Marshfield School

Extracurricular Activities

Junior Red Cross: Meetings were held each Friday afternoon, and provided training for students on how to conduct meetings, participate in discussions, and make decisions about projects that could help where there was a need.

During the War years, 1939—45, Marshfield School participated in the War effort not unlike other schools across Canada. Through the Red Cross Program, students assisted by knitting squares that were sewn together to make afghans for the soldiers overseas. The gathering of light metal materials, such as foil found on bulk tea packages, and cigarette packages, for instance, was an interesting project as this material was forwarded to a munitions plant, giving students a real sense of participation. The students also purchased War Saving Certificates to the value of $5, redeemable with interest after the war. In those days, money was scarce and many foods were rationed, so indeed all contributions made by groups such as the Red Cross, helped to bring a source of comfort to the brave men and women who served so fearlessly.

Recreation

There was no formal physical education program in the early schools. The children adapted to whatever was available to them. Playing ball, tag games, hide and seek, and fishing were among the summer activities. Pond hockey or “shinny” was played at the remnants of the old rink on the Mill Road and later at the Lily Pond located in front of LHD Foster’s house, now the property of Preston Scott; and then at Boswall’s Pond at Springbrook Farm. Coasting was the most fun for everyone as there was an excellent hill on either side of the brook just below the school. A bridge would be built over the brook using poles and brush, and the school children would coast down one side and partway up the other, providing you didn’t miss the bridge! The writer was not the only one to have the experience of landing in the brook and having to spend the rest of the day huddled around the pot- bellied stove until it was time to go home.

Another winter activity engaged in by the boys was snaring rabbits in the woods. Before school began in the morning, the snares would be checked for the night’s catch. The catch, if any, would be held in hand at the side of the road, awaiting a

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man by the name of Earl “Pumpkin” Jay from Mt. Stewart, who did a daily run for groceries for the stores in his village. The boys would know when to expect him and the previous night’s catch would be sold for 10 or 20 cents a rabbit.

Getting to and from school was quite an ordeal in those days, especially if one lived a distance away. Openings were made in fences in the winter to provide a shorter route for the horses, and neighbours took turns providing this transportation. School was rarely cancelled due to weather, as the teacher boarded close to the school which allowed for walking the short distance. During the fall and spring months, students walked until the roads became dry enough to ride a bicycle. The students who travelled on foot became familiar with every vehicle on the road. A strange licence plate would be noted and the owner’s name checked from a book which contained automobile registrations on PEI. The St. Peters Road through Marshfield was first paved in the late thirties. There were very few cars built in the “war years” (1939-1945). The most prominent model was the Model T Ford, although a few sleek styles of the day were also in use on the Island. Truck owners were compelled to display their name on the driver’s door.

Memories to Cherish

The Annual Christmas Concert was an opportunity for both teacher and pupils to display their dramatical and musical skills. Beginning in early December, a portion of each day was set aside to practise dialogues, skits, recitations and songs. In some cases, it was the first time in a child’s life to perform before an audience. The teacher and the older girls directed the drama and the music portion was generally assisted by someone from the community with musical talent. The exception to this being from the late forties on, when a music teacher visited the school, weekly, courtesy of the Women’s Institute.

The concert was performed at night in the Marshfield Hall, usually a cold crisp wintry night close to Christmas, with lots of snow and the old mare hitched to the box-sleigh, loaded with parents, children, and grandparents huddled under the buffalo robe to keep warm; with the light of the stars and sometimes a bright moon to show the way, the sound of bells and the noise of the