Earle Guertin, long-time resident of Fairview and now a resident at the Harvest Lodge spoke fondly of his memories of going to school. He was taught in a country two-room school for grades 1-8, down near Turner Valley. He said he always had good teachers and spoke of several, one being his grade 1 teacher, Miss Burns, whom he liked very much. He explained how during his first year of school Miss Burns got married at Christmas and could not return to teach (women were not allowed to be married and teach, where men could). Miss McGregor was the replacement teacher, whom Earle took an immediate dislike to.
The school was located about 3 ½ miles away, so Earle rode the family horse to school, who as 14 years old. School busses were not available and parents didn’t drive their kids to school, as this was during WWII and gasoline was rationed during this time. Once at school, the horses were kept in a barn until classes were finished.
In high school, Earle had another favourite teacher Mr. McCulla, who taught social studies and biology. Earle spoke very highly of this individual, whom he became friends with and also inspired him to become a teacher! Many years after finishing both high school and university, Earle married his sweetheart Bonnie Madden. He had the chance to introduce Mr. McCulla to his wife at an event. Mr. McCulla described Earle as his “star student” to his wife.
Softball was a popular sport at school, and Earle reminisced about the three Sisters who taught at one of his schools he attended. One of the Sister’s was younger than the other two and enjoyed playing ball as well. She didn’t like to bat, but she loved to be out in the field and used her long skirt to stop the ball if it was a grounder. The boys didn’t like this very much and felt she had an advantage over them. She explained that if they wanted to play ball in her long, heavy skirt, they too could stop the ball the way she did. After that, the boys agreed she could use her methods out in the field!
Turner Valley had the largest oil field in the British Empire during the war and the commodity was much needed for the war effort. Students from grade 8 were being used on the rigs during WWII, which was extremely dangerous. Earle never went to work on the rigs, as his parents felt it was very important to obtain a post-secondary education and not get a job in the oil patch.
So, Earle went on to complete four years of university as a history major and became a teacher. He first taught at Whitelaw School for one year, which was a three-room school for grades 6-9. During his 36 year career, he taught several subjects, including social studies and English, and at several schools including St. Joseph, St. Thomas More and the Fairview High School.
When visiting the museum, make sure to see the old baseball uniforms and baseball on display in the McDonald School.