The submitted stories are in and Mariposa Exposed, Vol. 2, is fast on the way to being finalized.
The book follows on the heels of Mariposa Exposed: Vol. 1, which was published in 2016 and has sold about 1,200 copies. It featured a variety of true stories about Orillia, past and present.
Recently a call was put out for stories for the second, and likely final, volume. The book is important, say its advocates.
“Without this, a lot of Orillia’s stories wouldn’t be told,” said Ross Greenwood, who is editing the book with Dennis Rizzo.
The book is expected to be released in October. You can put your name on a pre-order list through Manticore Books in downtown Orillia.
To whet your appetite, the editors are providing a preview of what to expect.
"One of the stories you’ll find in the book has relevance to current affairs," says Rizzo, referencing the ongoing labour issues at Ontario schools. "In it, Ted Duncan reminds us that that communities have been struggling with issues like this for a long time."
The story, titled The Great Atherley School Strike of 1954-55 was written by Duncan, who was a student at the time and went on to become a teacher, now retired.
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Memory is a great thing. When you are old, your own memory can be what you remember along with pictures you might have seen concerning the event along with stories that others have told you since. It all becomes your memory and your story.
It can be confusing. Others may have a different story from their viewpoint, and I hope they tell their stories too. Now most of those adults who were involved with the strike are gone and can't say more. There is a newspaper article from the Toronto Star that I have looked at from the time. The following is my family story as I remember and was told about it.
I grew up in the Atherley area with my first six years spent on the Hewitt Farm on the 12th Concession of what was then called Mara. Before I turned six in the fall of 1952 my family moved into the Village of Atherley near what was then Simcoe Lodge.
I was registered to attend school in East Atherley at SS#5 where my mother, her four sisters, and brother went during the 20s and 30s. They used to walk across the fields between the 12th and 11th concessions to school fall, winter, and spring. But that's another story.
The Atherley Public School building still stands across from Byers Equipment in East Atherley on Highway 12. It was built in 1905, according to the stone in the wall, and backs on Ramara Concession 11. It was last used as a school in 1968 and now serves as a church. The bell that was in the tower; the one that we children threw stones at, is now at Uptergrove PS.
My class in Grade 1 had upwards of 40 students (according to the class picture that I have - Grades 1 to 8). It was during the post-war baby boom and the numbers grew until the school was bursting with children. The solution the School Section Board found for the over crowding was to build a wall across the one room schoolhouse and hire another teacher to deal with the numbers. A stop gap answer to the problem.
I don't remember much about the time as I was eight and my sister was six and in Grade 1. All I know is that my Mom was very upset with my progress in Grade 3 at school.
In her estimation my workbooks had very little in them. What did I know? I do know that there was a large meeting of parents and the Board at the school one night and my parents came home very upset. They blamed the over crowding and a poor teacher for the mess.
From history, I know that because of the boom in babies, schools were all bursting at the seams at the time and it was very difficult to get well-trained, experienced teachers. This was especially true in the rural one-room schools.
Teachers were not paid well, and many were young people right out of high school with only a few weeks of summer training. Others were older people, who may have been trained in other professions, but now took summer school to try their hand at teaching. After all, how hard could it be as they were only kids and easy to control.
The problems were too many students, poor facilities, few supplies, and parents, who after surviving a world war wanted more for their kids. They knew that education was the answer to a better world, and they were not going to stand for a lack of action by the Board.
My mother was angry. She grew up in the area and knew the members of the school board. The school section was governed by a board of three, elected from the taxpayer/landowners within the section. They were usually men and, in the country, usually farmers. They didn't need to have any children going to the school to be on the Board. They may have had family go through the school at one time though.
My Mother and other parents felt that the Board should do something to improve facilities and teaching. It seems the Board did not want to act to make changes and increase taxes to do so. A public meeting of ratepayers supported them.
The reaction of some parents, but not all, was to take their children out of school and in effect go on strike to force the Board to do something. There is an article from the Toronto Star dated March 9, 1955 indicating that 18 children were withdrawn from the school. The article seems to indicate the strike was more about getting rid of the teacher and not so much about over crowding. I can't remember if I ever knew who all the pupils were that were withdrawn.
It split the community.
What I remember about the winter my sister and I spent being home schooled is very limited. There were five in my family at the time and my Mother had to look after three other small children. She worked part time as a Bell operator as well.
She tried her best to teach us at the kitchen table from old arithmetic books and readers. We were not very good students as we wanted to go outside to play in the snow with our siblings. We had great fun building snow forts and tunnels in the snow. There was not much schoolwork in the little time available.
In the spring, some of us went into a school in Orillia to finish out the year. Some students had been in town from the start as their parents owned property in Orillia and could go to school there. How we came to go to West Ward PS is beyond my memory. One of the parents who worked in Orillia drove us in each morning. We got a bus home, so my sister tells me.
Both my sister and I were like ducks out of water at West Ward. Coming from a country, one-room, school; it was overwhelming. Having a classroom with all the children in one grade and with so many classrooms was a shock. Because we had been out of school for so long, we were behind in everything.
The school yard was vast and had so many kids playing games and running around at recess and lunch time. It was mesmerizing to a country boy and girl.
The aftermath of the story is that both my sister and I lost a year and had to repeat our grade, but subsequently we both graduated high school. So, no long-term effects but I don't know how others involved were affected by the strike.
I just lately heard that not all the refugees from Atherley SS#5 went to West Ward School in Orillia. Some went to SS#10 Scotch Hills School on side road 25. Who knew? Not me.
The Atherley School itself was renovated and a new room was added. As the building was done, the school population was split, with half going in the morning and half using the school in the afternoon. The school still had a problem keeping teachers in the senior room as there seemed to be a new teacher every year. Most were better and one made me want to be a teacher myself one day.
The primary room was a different story. The stability of the school was ensured with the hiring of a much-loved teacher, Mae Timlyn. She lived on a farm between the school and the village and walked to school every day. She became the principal and retired from the school after 42 years of teaching. We were told that she milked her cows before coming to school each day, but I'm sure there are many other stories to be told about Miss Timlyn.
My father served as a school trustee for School Section #5 for several years after. I always knew my Mother wanted her subsequent family of seven to be educated and we all were. Thanks Mom.
