garibaldi public school former teacher remembers tribune april 17 1985 a15 by jessie greig the year was 1948 and as a two year pro i was totally and completely disillusioned if this is teaching i often said to myself and family ive had it a final rejection by a university filled to capacity by returning servicemen made teaching at garibaldi my second choice in august 1 signed the contract with the trustees but the signing brought only the resignation that i was settling for something that wasnt at the top of the list of my priorities september arrived and with a gnawing fear i arrived at the little red schoolhouse even that first day a day of testing and parryingi realized this was going to be different when things ran smoothly during the first week i hoped above hope that this was not the calm before the storm dur ing the second week the children and i began to warm to each other and i acknowledged to myself this was different from my first two years the teacher who had preceded me garnet gray had been a scholar and a gentleman and these qual ities had rubbed off on his pupils evidence of this was reflected in their workmanship and their courtesy once more my zeal surfaced i was in love with the job that had called me so strongly during my own school years there was nothing for me to do but plunge into the work and give my very best nostalgia has plagued me since last fall when i first learned of the impending reunion thirty- seven years have elapsed but i remember very clearly names like nettie and charlie farrow with whom i boarded walter and lily hope taylors reamans mcguckinsv bacons hewletts jeffer- sons hoovers irwins mitchells and hoods dreams and reveries have transported me back in time i can still hear the words music and the recitations that went with the christmas concerts that traditionally were a part of the little red schoolhouse how wesvorked to coordinate the program learn our lines and prepare the make shift stage everyone wanted a part and everyone threw himself into the long hours of practice with humour and zest after all it was better than doing mathematics bob hoover even stayed after school to scrub the stage and i have pictures to prove it we wrote and prepared adaptations of the birds christmas carol little women and wind in the willows who will ever forget bob heritage as mr toad of toad hall or the natural inborn talent in music of the taylors darlene dick and glenda or the mcguckins clare jean gloria gerald and ray when at last the magical moment of presenta tion arrived and cars and sleighs pulled up to the door excitement mounted as the classroom be came jammed with people three nervous groups existed parents who wished their child or chil- dren to excel childrentryirig to remember lines and straighten pigtails and me the teacher i hope i never revealed itbut i was more frightened than anyone after all didnt my reputation hang on how well the kids did now older and wiser i know that it mattered not if a note was missed or a line was muffed what counted was that we had done our very best and santa would arrive and reward us anyway we could all go home and sleep well because christmas was over but the music love and pride in our work lingered on one christmas program was very special the toronto evening telegram sent a reporter and photographer to cover the final day of practice and the concert itself everything in life should be a learning experience and that day we learned much about the media to make the story colorful and to embellish the event they photographed the children crossing a stile and labelled it the trials of attending school in winter certainly the snow was deeper there than on the ploughed road hence we learned that what we see and hear isnt always the way it really is it was a good lesson to learn and one not to be forgotten soon during my years 1948 to 1953 we inaugerated an education week enterprise disguised by the title daffodil tea here too we experienced the same success as we sang and recited and displayed our books and art it was these concerts that provided us with a projector a stove record player a kitchen cup board dishes and soup to warm us during the long winter days noonhoiir was always fun baseball skating and outdoor sports easily filled the time and if the game exceeded the hour limit it was simply termed physical education rainy cold days were fun too as we would gather around the piano while glenda played and we sang who will ever forget our expeditions to the bush in the early spring and fall to view the wildflowers and migrating birds it was at this time the chil dren became the teacher and i the town girl the pupil i have never forgotten your lessons and as i walk the numerous nature trails i remember the jqy of my first hepatica and redwing blackbird in the early fifties the hewletts kennedys and all the others came with tractors and bulldozers and leveled the grounds while the ladies painted and planted truly it was a landscaping job of which the community could be proud one autumn day three years ago i drove out to the second line and parked in front of the school memories flooded over me i could see lloyd and alvin directing the rhythm band the homemade music stands and the happy faces i could hear the clear tenor from dick and clare as bernice and jean barb and darlene supplied the alto while other beautiful voices lifted themelody of i go to the garden alone i remembered dorothys fresh strawberries and cream in june and the beautiful silver platter and cutlery daffo dil pattern that so many of you gave me when at last it was time for me to move on gouldthat school experience- been a second- choice no indeed those five years were the hap piest of my life the years i loved most of all dur ing myteaching career my second choice was the best after all the economist suntribune is looking for bright energetic young people who like to earn their own money have responsibility and enjoy meeting people are you interested wehave several routes open on the following streets unionville ferrahst emmeloord cres longwater chase redwood lane woodmans chart harpers croff library lane markham abercorn rd grenfell dr galsworthy dr windridge dr hawkridge ave sherwood forest dr lincoln green dr wignall cres mcphillips ave sarah jane crl clendenin crt cairns dr raymervilte dr princess st mainsl albert st houghton blvd if you would like to become an economist sun carrier or a tribune carrier please call conomistsun the tribune 2948244 6402100 j seaway pools ltd markham early spring specials region tax hike whitchurch- stouffville tax payers face an addi tional 1473 in taxes on a home assessed at 30000 as their portion of a 128 per cent regional tax in crease in 1985 thats how much more its going to cost to support a budget approved thursday at re gional council that may exceed 100 million the actual levy in crease was a whop ping 197 per cent but its affect on the taxpayers was cushioned by assessment in crease on new homes and businesses of 69 per cent for the past year this leaves 276 million to be picked up through property taxes in 1984 whitch- urchstouffville tax- payers payed 16505 in regional taxes on a home assessed at 30000 in 1985 the bill will increase to 179 key expenditures in 1985 sare 21770000 to accommodate the police budget and 8656000 for en gineering both came under keen scrutiny at commit tee meetings from aurora mayor dick illingworth although his pleas fell on deaf ears were looking at a 100 tax increase when we add in schools said mr illingworth ithink what we are asking the taxpayer to pay is completely un acceptable mr illingworth attacked the en gineering budget asking that it be cut to 1984 expenditures of 7 million he also asked what the hir ing of 30 additional police officers in october was going to do for his munici pality as no new pat rols in aurora will be created mr illingworth suggested allocat ing a portion of the lot levy account to 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