Bethesda Sunday School - An important social opportunity

In a post back in May, I talked of the Sunday afternoon tradition wherein Mae and her children walked up the road for the 2:30 service at the Bethesda Sunday School. That tiny Sunday School played an important role in the religious and social life of the community, a role even more convoluted in the lifes of the young people. Last weekend Lois and I visited the site of the original Sunday School and graveyard. As can be seen in this picture, the site is marked by a cairn and since the early 1970's the township has maintained the property. No one is sure what has happened to the tombstones. It is possible, at this time of year when the grass is dry, to trace the line of the original Sunday School foundation. While I didn't have a tape measure with me I paced out the line and estimated it as being about 21 x 27 feet: not much bigger than many suburban living rooms. In this picture you can almost see the line of the south-west wall of the original structure. The Sunday School sat near the road and behind a wire fence; to the south was the even smaller shed where Mr. Proudlove or Mrs. Vanstone, who shared the role of superintendent, sheltered their horses in winter. The graveyard, with the tombstones of the Iredales, Ellahs, Roadhouses and other families who first settled the area, was at the back of the property. I have one picture of the structure. In this picture of Annie Danard, Lois, and Bernice Evans (on the right) it can be seen that the building was a frame structure with a centre doorway flanked by windows. Inside, was a centre aisle, a stove in the middle, and pews on either side. Windows on both the north and south sides let in light. There were also brackets on the walls to hold the coal oil lamps. A small organ sat on the platform. Services followed a traditional pattern: first, a call to worship and a hymn. Mae Hearn played the piano for the hymns, and after she died, Lois took over the task. Lois now, rather sheepishly remembers that she often skipped notes as she played, and always had a comment to make to Mr. Proudlove when she went to the front to play the music. There were hymn books for the congregation. The hymn was followed by a prayer. Two people were in charge of passing the collection plates and Lois remembers her mother carefully giving each of her children a nickel for the collection plate. Then the members broke into groups for the Sunday School lesson. Lois' mother Mae always acted as a teacher for one of the classes. The class was followed by a second hymn and a prayer. By 4 o'clock the service was over. As they emerged from the building (fast forward to the 1930's) Lois and her friends would be hoping to see additional cars parked outside. One of the cars would likely belong to Gordon McEwan, and possibly a second car would belong to Roy Aitcheson who was going with Lois' good friend Helen Laing. Then, for those lucky girls who had boyfriends, it was a drive through the countryside, lots of talk and laughter and then home in time for supper and (in the case of the guys) barn chores. (On the next blog I will talk about the families who attended the Sunday School and the opportunity which the Sunday School provided for additional socializing.)

The Rings

Lois wears three rings on the second finger of her left hand. The first ring, the one with the three opals was given to Mae Rolston by Bob Hearn as an engagement ring sometime before they were married in 1910. Mae wore it all her married life, and after her death in 1933 the ring was given to Lois by her father. The second ring is Lois' engagement ring given to her in 1936 by Gordon. The tiny diamond in the ring is an accurate reflection of Gordon's financial situation as a young school teacher in rural Ontario during the Depression. On one particular occasion this ring caused a huge panic for Lois. It happened when she was working part-time at Douglas' Paint and Stationary Store in St. Marys. She was sorting cards when suddenly she noticed that the diamond was missing from her ring. The other clerks in the store all stopped what they were doing to search for the missing diamond which, in reality, is a diamond chip. Fortunately Hazel Fairbanks found the missing stone and Lois went immediately to Ross Andrew's Jewellery Store to have it reset. On seeing the ring the saleswoman suggested that Lois upgrade the setting to something of better quality. Lois refused, insisting that the ring be left as it was originally, stone chip, simple setting and all. The third ring with the ruby stone surrounded by diamonds was given to Lois in December 1977 by Gordon to commemorate their fortieth wedding anniversary.

