ATHABASCA — In the grand scheme of things, $400 is a cheap way to mark a piece of local history.
And a group who met with Aspen View Public Schools trustees June 17, are trying to preserve the legacy of homestead schools are hoping enough people will donate between $300 and $400 to erect signs at each identified site to cover the 84 one-room schoolhouses that made up the education system in the greater Athabasca region long before there were paved roads and busses bringing students into the Town of Athabasca.
“Just for everybody's information, Mrs. (Alice) Wlos was my Grade 5 teacher in Boyle School,” said AVPS chair Candy Nikipelo. “Welcome. You never thought I'd be here.”
"Oh, you had lots of possibility,” Wlos said with a smile.
“Myself and Mr. Larry Armfelt, we have money left over from our history books and that's what we're using in the Boyle area and West Athabasca, but the others have to somehow obtain the monies through their groups.”
The monies will go towards paying for a sign to be erected in the public right of way as close to where the school stands, or used to stand, as possible.
“I've already got three people wanting to sponsor their schools and they were pioneers or homesteaders in that area,” said Wlos.
The reflective signs will measure 60.96 centimetres square, or two-by-two feet, mounted on a 243.84 centimetre (eight-foot) high, heavy-duty post. Each sign will be placed by Fast Signs and the cost will vary depending on the work involved in placing it.
But Armfelt, who attended the meeting with Wlos and Darlene Kozinski, said he was also looking for information because the original school districts, or catchment areas, were measured in miles – four miles by four miles – and nicknamed four-by-fours. It was in each of the four-by-fours someone would donate a corner of land to have a schoolhouse built.
As populations grew, the smaller schools were merged into more central, larger schools like Perryvale, Colinton, Rochester, et cetera and most of the one-room schools were abandoned to be torn down over time.
“Art Purdy is married to Edwin Parr’s niece and so he's got a tremendous amount of information,” said Armfelt. “I started to poke and dig a little bit and then I got this e-mail from Art ... that he has given a number of notebooks, apparently to Desmond Nolan (principal at Edwin Parr Composite).”
Former AVPS Supt. Mark Francis was also cited as having stored some information at the Alice B. Donahue Library and Archives.
“I remember when Mark found this stuff in our vault,” said Supt. Neil O’Shea. “There was quite a bit of stuff that we were sorting through and then he took it down to the archive.”
And while the group looks for more information and to confirm land locations, they do have the names and general areas for the schools.
In the Boyle area the schools are McArthur (Bondiss), Cash Creek, East Park, Ellscott, Gamefield, Granville, Monicello, Plum Lake, Silver Fox, and Warren.
The Colinton area schools are Atlanta, Colinton, Dover, Hallcroft, Keyes, Meanook, Golden Sunset, and Vincent.
In the Grassland area: Blue Jay, Charron, Dakin (Quebec), Deer Run, Flat Creek, Frains (Black Loan), Frains West, Forest Grove, Grassland, Green Pine West, Hamond, Sarrail, Spruce Valley, Twin Spruce, and Willow Flat.
Cloverview, Ferguson, Forest, Parkhurst, Rodgers Chapter and Toles (Amber Valley) make up East Athabasca.
West Athabasca is comprised of Baptiste Lake, Deep Coulee, Forfar East, Forfar West, George Lake, Grosmont, Lahaieville, Larvent East, Larvent West, Lawrence Lake, Narrow Lake, South Athabasca, West Athabasca, and Winding Trail.
Perryvale is home to the schools of Lee Heights, Lewiston, New Pine Creek, Perryvale, Sun Ray and Willow Ridge while North Athabasca is comprised of Big Coulee, Fairhaven, Greyville, Laura, Mercury, Northern Heights, Richmond Park, Spruce Park, and Youngville.
In Smith there is Forestview, Moose River, Ranch, Spurfield, Smith, Smoky Creek, and Hondo while Rochester has the schools of Blueberry Ridge, Caribou Range, Dokeville, Rochester East, Rochester, Slough Valley, White Clover, and Tawatinaw.
“If someone doesn't step up and do it, it's gone forever and new families in this generation don't know about the one room schoolhouses, and (how) all the schools in the county, which now became Aspen View, all started,” said Nikipelo. “So, we sure appreciate all of your work.”
Anyone interested in funding a sign in memory of a parent or grandparent, or just out of kindness, can contact Wlos at 780-689-7812, Armfelt at 780-689-5168, Kozinski at 780-675-3377, or Larry Speers at 780-698-2242.
