Thursday, July 5, 2007
S.S.#3 North Oxford - Dickson's Corners
After graduating from Stratford Teachers' College, Gordon, with the support of Uncle Charlie Ballantyne who would supply the transportation, drove about the countryside looking for a teaching position. That first assignment in 1936 was Blackcreek near Sebringville, the school he attended as student. Neighbours, Sam Herman, George Eckert and Edwin Erb acting as trustees, drew up that first contract. In 1937,Gordon and Lois were married and moved into the "two storey red brick house" mentioned earlier to live with Jack and Beanie.
Lois and Gordon's next move came in 1939 when they rented, for $5.00 a month, an apartment attached to Houck's General Store in the village of St.Pauls. This apartment had one room on the main floor, two bedrooms on the second floor and the real luxury - three outhouses, also serving the needs of the adjacent community hall.Gordon was now the teacher at #9 school, Lois's home school and was the teacher for Lois's brother, Vic and sister, Roberta.
As Lois recalls, by 1942 Gordon felt that the trustees of #9 had raised his pay as much as they were able. He began to keep a constant awareness of ads for teaching positions through the London Free Press delivered daily to Houck's store. As referred to earlier, and ad for the need of a teacher for S.S.#3 North Oxford, Dickson's Corners, caught his imagination. Lois and Gordon had a doctor's appointment in London and decided to try to find Dickson's Corners in what was to be a very round-about trip. Gordon was always good at asking often for directions. They managed to find Erwood Kerr, Walter Hutcheson and Jack Butterworth, the three local farmers who had the responsibility for hiring the teacher. The stone school, the brick house with an outbuilding to serve as a garage was located beside Jim Calder's bush in a setting where three roads converged, #2 highway in front, a gravel road behind and a cross-road along the edge, "Dickson's Corners."
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