Interview with Mary Woolam

Jacqueline:	How many students attended North Enderby when you did?
Mrs. Woollam:	When I went to school there were about 15-30 students. I started school at North Enderby in February 1917. At that time they entered school in February and September, twice a year. So I started in February and made grade two in June. It was a one room school, and there were eight grades in it. The first teacher I had was Ms. Thomas and she boarded with us. That was a lifelong friendship with my folks. Then a Ms. Carrie came from Armstrong, and she taught for four terms, which was really a long time in those days. I seem to remember getting a new teacher in September and then again after Christmas. But looking at the list of teachers I can remember the ones that didn't stay too long and I guess they just weren't able to accept the eight grades or the rural living or something. You certainly were able to learn a lot when you were in with all eight grades because you could absorb a lot that was of interest to you from the senior grades. At the same time if you had your work done you were expected to help the little ones. So I am one who would never find anything wrong with a one room school. It was just that everybody helped everybody.
Jacqueline:	So you could work at your own pace?
Mrs. Woollam:	Yes, and you went from the eight grades at North Enderby to High School in Enderby. We never seemed to have any trouble fitting in there. I finished school in 1927.
Jacqueline:	Did you know the students from Enderby?
Mrs. Woollam:	Some of them. With having relations in Enderby. The druggist was my uncle and of course we had the one family physician which we had since I was born. So there was always that bonding when you went to Enderby and they were good to us. They used to take us home to dinner and things like that. Now to get back to North Enderby School, all our physical activities had to be done outside. Our basketball hoops were outside and we always had a lot of trouble finding enough space for baseball, but we played hardball - nobody heard of softball back then. And the other thing we did in the winter was running and jumping in place. So every time the teacher thought we were getting drowsy she would make us get up and do this physical exercise and on an oiled floor the dust was terrific. It gave us a chance to show off how athletic we were. The other games you would make up as you went along because of the lack of students; everybody had to play to make a team. You played boys and girls together. But one of the funner things we did was just play in the school yard and ditches when they flooded in the spring. And in the winter on the Inch Logan Road was where we did our sleigh riding. There was just enough traffic on the road to keep it packed down. The big thing I remember at North Enderby School was that all the big boys came back to school in September. I guess they were tired of farming at home or something and they all showed up to try out the new teacher. But as soon as the other things became more important they would all drift off again. The bunch I'm thinking of I don't think ever finished school, but they always showed up and led the younger ones astray with the tricks they could play. I think the tricks you play in this day and age are a little more damaging than what we did. In loss of money anyways. Ours were just embarrassing like a tack on the seat, or a bucket of water over the door. These big boys maybe they were just keeping up a tradition that they had heard from somebody. So maybe it died out when we stopped talking about it.
Craig:	Did you go on any fieldtrips?
Mrs. Woollam:	With our study of botany it always included a trip to the Cliff, at Easter. Now maybe if the teacher was around she went too, but the students always went up at Easter. Even if there was still snow on the ground, you couldn't miss your trip up the mountain. I don't know, but I think we studied much more of the botany than you do today. Because I know my grandchildren don't study it like we did. Getting down with a magnifying glass and see what grew next to what. And of course we walked back and forth to school, and everybody walked, you saw the wild animals. Now we hear so much, why it was was just exciting to see a cougar, it was just exciting to see a bear.
Jacqueline:	You weren't scared?
Mrs. Woollam:	No, not at all. We weren't raised that way. They were more scared of us than we were of them. Only one winter do I ever remember seeing a black wolf and that was from the safety of my house. One thing that I resented a bit was being sent to school when you were too sick to hold your head up because you got a special mark for punctuality and regularity. It was one thing my mother insisted upon. When I attended North Enderby School we did have an outbreak of diphtheria. It was strange. The girl had just left this district to go to Armstrong School and came down with diphtheria. So there was a big fuss but nobody else got it; she died of it, but nobody else got it.
Craig:	What about extracurricular activities, like sport teams or anything like that?
Mrs. Woollam:	In the winter we would have a big get - together and all go skating if some of the men would clear the ice off. The other thing was, we used to go from North Enderby to Grindrod to play basketball.
Craig:	So that was a mixed team?
Mrs. Woollam:	Yes, we played with the boys.
Craig:	And all ages?
Mrs. Woollam:	I imagine it was the older ones that would go so we probably didn't have any more than the bare minimum number of players. I do remember going to Enderby and having Enderby back out here for baseball. In Enderby they had played baseball with a tennis ball and so they didn't think they could play with our hard ball. So we had a grand time, we sent that ball to Kingdom Come. And swimming was the big thing. The river was all we had in those days. You played in the river all summer and played up on the hills the rest of the time. There had been drownings, the odd one, but the story was there had never been a drowning of someone who was raised on the river.
Craig:	Where was the school originally located?
Mrs. Woollam:	North Enderby School was originally located right across the North Enderby Road from what is today Honeyman's. And it was built there in 1905. It was used by the children on both sides of the river and from Grindrod. Then when Grindrod got its own school in 1911, they decided to move the North Enderby School to a more central location. They managed to move it to the now called North Enderby picnic site by cutting it into different pieces. This was the school site from 1912 to 1946. Then when the committee association was formed they bought the site from the government for a dollar. The school was then used as a community hall. But then one Halloween vandals destroyed it.
Craig:	Was the length of the school day the same as today?
Mrs. Woollam:	Yes, but it varied so the farmers could get their crops in.
Craig:	How many breaks did you have during the day?
Mrs. Woollam:	We had one morning recess and one lunch hour, but I don't remember an afternoon recess.
Craig:	Did anything special happen at Christmas?
Mrs. Woollam:	Oh yes, I remember them sending an order of toys into Eatons catalog and then hanging them on the Christmas tree for the students to find.
Craig:	Who would pay for that?
Mrs. Woollam:	The local people would take up a collection. And then at the end of June we would have a huge picnic. We would all eats gobs of homemade ice cream, which was the highlight of the year.