cktimes.ca Archives for Ecowrappin'
Ecowrappin'
Some memories of Sombra Township School Section # 13(SS#13)
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
I began school in Sept of 1960. I recall doing so with a black eye and scraped up face because my cousin, 10 months older than I was not able to give me the piggy back ride she had promised and ended up dumping me face first into some gravel.This is a different sort of Ecowrappin article than usual. There probably is nothing environmental here except that I will be recollecting things about my early educational environment. That is a bit of a stretch in order to fit this topic in as suitable for Ecowrappin but in truth the old school is on my mind as we approach April 29th and the reunion scheduled for that day.
I went to the West Becher, SS #13, one-room school for grades 1 to 4. Our school closed and I started Grade 5 at the Riverview Central School in Sept of 1964. When the idea to have a reunion for the old school got started, I received a call asking me to help out on the committee because it was important to have some of the young people involved. How could I decline that invitation? How many more times will I be asked to participate in anything because I am one of the younger ones?
Take Forhan Street north out of Wallaceburg and between the Pointe Line and the Lambton Line some trees still outline the old school yard and the concrete steps still lead up to the building that is no longer there.
Being involved with this reunion committee has been a bit of a revelation for me. Hearing other people's stories and knowing how many people attended and still carry memories, some good and some not quite so good. It is as though people whom we knew when we were children somehow remain very special to us. We shared so much and although it was a small portion of the greater community it created a local bond.
A game of scrub baseball could start in April and be played at recesses and lunch hours right to the end of June. I recall that Combat, the television show was broadcast on Wednesday evenings and every Thursday the boys in the lower grades would play combat after fighting over who would get to be Sarge, Kirby, and Little John.
There was a game that the entire school would play together. I have never heard of anyone else who ever played Jealous Base but I have tried to explain the rules of the game to others. When you try to explain the rules to Jealous Base you can expect to be looked at like you have a third head! It is hard to explain, and yet SS #13 students played it regularly for generations of students. I do not believe the tradition survived the closing of the school.
I recall that when I was supposed to be practicing arithmetic, some other grade would be learning about Marco Polo, Columbus, La Salle, or studying the roll down wall map of the world with the British Commonwealth shown in pink, and those maps had a lot of pink! There was just so much opportunity to learn, and ignore what I should be doing.
The meetings to plan this reunion have been interesting. Lots of stories and visiting with a little bit of work occasionally. Looking through old pictures of good old days, when we were not old and frequently not too good either. The night we looked through the marks of every student in the school in the 57-58 school year was hilarious. Those marks are all archived in the Sombra Museum. I did not have anything to hide because luckily it was all before my time. Once again there is still an advantage to being one of the young ones.
April 29 at the Wilkesport Community Centre will be a unique experience. I expect a lot of laughter and some tears. That is what reunions are all about.
Darrell Randell works for Ducks Unlimited Canada as a Conservation Programs Specialist in South West Ontario. Before that he was a Lambton County Pork Producer for 25 years. He served 2 terms on Sombra Township Council, 1994-2000, and is currently a councillor in St Clair Township. He is a past president of the Lambton County Federation of Agriculture. He was a founding member of the Rural Lambton Stewardship Network and served as chairman of that group from 1995-2003. He and Nancy have 3 grown children, each of whom they are extremely proud.
