The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

' Wednesday Night lfingo féélfii‘m‘ff". 1%??? Camille jg: W There were however. in the early history of the village, a few families who did not believe with the poet that “A little learning is a dangerous thing". but a little knowledge, if it was not profound, was better than none. So, if there happened to be among them a man who could read and write. and he had time on his hands, his services were secured and his abilities utiliz- ed for the benefit of the rising generation. Schooling Until Sugar Time “If ignorance is bliss, the majority of juveniles of that day must have been a happy lot." wrote a correspon- dent to The Liberal in referring to education in Richmond Hill in the early 1800’s. Education in the village began under very primitive circumstances and previous to the introduction of the common school system in 1867, local boys and girls stood a slim chance of obtaining even the rudiments of education. Richmond Hill has scaled the gamut of educational facilities with the opening last Mon- day of the 0. M. MacKillop Memorial School on Lucas Street, the second school now in operation, which has evolved from a 20 x 40 foot log cabin where ,the children of the pioneers were escaping from “their blissful state.” The school term generally listed through the winter months until "sugar-making time" when all youngsters were wanted to carry sap and sticks to keep the “kittle bilin." After that. there was always something to do at home, so the remainder of the year: was vacation. Richmond Hill's first school was held in a deserted Settleâ€" ment Duty house with earth floor and pine blocks for seats. The master’s desk was a hewn pine log slab with legs of the same material. The books. all sorts and sizes were few and far be- tween and were moved from student to student until each scholar received his share of the lesson. The first passable supply of books of instruction that arrived in the village was imported from England by James Miles. and reached here two months from STOP 24 YONGE ST. ‘If Ignorance Is Bliss, The Majority Must Have Been A Happy L‘ot’ , TRUCKERS WANTED With 3-ton stake bodied trucks or larg- er for delivery of Concrete Blacks in Phone Maple 6 Phone Days: EM. 6-5373 Evenings: Maple7170 ALL LICENSES MUST BE PURCHASED BEFORE JUNE 15 Dog tags and bicycle licenses will be issued from the police office Sat- urdays only. RICHMOND HILL POLICE DEPARTMENT FOX APPLIANCES NOTICE Toronto and Suburbs TU. 4-1610 This was an inducement for the people to build their first school house which was the sec- ond Kewed log building erected in the village. showing "the ad- vancement in architecture and puoiic spirit”. Its foundation was laid in 1810 in a small clear- ing. a few rods south of the present school site which~ was then covered with forest. Like all large public undertakings. it ltook some time in its erection. but when built was a substantial structure used as a school house the date of the order. They were supplied by the British and For- eign Bible Society. Any danger arising from the use of the Bib- le as a text book in the com- mon school had not then occur- red to the unsophisticated mind of those early days. The school. then an infant industry of those days. received its share of government assist- ance from the legislative grant of 6,000 pounds for the payment of teachers and the purchase of supplies. The grant was later increased. Advancement In Architecture The village. with a very indif- ferent knowledge of manage- ment and discipline. adopted the public school system of 1816, “the germ of which had become one of the noblest institutions in the Dominion; and the admira- tion of visitors from manv iands.‘ 0. M. MacKILLOP MEMORIAL SCHOOL ERECTED 1955 RICHVALE place of worship and Town Hall for nearly 30 years when it gave way in the march of progress to its brick successor built in 1847. The village's first school mas- ter. Benjamin Barnard. a gentle- man from Surrey, England, put the Truant Act into effect long before the legislature launched it. After four o’clock the parâ€" ents of an absentee would see the master coming round the corner of the bush, or striding across the clearing to know the reason why. Up to 1866. the Public School was sustained by the Rate Bill, with all its objectionable fea- tures, but locally the agreement that the properry should be as- sessed for education as well as for protection. early prevailed. In 1867, its doors were thrown open to all who chose to enter. When the village set up munici- pal housekeeping for itself in 1873, the Village‘s share of the Clergy Reserve Fund was $1,450. Seminary For Young Ladies 1873, the Village‘s share of the Clergy Reserve Fund was $1,450. Seminary For Young Ladies Not only. was there a Public School in Richmond Hill. but Mrs. L. McConaghy. Centre St. West. has happy memories of be- ing a pupil of Miss Christina Campbell's Seminary For Young Ladies. As part of the entertainment program during the afternoon. records show “Master George Wiley gave a comet. solo and Master Rand Phipps read a poem