Ian Roach has added a comment about Cartierville School in Montreal
In the Comments section at the end of an earlier post about Cartierville School, Ian Roach has added a comment. By way of bringing your attention to his recent message, which I read with much interest, I’ve devoted the current post to Ian’s comment.
I believe that the correct spelling for Morison is the version with one “R,” as has been previously pointed out to me.
Thus in the following quote from Ian Roach I’ve made just one copy editing change: I’ve spelled Morison with just the one “R”:
Ian, thank you for your comment, which reads as follows:
I attended Cartierville School from 1954-55 thru 1959-60. My teachers were:
1954-55. Grade 2.Miss Schaefer.
1955-56. Grade 3. Miss Knowles.
1956-57. Grade 4. Mrs. Shields. She was a really nice lady, and I think that was her last year teaching before she retired.
1957-58. Grade 5. Mrs. Hamilton.
1958-59. Grade 6. Mrs. Staniforth. In September 1958 while she was teaching us she was informed that her mother had died, but she stuck it out until the end of the day, but I remember how stressed she was that day.
1959-60. Grade 7. Mrs. Jackson. She became an inspector for the school board a couple of years later.
I remember Mrs. Lillian Finlayson. She gave me the strap one time for jumping over the flower bed. She retired after the 1958-59 session and she lived to a ripe old age – I think she was 96 when she died. Mrs. MacKenzie was principal in 1959-60.
Also, the janitor while I was there was Mr. Lawrence. His daughter, Lena, also attended the school.
In grade 7, I remember we had wood working class one day a month at Morrison School.
For a while, we had movies on Friday afternoon in the auditorium at Cartierville School about once a month.One of the movies I remember seeing was ‘West of Zanzibar’.
Comment
It’s great to read this overview!
I’ve been trying to place where I saw some old 16mm movies. Ian’s comment reminds me that maybe some that I saw were at the Cartierville School auditorium.
I’m very pleased to know that Mrs. Shields enjoyed a long life. She was my Grade 4 teacher and I remember her well. As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog post, I estimate she was born about 1905.
I remember the name Ian Roach. I has Mrs Jackson the year before him.
Kyle Lawrence was in my class. Ian references his sister. In fact both Kyles’ parents were the custodians.
I remember that once during the movie showings we were all surprised when Daniel Baubre decided he would strike up a match.
I noted on Tim Hewlings map of Cartierville that it included the Sacre Coeur Hospital.
Both my father and my father in law passed away in that hospital. Many folks do not realize the international significance of that place.
In front of the building is a statue of Dr. Norman Bethune. He traveled with Mao on his 1000 mile march and set up their ambulance services. He is the only non Asian to have commemorative statues in China. He was a world renowned physician. Canadians have always held a special place in the eyes of China because of this man.
My father, as I recall, was at the hospital on more than one occasion before he passed away.
I remember that the land to the north of the hospital, toward the river, had lots of park spaces and greenery.
Further to the west, between Sacre Coeur Hospital and Cartierville School, there was a small kind of city centre with a few streets all arranged together, not far from a commuter train station, if I recall correctly.
There was a bicycle store among those streets. I’m trying to remember the name of the bike store. Words like “Houde” and “Houle” come to mind. They had Raleigh bikes there, with multiple gears. They were among the top of the line models. I was able to get a used bicycle for $25. Eventually the ball bearings fell out of the front wheels. I saved the frame for some years, until finally I got rid of it. Sometimes when I ride my bike now – we have a series of waterfront trails between south Etobicoke and Port Credit (in Mississauga) that I enjoy riding on – I’m reminded of the times I spent riding a bike, sometimes by myself, sometimes with a friend, all over Cartierville.
Sometimes we’d ride our bikes to the Cartierville Airport, if that is what it was called. We’d watch the small planes taking off and landing. We’d also see some Sabre jets there, as I recall. I think the airport was in Ville St. Laurent. Sometimes when I hear a small airplane overhead where I now live, in Toronto, I’m reminded of hearing the motors of small planes from the local airport near Cartierville.
They were always in the sky, during the day. They made a characteristic sound. They had a characteristic acoustical presence, a small-craft personality. At times I used to dream about the airport – a recurring dream was that I’d figured out how to fly a plane, without having taken any lessons. I’d be thinking, in my dream: “Can this really be happening?”
One of the people I’m in touch with, who’s now in his eighties, who used to live in the same building where we live now, likes to go flying in his airplane, from an airport in a community where he lives west of the City of Mississauga. He also used to enjoy stock car racing. I’ve included a photo of him, when he was in his early twenties, at this blog post:
http://preservedstories.com/2013/10/22/1955-photo-from-villa-road/
I imagine it must be fun to see a city or countryside up close from a small plane. I’m pleased that many archives include aerial photos, taken from small planes, showing what cities and countrysides in Canada looked like many decades ago.
Peter Mearns has shared details about the serious bike accident that he was involved in toward the end of the 1962-63 school year. He mentioned that the part that held the handle bars in place had been welded, and that part broke off. That’s what sent him flying forward.
It’s interesting to read your comment about the statute of Norman Bethune at the hospital. I attended a meeting about Heritage Conservation Districts in Gravenhurst, Ontario, in cottage country north of Toronto, a few years ago. On that occasion, we saw a museum dedicated to Norman Bethune and his story:
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/on/bethune/natcul/natcul1.aspx
You have done it again, Jaan. Now my mind is heading up Laurention from Gouin Blvd towards Decarie circle. And as I head up that road I pass your airport. This was the home of Canada Air.
That was a great little airport. Always lots of activity. Much aviation history is associated with it, I’m certain.
Ian Roach, of Hewitt Equipment in the ’70? Howard Hight of A Ma Baie in the late ’50’s or early 60’s? (Howard, you probably don’t remember me — I was just a little kid.) I didn’t realize our paths had crossed scholastically as well.
Hello Jaan,
I grew up in Cartierville on Nelligan, then Cousineau St. near the Cartierville Boating Club. My brother Lloyd, sister Maureen and I attended Cartierville School from Mrs. Carpenter’s kindergarten class to Grade 7, then went to MCHS for 4 yrs. I graduated with the 1969-70 class; my older siblings a few years before me. I read your note about driving your bike around Cartierville, as we did, and remember that wonderful bike shop on lower Ranger St. & Gouin. You were close with the name. It was in fact, Chez ‘Hade’ (Had’s we called it.) A great shop!
Hello Dawn,
Wonderful to read your message! Chez ‘Hade.’ I would never have remembered the name. All such memories of names are gone, for me. Thank you for bringing back the name. That was a wonderful place. A friendly place, as I recall. A great place for a kid to visit. I remember the impressive Raleigh bikes that were on display. I think my father bought me a used bike, with a maroon (reddish) frame, from this bike shop for $25, the first bike I ever owned. Before that, my friends had bikes but I was a kid who didn’t have one. Having a bike, when I finally got one, was really a treat.
I’m reminded of an August 2018 visit to Amsterdam:
Bicycle culture in Amsterdam
At the latter post I note:
The bicycle culture in Amsterdam also had a strong impact on me. The sight of people riding abreast on their bikes, carrying on an extended conversation kilometre and kilometre – those are among the great things that have stayed with me.
I also much enjoyed seeing young children sitting side by side, carrying on conversations while sitting in purpose-built carts, attached to bicycles, propelled by their parents.
What I saw in Amsterdam was most inspiring for me. The city’s approach to bicycling underlines, for me, what people are capable of achieving when the desire, know-how, and requisite political energies are in place. It feels great just to picture what I saw, in the time we were in Amsterdam.