Willow View School District No. 3510
The first settlers in the Willow View district were Mr. And Mrs. James
Brady and family, who arrived in the summer of 1910 and homesteaded on
the SE ¼ 24-48-10 W4 while son Time filed on the NE quarter. The
Bradys owned a large herd of cattle and had previously homesteaded near
Lougheed, but as the settlers arrived, and land became fenced, the need for
open range motivated their move northward.
Homestead land was gradually taken from 1910 to 1916. 1911 saw the Robert Bugg family file on the NW ¼ 24-48-10, while in 1912 the Harry Vandervaates arrived to settle on the SW quarter. Other settlers arriving and taking up homestead land on Section 14 were the Sam MacKeys on the SW quarter, Marbels on the SE, Henry Wilfred on the NE and Ross Shippy on the NW quarter.
Section 18-49-9 was also filed on about the same time with Pete Nicholson on the NW, Jasper Shippy on the NE, Charles Morrison on the SE and Mr. Brown, a brother of Mrs. Vandervaates on the SW. Mr. & Mrs. Herrick and son Howard took the south half of 12-48-10, while Wallace Herr built himself a small house on the NW quarter.
The NW ¼ 22-48-10 was filed on by Bert Skaife with Earl Moore on the east half. Charles Hooper homesteaded on the NE ¼ 10-48-10. Another family who resided in the district was Mr. & Mrs. Pete Blaine and four boys on SW ¼ 14-48-10.
By this time, the need for a school seemed apparent, so a meeting was held on August 16, 1018 with James Brady as chairman, Bert Skaife as secretary-treasurer, and Wallace Herr as a trustee. Mr. Skaife received $50 salary for one year’s work. The district formed was partly in Lakeview Municipality and partly in Buffalo Coulee. Tenders were advertised for the building of the school and Mssrs. McColman and Monroe’s offer of $1250 was accepted. The school was built on the SW corner of 24-48-10, bought from Mr. Harry Vandervaate for $50. It was a high rise of land with a good view to the east and south, which led to the name Willow View. The school was twelve miles south of Minburn and the farthest north of any school in the Wainwright School Division.
By the time the school was built, many families had moved and because of a lack of pupils, the school didn’t open until June 1, 1921 with Miss Ina Askin of Irma, the first teacher. She received a salary of $1,100.00. That year the school closed December 22nd and re-opened April 1, 1922 with Miss Annie Fulton as teacher. A coal shed was built and Charles Herrick hauled coal for four dollars a ton. Miss Marjorie Bennett taught from August 1st until December 20, 1923. Mr. Frank Addison taught from April 1st until the end of December. Mrs. Westover taught from February 1st until late December, 1925. Other teachers were Miss Ethel Drury, Mrs. R.L. Rohrer, Mrs. L. Reynolds and Miss A. Horinek.
Lack of pupils forced the school to close in the late twenties and again from 1934 until November 1943. At this time Miss Genon Theroux took up the teaching duties. She later became the bride of Mr. Ross Astley, a district bachelor. She was followed by Miss Almina Hill, Miss Elizabeth Fucsko, Miss Shiela Johnston, Mr. Harry Lewin, Mrs. Marjorie Astley, Mr. S. Boyko and Mr. C. Allen. Some of the early ones mentioned served as supervisors for the children taking correspondence courses. The school was permanently closed the summer of 1955, with the children being bussed to Minburn and Albert Centralized school. Later, with the closure of Albert Centralized School the children attended Irma school.
Some of the families whose children attended Willow View were R. Legacy, Pete Blaine, Kavanaugh, Harry Vandervaate, Hiram Astley, Tim Brady, John Brady, V.D. Faulkner, H. Ellwood, K. Whitton, R. Breckinridge, E. Pocock, S. Prosser, L. Hunter and T. Greenwood.
Some of the school board members were James Brady, Bert Skaife, Jack Herrick, Erling Leeland, Samual Benson, Scott Dominey, Pete Blaine, Harry Woolford, Howard Herrick, Harry Vandervaate, Sherman Prosser, Debs Faulkner, John Brady, Mrs. Lizzie Vandervaate and Mrs. H. Herrick.
The school was the centre for local gatherings. Christmas concerts were always a highlight with the school picnic following a close second. Many dances were held with Ben, John or Tim Brady supplying the music on their violins.
Willow View School District No. 3510
taken from the Kinsella History Book
Submitted by Genon Astley
39-40