Wedding Gifts

In the summer of 2006, Lois had a new asphalt roof put on her house. All the old roofing was thrown into a large dumpster parked next to the house. When Bob arrived for his usual Saturday afternoon in the garden, Lois explained that the reason why there was an old plastic swimming pool and and a broken bicycle in the dumpster, along with all the old roofing, was because she had invited neighbours to use the dumpster as a means of getting rid of their old junk .... and, by the way, she had tossed out some old wedding gifts that had been sitting in the basement for years. An hour later when Lois was picking up branches in another part of the garden, Bob scrambled into the dumpster, and found, under lots of heavy roofing, a small cardboard box containing a variety of silver plated candy and serving dishes. None was valuable and all were very black. Here is a sample of what they looked like (after they had been cleaned) and here is the note which Lois wrote when she gave each of her four children one of the reclaimed-from-the-dumpster wedding gifts from 1937 (remember, double clicking enlarges).

Mrs. Tyler's Wedding Gift

Mrs. Tyler was one of Mae Hearn's best friends. She lived around the corner, north from #9 school. She was reputed to be a women who never stopped working. One of the many essential tasks of the farm housewife during the 1930's was to feed - abundantly and well - the men when they came in from the fields. Timing was essential in planning the meals. The hot food could not be taken off the stove until one caught sight of the men beginning to move in from the fields. While she waited by the window for the first sight of the men, Mrs. Tyler would stand and knit. Then, when the men appeared, she would put the knitting down and begin to transfer the hot food into bowls and on to the table. After Mae Hearn died, it was Mrs. Tyler that Lois turned to whenever she needed help with learning how to cook or can or to do any of the hundreds of other tasks which women performed. Here is the only picture we have of Mrs. Tyler. It was taken in 1920 at a St. Pauls Women's Institute meeting. With the white hair she looks much older than we would expect. Seventeen years later when Lois married Gordon, Mrs. Tyler gave Lois a quilt, every stitch of which Mrs. Tyler did herself. Now, 70 years later that quilt is displayed, preciously and never used, at the foot of the spool bed in the boys' room of Lois' house.

The 27th December 1937 .. cont'd

Well, the car didn't disappear into Black Creek, but when Gordon and Lois did emerge from the manse, they found their car at the bottom of the hill securely wired to a second car parked in front of the community hall. (On the right is Avonton Presbyterian church as it looks today with the manse next door. The front window of the manse that can be seen to the left of the porch in this picture is the one through which Lois watched the car roll down the hill toward Black Creek.) Once Gordon as a newly married man, managed to extricate his car, he and Lois drove the 2 1/2 miles up to the 1st and 2nd concession and turned left to go to the McEwan homestead where Gordon's mother and father had lunch waiting. Lois' father Bob, and Laura Turner, in the meantime, returned home. Lunch consisted of salmon sandwiches and a sweet. Then, Gordon and Lois drove into Stratford where they were scheduled to catch the bus to London for the honeymoon. Since the car was needed at home Jack, Gordon's father rode into Stratford with them. As they drove down the Centre Gravel on their way to Stratford they met Earl Boyes, a neighbouring farmer who had previously dated Lois. (Earl had been married the year before to one of Gordon's many relatives in the area: Marie Ballantyne.) When he saw Earl's vehicle approaching, Jack ducked down in the back seat. "Good Lord, I don't want Boyes thinking I'm going on the honeymoon with you!" Gordon and Lois rode the bus to London and walked the three or four blocks to the Iroquois Hotel, then a prominent establishment on the north-west corner of Clarence and King Streets. During their two-day stay, Gordon spent considerable time on the phone to the various arenas asking for information on what sporting events were going on in the city. What he didn't realize was that every time he picked up the phone, he was adding to his hotel bill. For a guy who had a total of $100 for his entire honeymoon trip, and a wife who had absolutely no money, the bill which was presented at the end of their stay was a shocker. Somehow the bill got paid, but I would imagine that it was at this point that Gordon realized that he was a long way from Downie Township.