At Shand, the school was particularly important to me. It was here that I commenced my formal education in 1920 when Andrew Haselhahn was the teacher. In order to make the beginners feel at home we were each assigned a senior student for the first part of our attendance. I remember sitting in a large double desk with my feet not touching the floor, being looked after by my mother Frances Newsome. She used to take me home with her some days. Mrs. Newsome was always kind enough to tidy up my long curls before sending me back to school.

At the end of the spring term I transferred to Bienfait school, and it was not until 1939 that I returned to Shand school as other than a visitor.

The descriptive phrase "The Little Red Schoolhouse" was certainly applicable to Shand school. It was a cottage style, red brick building on the top of a low hill at the entrance to the mining camp. It was a large roomy classroom, with a wall of windows to the east. The entrance was through a large cloakroom, with enough room to pile the rows of double desks when the classroom was required for other purposes. A small pantry opened off the entrance and included a two burner oil stove, large enough to make a boiler of coffee for social events.

Facing south across the tracks looking at the store.

The school was not only the educational centre, it was also the social centre of the district. A community club was in existence for most of the years that I was familiar with the area. Every other Friday night a whist drive would be held in the school, followed by a delicious lunch.

On alternate Fridays a dance was held, and brought visitors from surrounding communities. Mr. and Mrs. Andy Wingert provided the music on a German accordian and a banjo. All the family went. The kids took part in the dancing until sleep caught up with them and then they were tucked up in blankets and coats on desks or benches,and the adults continued until morning. It was before the days when liquid refreshment was a necessity at such an affair, but no one seemed to have less fun for all of that.

Lunch was always served at midnite. Ladies bringing cake or sandwiches were often admitted free to the dance. Mr. Larsen brewed a boiler of coffee on the oil stove and everyone ate their fill. A break was taken at lunch time too, and usually an item or two of entertainment would be provided.

I remember Mr. Densley singing "I touched my seaweed and then I knew it was going to be dry," and Charlie Lodge singing numbers from the English music hall. But the only one I can remember was something about a window blind. I remember Mrs. McLean reciting "The White Sox have a run in."

Once a year, I believe it was Halloween, a masquerade dance was held. This produced many startling costumes. I remember Jack Murray as a Fijian warrior; my mother as Aunt Jemima; Mrs. Larsen as a Welsh maiden; and Mr. and Mrs. Larsen in Swedish costume. Much entertainment was provided.

Every November a box social was held to raise money for the Christmas concert. All the ladies brought beautifully decorated boxes filled with a tasty lunch. These were auctioned off, and the lucky purchaser got to eat lunch with the owner of the box. The money raised went to provide for the annual school concert at Christmas time. Each child received a bag of candy and nuts, whether or not he was a student at the school. Every student received a book.

Shand school Christmas concert was something that had to be seen to be believed, for every child - from the tiniest beginner to the oldest student - was given a part to play. The evening passed in a procession of carols, acrostics, drills, skits and plays. Mr. Larsen, the efficient chairman, always had a joke to tell while changes were being made on the platform. The stage was made of planks set on powder kegs, curtains were bed sheets strung on wires. In front of the platform was a beautifully decorated tree.

One could not mention the school without recalling the annual school picnic. It was held along the Souris river south of Shand. The large expanse gave space for any and all races that could be devised. Besides the children's races, sack races, three legged races, wheel barrow races, there were adult races. The men had a pipe lighting race; the women had a needle and thread race. There were egg and spoon races and other novelties. Later there were soft ball games and visiting.

A huge picnic lunch topped the day with ice cream and lemonade in prodigious quantities. It is only a memory or was that coffee that Mr. Larsen brewed in a copper boiler over a campfire as mouth-watering good as I recall it? I have heard that at one time Shand had a football team, but that is beyond my memory. I do know that for many years they were proud of their softball team when they defeated the Crescent, Roche Percee or Taylorton teams. A vacant lot was occupied nearly every evening during the summer by ball players who gathered to make a pickup team and have some fun. A horse shoe pitch was also available.

On New Year's Eve, everyone attended the dance in the school house. Mr. and Mrs. Ashenhurst who operated the mine cook house celebrated their wedding anniversary at this time, and often supplied lunch or treats for the dancers.

The school was also used on Sundays. The children gathered for Sunday School classes. The only superintendent I can remember was Mr. Densley, but I know there were others. At one o'clock church services would be held by a minister who would make the trip from Estevan or Bienfait.

I returned in 1939 to teach at Shand school. By this time only a few children from surrounding farms were in attendance, so the school building had been closed and classes were held in one room of a house which had been moved in from the Wingert farm. Two rooms of the building were the teacherage, and I lived there during the winter months. After two years, it was decided to close Shand, and transport the seven students still in elementary classes to Big Butte school.

It was the end of an era...