SADDLE HILL SCHOOL DISTRICT No.1983

1. By 1909, the Lewis, Leggett, Frank Redmond, Jim Smithson, Sam
2. Redmond, Alfred Redmond, Ed Drury and Charlie Moore families and others
3. had settled an area in the SE township 45 range 4. Several of these
4. families had children and serious thought was given to their education.
5. Frank Redmond was chosen to contact the provincial government
6. concerning forming a school district. As a result, in 1910, the Saddle Hill
7. School was opened with Mr. Wiggley as the first teacher.
8.  
9. The name “Saddle Hill” was suitable because of a range of hills to the east
10. and south. The contour of the hills appears as a distinct saddle to those
11. approaching from the east. From this saddle, our school and district got
12. its name.
13.  
14. From the minutes of trustee meetings from 1909-1946, we find that in
15. 1909 there were enough children to justify a school in the area. A
16. meeting was called. Arthur Leggett, Charlie Moore and Frank Redmond
17. were chosen as the first trustees. On July 20, 1909, a by-law was passed
18. to borrow $1000 for the purpose of “obtaining a school site, building and
19. furnishing a school and outhouses, and digging a well.” The site on the SW
20. ¼ 14-45-4 W4 was obtained from Sam Redmond. This is eight miles
21. north and one mile west of the village of Edgerton. George Otterham was
22. the contractor and in 1910 the school was opened.
23.  
24. To meet expenses $.10 per acre was levied on all land in the district
25. except C.P.R. land. The school district had financial trouble right from the
26. beginning. The tax was raised to $.12 per acre; then to $.15 in 1917, $.16
27. in 1919, $.20 in 1921. In 1924, it was changed to eight mills on the dollar
28. of the assessed value.
29.  
30. Teachers were hired for part of a year. From the record we read, “Miss
31. Borden to be hired at $67 per month for eight months more or less for as
32. long as the money holds out.” The first time school continued for a year
33. was in 1918 when Miss Empey, a graduate of a four-month term at
34. Camrose Normal School, taught from May 1, 1918 to June 30, 1919.
35.  
36. If we could turn to some of the early registers, we would find such names
37. as Moore, Guthrie, Taylor, Gilbert, McCormick, McFarland, Greibrok,
38. Wallgren and many others.
39.  
40. Two farms in the district are still owned and operated by descendants of
41. the original settlers. These are Freeman Leggett and his son Philip, and
42. Dixie Bowen and her husband Rod. Dixie is the grand-daughter of Frank
43. Redmond.
44.  
45. The following list of teachers of Saddle Hill may not be entirely complete
46. or in the proper sequence. Mr. Wiggley, Miss McLaughlin, Miss McLean, Miss
47. Dickson, Mr. Pomeroy, Miss Stanley, Miss Harding, Miss Kellogg, Miss
48. Borden, Miss Gilchrist, Miss Empey, Miss R. Redmond, Mr. M. Murdock, Miss
49. Smith, Miss B. Wheeler, Miss Ewart, Miss Mogan, Mr. Shaw, Miss Whitman,
50. Miss Cunningham, Miss Nichols, Miss Woodhull, Miss A. Withnell, Mr.
51. McDarmand, Miss Ruth Miles, Mrs. Irma Kingham, Mr. Harry Moore, Miss
52. Vera Bertrand, Miss Dorothy Fox, Miss Ruth Chandler, Mrs. Elma Redmond,
53. Miss Margurite Jackson, Miss Marion Dallyn, Mrs. Marion Greibrok, Miss
54. Shirley Burton, Miss Agnes Erickson, Mrs. Elma Redmond.
55.  
56. Supervisors of correspondence lessons included Miss Thelma Burnett, Miss
57. Joyce Firkus and Miss Grace Leech.
58.  
59. As the years passed, the school population varied from thirty-one in 1919
60. to a low of six in 1916. One year when enrolment was very high, Wesley
61. Kellogg was not allowed to start Gr. 1 until the following year.
62. Usually grades one to eight were taught if there were pupils for each
63. grade. This was extended to include Grade Nine. One year at Saddle Hill
64. School, when there was no grade nine, grade ten was taught.
65.  
66. In 1943-44 during war time, school started about a month late allowing
67. children to help with harvest. To make up for the delayed start, school
68. continued to the middle of July. That same year, Canada stayed on
69. Daylight Saving Time for the whole year. Because of lack of artificial
