years I went to Stonewall School were 1946 - 1958. During that period there were students who joined us, and some who moved away to other parts of the province, the country, and other countries. Let me illustrate by example. In 1992 my wife and I went to San Diego, California, for a vacation. While there I recalled that the Kennedy's had moved from Stonewall to San Diego in the early fifties, over 35 years ago.

I had played left wing on a Pee Wee hockey line with Fred Waite and Bill Kennedy. Bill's brother Ian had been my patrol leader in the Boy Scouts. I also recall when Boy Scouts gathered used papers and cardboard for recycling to make some money for the troop. We had a real mess in the back of the Kennedy's yard; paper piled all over. Mr. Kennedy had said we could put the paper in one of his trailers, as he owned and operated Stonewall Freight at the time.

So now, one evening over 35 years later, while sitting in a San Diego condo I said to my wife, "I'm going to see if I can contact Bill Kennedy; it has been over 35 years since I have seen or heard from him." In the San Diego phone book I don't know how many Bill, William, and W. Kennedy's there are, but likely I'd still be there going through the book looking for him. However, when I looked under Ian Kennedy, believe it or not, there was only one. I dialled the number and sure enough, it was the Ian from Stonewall, and yes he remembered me. The thrust of our conversation went back to people and events that I had forgotten. He gave me his brother, Bill's phone number and Bill and I had a good visit on things that have changed in Stonewall. Bill advised me that he hadn't had a pair ice skates on since he left Stonewall.

Reminiscing with Ian and Bill Kennedy helped me recall a number of events that occurred during the period when I went to school in Stonewall. Let me start in Grade I.

In 1946, Miss E. Griffin was our teacher. We had those little red tickets with the letters of the alphabet on them. Miss Griffin would print words on the blackboard and we would have to make the words with those tickets. For whatever reason, I used to dread when she would get those tickets out. I remember them vividly to this day.

There was a big air register in the floor, where we used to like to drop pens, pencils, and coins. Miss Griffin would remove the register, and hold Kenny Mollard by his legs to let him reach down and retrieve whatever had fallen through the register.

Ron Pichurski wasn't happy his first day at school and I remember his mother having a difficult time to try and make him stay. He finally came and sat with me in one of those double desks. Double desks, remember, what a way to have a good time in class. In 1947, Grade II, Miss V. Paterson was our teacher. Remember the big pendulum clock with the Roman Numerals that hung at the front of the room? The hours seemed to go so slow until recess. "Do ya ken John Peel with your coat so grey, with your hounds and your horns in the morning" is the way I remember the top song on Miss Paterson's hit parade. Recall the little pitch pipe she would blow to get us started on the proper key?

Our classroom that year was upstairs on the west side in the big stone classic 1907 model school. We would go into the upstairs centre room which had glass show cases of bones, stuffed birds and charts of the birds of North America. We spent what now seems like hours looking at those items over the years.

In Grade III, 1948, Miss V. Paterson was still our teacher, and we didn't change rooms. The only memory that stands out in my mind is my hand stinging from a little leather belt - something about thou shalt not fool around in school.

In the spring of the 1948/49 school year I remember vividly Mr. R. W. Bend, the Principal, coming into our room and telling us, "Canada as a nation is taking on new dimensions; Newfoundland is joining Confederation."

In 1949, Grade IV, Miss M. Hatch was our teacher. We graduated from pencils only, to using ink. Walter Thompson loved to spill his purple ink all over his desk, his pants, and his books. If it didn't happen every week there was something wrong. The floor around Walter's desk didn't need washing during the summer break, as Walter washed it every week.

We started making birds, animals, and flower plaques with plaster of Paris moulds and painting them that year, which most of us enjoyed. The Kinsmen Club supported a children's choir with Mrs. Dorothy Matthewson as the leader. We competed in the Manitoba music festival on stage at the Winnipeg Auditorium.

Hockey was all the rage with the boys and we could hardly wait for winter to come. It was about this time that Mrs. Waite made the Archie and Jughead hats out of old felt hats. Many of us just had to have one and we would cover them with pins and fancy badges to look like Archie and Jughead in the comic books.

Miss Hatch was a good teacher, and a fine disciplinarian. If you turned around to talk to a neighbour, she would sneak down the aisle with the wooden yardstick in her hand and slap it hard on the top of your desk, which would snap one to attention; or she was pretty good at throwing blackboard brushes, and more than one of us rascals felt the impact of a brush.

Grade V, 1950, Miss McCaw was our teacher. We were in the west side basement room of the old stone school. The room was extremely cold in the winter. There was a supplementary wood stove in the room to provide additional heat. Someone threw some bullets into the stove and created quite a commotion. We thought the old stove was going to blow up.

Alister Brown and Leonard Walstrom would bring their guitars to school and sing for the class. Miss McCaw loved to read stories to the class and if we were real good, on the odd occasion she would read for the better part of the afternoon.

The mumps were bad that year and a lot of kids missed school.

The big flood occurred in the spring of 1950 and we had a number of students from Winnipeg join us for classes. The high water that year must have caused the garter snakes to move out of their normal habitat, as the town was over-run with snakes. We used to put them in our pockets and sneak them into class, and let them go to cause a commotion, which it always did.

In 1951, Grade VI, Mr. John Senkiw was our teacher. He also coached us in hockey. Playing marbles was the big event in spring time. Whoever could get the posts beside the front steps at recess had the preferred positions, and Jim Walstrom had the biggest span. Why did I ever play with him? My little marble bag would be nearly empty after a game.

