SBC Day 7: A surreal step back in time

My sister is visiting from Montreal and my dad tends to like to do memorable family outings with her.  The last time she was here (Sept 2009) we went out to the area where my Grandma grew up and said our final farewell to her.  She chose not to have a formal funeral, so we did a small family gathering for her.  This time, after doing a ton of online research, my dad found out that HIS grandma had been a teacher at the Hampton School just outside of Camrose so last night we headed out there.  Ironically (if you do the irony thing.  I personally believe everything happens for a reason), this was the SAME spot that we held the family gathering at! 

Dad had done the research and found the family who had the keys to this very old, original building.  The woman was a such a kind lady, opening it up for us and letting us just BE in the space.  Not to mention rifle through the closets, pull out years of books, tax records, land plots, and so so so much more.

It was a surreal feeling.  I stood at the front of the classroom where Florence Wagner stood in 1913 and later years as well.  100 years later to be in the same spot that my great-grandma was, and that my children's great-great-grandma had been - I was without words.  The school celebrated it's centennial in 2004 and many, many articles, photos and other items had been posted on the school walls.  We were celebrating our families centennial last night, unknowingly.  It wasn't until we were in the school as saw the list of teacher's names up on the wall (along with their salaries - Florence Wagner made $90 a month back in 1913) that we knew she had really been there and exactly when.

The lectern still stood at the front of the room, along with a few remaining desks, the original chalkboard and other small treasures.  A picture of Queen Victoria and Prince Philip was still hanging up at the front of the classroom.  Baseball gloves, bats and even old balls were at the back of the classroom.  We found outdated maps in one of the closets and rolled them out on the floor to see all the changes that have occurred, finding the map of Europe to be the one of most interest.  We flipped through the school's handwritten library sign out books, read the teaching contracts, looked at class photos from as far back as 1910.  We found maps of the land with the quarter-sections all drawn out, and read through the tax records.  The kids sat in the old wooden desks.  My heart was full.

There is an old well and water pump outside the school - the school has basic electricity now but no running water.  We pumped water for the kids to splash in, knowing that my great grandmother had done the same.  The outhouses were still there, and explaining to my 5 year old that even in the winter the kids had to go outside to use the washroom was difficult to say the least!  She will be entering a "smart school" in just a few days and wow, was this a foreign concept to her.  The stable where the kids who came to school via horse kept their horses during the day was no longer there, but we were shown where it used to be.  So much history and so little time but so much love and so surreal.

More photos will come as they are made available to me!

This post is a part of the Summer Blog Challenge 2013. You can check out the full list of participants HERE, and comment on Liam’s blog to join us! Meanwhile, check out what Liam, Natasha, Zita, Hethr, April, and others are up to!