Reminiscences
by Doris Fenton“Memories of Mascot School”
Following are reminiscences contributed by Mrs. Doris (Gray) Fenton who taught at Mascot for two years, 1934 to 1936.
A black bull was pawing up a storm in front of the barn. I went back into the school until he went away. It was 1934, my first year of teaching. I had four miles to go to my boarding place as soon as I could get to my horse. Conditions there would now be considered quite primitive. The school, built in 1929, was on an open section where anyone’s horses and cattle could run at large. There was not even a fence around the school yard. In that part of Alberta, there were no gravelled roads, no snowplows, no plumbing and no electricity. I thought I had an interesting two years – there were 20 pupils and at various times I taught grades one to eleven.
I boarded with Mr. & Mrs. Beasely. I had a comfortable room all to myself, and good food. Board was $20 a month for me and $3 for my horse. With a salary of $700 a year, later cut to $650, I was able to save half of it. Most of my expenditures were for craft supplies and books to use at the school, also a good saddle – now a treasured keepsake of some of my grandchildren.
Some families attending Mascot were: Bruce McNerns (when their mother taught there), Dick McNerns, Dahls, Dahlgrens, Wilfred and Philias LaFrance families, Woods, Busheys, Flamands, McCauslands, Elsie Harris and Elsie Murray.
Looking back almost sixty years, I remember with fondness the Beasleys, including Rosa and Charlie, Les and Cecille going in the bob sleigh with the LaFrance young people to dances at Gilt Edge hall and Grangedale, the hospitality of Bert and Melba Kitchen, the Plaxtons, the Nelsons, the Harrises. Marion Watson and I took a combined Mascot-Grangedale ball team to a tournament at Chauvin. I also remember sleepless nights while preparing for Christmas concerts; getting lost in a dust storm when my horse took a wrong turn out of the woods, and three hour rides in sub zero weather going home for weekends. But I loved teaching and never thought of it as a hard life.
Memories of Mascot School
Contributed by Mrs. Doris (Gray) Fenton
142-143