WILLOW VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT No.3510

1. The first settlers in the Willow View district were Mr. And Mrs. James
2. Brady and family, who arrived in the summer of 1910 and homesteaded on
3. the SE ¼ 24-48-10 W4 while son Time filed on the NE quarter. The
4. Bradys owned a large herd of cattle and had previously homesteaded near
5. Lougheed, but as the settlers arrived, and land became fenced, the need for
6. open range motivated their move northward.
7.  
8. Homestead land was gradually taken from 1910 to 1916. 1911 saw the
9. Robert Bugg family file on the NW ¼ 24-48-10, while in 1912 the Harry
10. Vandervaates arrived to settle on the SW quarter. Other settlers arriving
11. and taking up homestead land on Section 14 were the Sam MacKeys on the
12. SW quarter, Marbels on the SE, Henry Wilfred on the NE and Ross Shippy on
13. the NW quarter.
14.  
15. Section 18-49-9 was also filed on about the same time with Pete
16. Nicholson on the NW, Jasper Shippy on the NE, Charles Morrison on the SE
17. and Mr. Brown, a brother of Mrs. Vandervaates on the SW. Mr. & Mrs.
18. Herrick and son Howard took the south half of 12-48-10, while Wallace
19. Herr built himself a small house on the NW quarter.
20.  
21. The NW ¼ 22-48-10 was filed on by Bert Skaife with Earl Moore on the
22. east half. Charles Hooper homesteaded on the NE ¼ 10-48-10. Another
23. family who resided in the district was Mr. & Mrs. Pete Blaine and four boys
24. on SW ¼ 14-48-10.
25.  
26. By this time, the need for a school seemed apparent, so a meeting was
27. held on August 16, 1018 with James Brady as chairman, Bert Skaife as
28. secretary-treasurer, and Wallace Herr as a trustee. Mr. Skaife received
29. $50 salary for one year’s work. The district formed was partly in
30. Lakeview Municipality and partly in Buffalo Coulee. Tenders were
31. advertised for the building of the school and Mssrs. McColman and Monroe’s
32. offer of $1250 was accepted. The school was built on the SW corner of
33. 24-48-10, bought from Mr. Harry Vandervaate for $50. It was a high rise
34. of land with a good view to the east and south, which led to the name
35. Willow View. The school was twelve miles south of Minburn and the
36. farthest north of any school in the Wainwright School Division.
37.  
38. By the time the school was built, many families had moved and because of
39. a lack of pupils, the school didn’t open until June 1, 1921 with Miss Ina
40. Askin of Irma, the first teacher. She received a salary of $1,100.00. That
41. year the school closed December 22nd and re-opened April 1, 1922 with
42. Miss Annie Fulton as teacher. A coal shed was built and Charles Herrick
43. hauled coal for four dollars a ton. Miss Marjorie Bennett taught from
44. August 1st until December 20, 1923. Mr. Frank Addison taught from April
45. 1st until the end of December. Mrs. Westover taught from February
46. 1st until late December, 1925. Other teachers were Miss Ethel Drury, Mrs.
47. R.L. Rohrer, Mrs. L. Reynolds and Miss A. Horinek.
48.  
49. Lack of pupils forced the school to close in the late twenties and again
50. from 1934 until November 1943. At this time Miss Genon Theroux took up
51. the teaching duties. She later became the bride of Mr. Ross Astley, a
52. district bachelor. She was followed by Miss Almina Hill, Miss Elizabeth
53. Fucsko, Miss Shiela Johnston, Mr. Harry Lewin, Mrs. Marjorie Astley, Mr. S.
54. Boyko and Mr. C. Allen. Some of the early ones mentioned served as
55. supervisors for the children taking correspondence courses. The school
56. was permanently closed the summer of 1955, with the children being
57. bussed to Minburn and Albert Centralized school. Later, with the closure
58. of Albert Centralized School the children attended Irma school.
59.  
60. Some of the families whose children attended Willow View were R. Legacy,
61. Pete Blaine, Kavanaugh, Harry Vandervaate, Hiram Astley, Tim Brady, John
62. Brady, V.D. Faulkner, H. Ellwood, K. Whitton, R. Breckinridge, E.
63. Pocock, S. Prosser, L. Hunter and T. Greenwood.
64.  
65. Some of the school board members were James Brady, Bert Skaife, Jack
66. Herrick, Erling Leeland, Samual Benson, Scott Dominey, Pete Blaine, Harry
67. Woolford, Howard Herrick, Harry Vandervaate, Sherman Prosser, Debs
68. Faulkner, John Brady, Mrs. Lizzie Vandervaate and Mrs. H. Herrick.
69.  
70. The school was the centre for local gatherings. Christmas concerts were
71. always a highlight with the school picnic following a close second. Many
72. dances were held with Ben, John or Tim Brady supplying the music on their
73. violins.

Willow View School District No. 3510
taken from the Kinsella History Book
Submitted by Genon Astley

39-40