Former students restore school’s charm

From our February 2014 issue

By E.J. (Butch) Peterson St. Walburg, Sask.

Moose Head School was built on land donated by J.W. Busby and Harry Snevi and opened in 1915 with Mrs. Annie Croucher as teacher.

Early students were Mowery; Busby; Davidson; Kyle; Snevi; Pickering; and Anderson. Others later in no particular order were Saari; Allen; Broten; Moloff; Aultman; Regnier; Bannerman; Kinney; McLaughlin; Pilling; Rendle; Griffith; Frisk; Broten; Senkin; Jackson and probably many others I don’t recall.

The teachers were Miss McLean 1916; Isabel Manson 1921; Margaret Paulson 1922; Catherine McKonkie, Vera Anderson, and Myrtle Graham 1923; Miss Dudding 1924; Wilma Angelmire 1925; Miss Wright, Harold Wagner and Miss Gillis 1926; Kate McLaren 1927; Miss Novicka 1928; Mrs. Ben Nicholas 1929; and Miss Elsie Stubbs in 1930.

In 1931, Jim Allin became teacher and taught there for 26 years until 1957, then Mrs. Doreen Mowery taught there until 1963 when the school was closed and students were bussed to St. Walburg. Mrs. Verna Bannerman was teacher for 3 weeks in the fall of 1959 while Mrs. Mowery was in the hospital.

The school was then used for a church for a number of years and the land was later given to the Sask. Acres for a wildlife land program.

A few years ago some of the former students formed a committee to refurbish the building. They raised enough money to redo the roof and repaint it inside and out and then found some desks, a wood stove and other odds and ends, including some lunch kits, to make it look realistic.

Moose Head School situated in the RM of Mervin, formerly the RM of Greenfield.

A flag pole, a well with a pump and a rebuilt outhouse helped finish the outside. Moose Head school was named a Saskatchewan Heritage Site and is open to the public during the summer months.

Many former students signed their names on the blackboard over the years, but these were lost when someone erased them and drew his own concept of history.

Most of the signers have passed away so those signatures are gone forever, but thankfully no other real vandalism has happened.


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