The school 53 the church, always making the sign of the cross and slowing to a walk if we had been running. The cemetery peeking out at us had its own power of attraction. Daly's illustration station was next with its impressive sign at the road. After that was McCo- sham's where for a time they had a small store with its bevy of grocery signs at the gate, then downwards to the school. All the homesteads along the way were interesting in their uniqueness. This journey had its fears as well since two of the neighbors had cross dogs that had to be watched with care. All in all, it was truly a mile of history. Each summer the school was the scene of its annual meet¬ ing, a quite formal event that was well advertised on trees, posts and buildings. In the days following the meeting, the agenda would be a live topic of conversation at home and wherever people gathered. High on the list would be who the new trustee was, what repairs to the school, who was getting the job of janitor, especially of lighting the fire, how much arrears of taxes and who the culprits were, what disagreements or cross fire there might have been. Youth were allowed to go and in my late grades I attended a few of the annual meetings. Attendance was never high and the business was rather dull, although suffi¬ ciently well handled. One could usually count on Harry Mac - Tavish to contribute a bit of dry humor to an otherwise serious evening. In the mid 40s several special meetings were held in the school to discuss the notion of amalgamation of the two Iona school districts, Iona Corner at McCabe's store being the divid¬ ing line over the years. This was an extremely delicate issue for those years and obviously premature with strong feelings on both sides of the question. The subject was soon dropped. To the credit of both districts, however, amalgamation did come fifteen years later with the lower grades transported to one school and the higher grades to the other. Meanwhile in 1951 the old school was lifted from its moorings and transported to level ground 200 yards east of its former location and on the other side of the road. Around the same time the school's name was officially changed from Montague West to Iona West. Before the coming of family allowance and compulsory at¬ tendance, our school population had its spotty trends and share of early dropouts. Just the same, education matters in Iona were taken seriously by teachers, ratepayers and pupils alike. While the vast majority of learners were Eoman Catholic , children from two Presbyterian families in the district attended as well