70. lighting in rural schools, commencement was at 10:00 A.M. D.S.T. and
71. dismissal at 4:30 P.M. Also in 1943-44, some students from Empire
72. School District attended Saddle Hill School.
73.  
74. Because of the proximity of Schwenk’s slough to Saddle Hill School,
75. skating was one of the sports participated in at noon hours. During Miss
76. Smith’s tenure, Freeman Leggett was sent to find out why Luther Vieweger
77. and Frankie Redmond had not returned to school. He found them in the bush
78. with a fire going drying out their clothes after having gone through the
79. ice. Having been warned not to tell, Freeman just told the teacher that
80. they would be back shortly.
81.  
82. Don Redmond recalls that many students during the depression came to
83. school barefoot. He remembers walking barefoot down to the slough,
84. putting on his skates, and later walking back shoeless with his skates
85. slung over his shoulder.
86.  
87. The janitor work at the school was often done by one of the older boys.
88. One of these boys recalls getting $.10 a day. At the end of the year, he
89. received $19.50 which he put toward a bicycle. Another one of these boys
90. enjoyed the furore caused when the “22” shells he put in the heater
91. exploded. Sometimes teachers did the janitor work, as Miss Margurite
92. Jackson did. Mrs. Marion Greibrok remembers the dismay of coming to
93. school one morning and seeing oily soot covering everything. Apparently
94. the heater, which had been converted to oil, had exploded.
95.  
96. Transportation to school took many forms. Many children walked, while
97. others rode horseback as each schoolyard had a barn. As a teacher, I also
98. rode horseback to school. I remember one time having my steed all loaded
99. down with my lunch kit, books etc. but decided to check to make sure the
100. porch door was shut securely. When I slammed the door, my horse bolted,
101. leaving me to walk. When my landlord saw the horse coming home, minus
102. the teacher, he was afraid I’d been thrown off and came looking for me
103. with the truck. I learned never to do that again.
104.  
105. Another means of transportation was ski-joring. Walter Erickson rode his
106. horse, Shorty, pulling Knute Wallgren on skis at the end of a rope.
107. Greibroks and Cornfields came to school in the winter time with a cutter
108. pulled by a single horse. Billy Redmond thought it was fun to hang on to
109. the box at the back of the cutter and slide along the snow on his tummy.
110. From this position he couldn’t see what was coming and consequently
111. when the horse relieved himself, he was dragged right through the manure.
112. Since Saddle Hill School was not located on a well travelled road, mud in
113. summer and snow in winter hampered Mrs. Greibrok getting to school by
114. car. She was very thankful numerous times when Guy Gibson snowplowed
115. the road.
116.  
117. In 1939, Saddle Hill became part of the large Wainwright School Division,
118. whose Board hired all the teachers for the division and disposed of the
119. rural schools; some were sold to individuals and some to communities for
120. social centres. In 1956, the children of Saddle Hill School District were
121. bussed to Edgerton. Mr. Guy Gibson purchased Saddle Hill School and moved
122. it to his farm one mile east, where it serves as a workshop.
123.  
124. On July 1 and 2, 1973, a Saddle Hill Homecoming was held at the farm of
125. Arne and Marion Greibrok. About 250 former students, teachers and their
126. families attended. It was also a time to honour five former students and
127. their wives who were celebrating their silver wedding anniversaries.
128. They were Alget & Eva Erickson, Buster & Pauline Gilbert, Arne & Marion
129. Greibrok, John & Brenda Greibrok and Bill & Thelma Redmond. The
130. following year, 1974, a claim was erected at the original site of Saddle
131. Hill School.
132.  
133. Much of this information has been taken from the account of Saddle Hill in
134. the Edgerton history book, “Winds of Change,” written by Mrs. F. Redmond.

Saddle Hill School District No. 1983
Submitted by Ruth Erickson

92-93-94-95