The girls would skip every spring at recess and it must have been about that year (Grade VI) that boys and girls recognized there was something unique about certain relationships, as the skipping songs the girls sang reflected a passing interest with 'Dick and Jane.'

In 1952, Grade VII, Mr. P. Matthewson was our teacher. Playing ball on the east diamond, Raymond Aberhart loved to see how far he could hit the ball toward the school; I do believe the odd pane of glass was replaced that year.

The winter carnival and the Queen pageant was a major annual event in town. Remember Archie Gray, Lloyd Young and Smilie Monkman jumping barrels at the carnival? Smilie was one of the best skaters I ever saw as a hockey player. What he was short in stature, he made up for in movement.

In 1953, Grade VIII, Mr. P. Matthewson remained as our teacher. He also was active as a hockey coach. On many cold nights Mr. Matthewson rubbed players' cold feet when we played Warren on their open ice.

We were getting ready for high school and somehow I remember the mathematics getting harder. In class, we were allowed to work together solving problems at each others' desks, which I recall was a considerable departure from previous years. This touch of freedom seemed to show Mr. Matthewson had confidence in us to do our work; and it was a confidence builder for us.

Miss Priest would come once a week with her accordion and share some songs and Bible stories. Evelyn Johnson always remembered the Bible verses we were supposed to memorize.

In 1954, Grade IX, high school- wow! We'd actually made it. Teachers were Mr. Bend, Principal, Miss Gillies, Miss McPhedran and Miss Larson. Mr. Bend left us part way through that first year to accept a cabinet position with the Provincial Government. Mr. Sawchuk came to take Mr. Bend's place for the balance of the year.

The Grade IX class grew in size significantly, as students joined us from the single room school houses in the district. The room was so crowded we had seats sitting side by side with no aisles. We had to walk almost sideways to get down the aisles that were open.

Ron Pichurski would stay outside after recess to play football and then try to sneak in, by crawling down the aisle on hands and knees to his desk. One day Miss Larson moved quickly down the aisle to stand right in front of Ron as he was crawling in. I can still see his eyes looking up into her face. You know how a blood hound looks?

The old brick school house was in poor repair. One day a chunk of plaster, probably eight feet square and two to three inches thick, fell from the ceiling narrowly missing Miss Larson, who was sitting on the edge of her desk. The entire class was startled. We also found that by opening the furnace door in the wintertime with the outside school door open. the air draw would be so strong that smoke and dust would flow out across all the rooms. This activity would usually be good for a 15 minute break for clean up. So someone would decide the waste basket was full, and run to the basement to throw the paper in the furnace, while another student would pretend to go to the bathroom, while really his job was to open the outside door. Rascals weren't we?

In the spring of that year our class was deeply saddened when our fellow classmate, Frank Estok, drowned in a gravel pit while swimming with a bunch of us after school. Joanne Boyd and Lou Edwards were recognized for their valiant efforts to pull him from the water and attempt to revive him. Our class and the school was in shock.

The years 1955, 1956, 1957 and 1958 seemed to pass too quickly. We had new principals every year: Mr. C. Deihl in Grade X, Mr. A. Johnson in Grade XI, and Mr. C. Bergen in Grade XII. Miss LeSann taught French, and Miss Gillies and Miss McPhedran continued to teach English and Mathematics respectively.

Our high school years were fun years; we put on amateur contests, we went to dances at Argyle, Warren. Balmoral, Stony Mountain, Meadows, and of course, many events in the upstairs of the old Municipal Hall. The Odd Fellows Lodge provided us every Saturday night with their hall, which was above McConkey's store. We elected our own executive and ran a teen canteen. It was a highlight of our social week for a number of years.

There are countless events and people that come to mind as I reminisce about what was in our little town during those school years. Here are just a few of them.

1. Mr. Len Billings repairing our broken soccer balls. After school hours I remember Mr. Billings getting Ronnie Buckle and me to help him shoot pigeons. The pigeons would perch on the school window sills and make a mess.
2. Mr. Fred Hunter visiting each class on a regular basis to see who had been missing any school.
3. Watching Mr. Jim Cooper and Mr. Tom Fell in their blacksmith shops shoeing horses; the smells still come to my nose when I think about it.
4. Climbing on Mr. Jim Appleyard's dray wagon when he'd say, "Come on sport, get up here you little cucumber."
5. Milk delivered in horse drawn wagons with Mr. Bob Mann's, Mr. Alf Prime's and Mr. Francis Appleyard's three local dairies.
6. Norri Walton's horse and wagon that moved the mail every day from the CP station to the post office.
7. The steam locomotives pulling the train every day to town, and the station platform being crowded with people to pick up their freight.
8. The sounds of the drills going in the quarries, then the siren, then the silence, then the blasts, then dishes would rattle in the cupboards. Also, the sound of the rock falling from the hoist buckets into the kilns. It could be heard all over town, but we never thought of it then, it was part of the sounds of our familiar environment.
9. The school bell in the old brick high school that rang to us the hour and called us to school. The different sound of the town bell that told us when it was lunch hour, and the unfortunate times it called men to action to fight fires.

These are just some of the people and sights and sounds that come to mind when thinking about school days in Stonewall. As I said at the beginning, I hope this article may have prompted some pleasant memories of your days in school.