dedicatory to the new building. the poem composed by W. D. T. Atkinson. B.A.. of the Coiling- wood Collegiate stafi‘. Mr. Phipps which she entered in is yet a resident of the village (Continued from page 1) Education, who confirmed Trusâ€" tee Rumble‘s stand that accord- ing to the Act, capital expendi- ture should not exceed $5,000, without O.M.B. .approval. Mr. Kinnee said that the Department and the balance of the Board felt. however, that they had been obeying the spirit of the law if not the actual letter of the law. ‘He said that the law had been designed primarily to restrict boards from spending too freely on capital expenditures rather than to hold them to the exact $5.000 figure. ' High Sch. Bd. Cuts Capital Expenditure The pértion of the capital ex- penditures being cut was design- ed primarily to allow the Board to have ready cash to negotiate for a new school site in Wood- bridge, if the opportunity came. A number of the trustees ex- pressed concern over the fact that if it is. possible to make a deal on a site in Woodbridge; it will now be‘ necessary to borrow money and pay interest since the matter of capital expendi- tures has been raised. Felt Obligation Trustee Rumble, speakingon behalf of his action in the mat- ter. said that he felt obligated to call the attention of everyone concerned when a matter invol- ving public funds such as this arose. “The Board has actually collected money without legal authority and it is being done all across the province according to this," said Mr. Rumble. “Not really, when you consider that both the auditors and the De- partment of Education itself ap- prove of it", countered Mr. Kinnee. May Consider Administrator Mr. Kinnee commented that the time was close at hand when the Board would have to give serious consideration to hiring a business administrator for the school as the work was getting beyond individual members who have only a limited time to de- vote to school affairs. Building Report Trustee W. R. Dean. chairman of the building committee, re- ported that the councils of Vaughan Twp. and Woodbridge village planned to look over a proposed ’site for a new High school in Woodbtidge and then to meet further with the Build- ing Committee. Prior to Monday’s meeting, the Building Committee mem- bers met with Markham Town- ship Council regarding the road into the Thornhill School. Ear- lier~the Board had approved the spending of approximately $6,- 700 to install the road but a re- vision of tovmship road stand- ard; has jumped the cost to near- ly $12,000, After meeting with the committee, it was suggested by Markham Council that'the township assume half the cost of the increase. Mr. Dean added that Markham Council had urged the Board not to count too much on receiving water from North York Twp. for the Thornhill School. Shift A motion to alternate the shifts for next year. proposed by Trustee Robert Tamblyn, and seconded by Trustee Rumble was lost when the Board deemed too many transportation, staff and organizational changes necess- ary. In making his motion, Trusâ€" tee Tamblyn said that represen- tation had been made in the Thornhill area for the change, LOG SCHOOL ERECTED 1810 1873 at the age of six. The Sem- inary was located on Yonge St. in the building directly north of Oakley Real Estate. Mrs. Mc- Conaghy said there was another such school at‘ that time, but Miss Campbell's was the more exclusive one. Yonge St. School Cost $30,990 Yonge St. School Cost $30,000 The Public School on Yonge Street was officially opened March 5, 1915. the school built at a cost of $30,000. Members of the Board of Education at that time were G. Cowie. chairman, G. A. McDonald secretary-treas- urer, F. McConaghy, ' T. H. Trench, D. Hill, Wm. Harrison. H. A, Nicholls. J. Innes, Geo. Redditt. W. A. Wright. Geo. Harding, J. N. Boyle. and C. Mason. Five teachers were on the staff â€"- A. E. Lehman principal, Miss M. Trench. MiSS E. M. Holmes. and Mrs. L. McConaghy. and expressed surprise that the Board had received a petition signed by 29 Thornhill parents objecting to any change. Free Text Books The Board voted to continue the distribution of text books to students, but decided sto discon- tinue the $1 returnable deposit fee. The books themselves will be given to the students out- right and will not need to be re- turned at the conclusion of the school year. Principal A. S. Elson said that he felt that this new system. would be as equally economical as the old method as it would reduce bookkeeping .to a minimum. " The law, just the same, was able to trip up mother driver who thought he had an angle. In Portland, Oregon: 3 man set out to prove a bet that there was no law against dI‘lV- ing in the nudeâ€"and was arrested for not having his driver's license on his person. Like the woman in the girdle, once you buy a car you're going to be in it for some time. That's why it's good sense and good business to pick out a car that fitsâ€"~that fits your needs and fits, your pocketbook. We have such a large "display of quality cars at our lot, we‘re pretty sure we can find one just right fonyou. But here are a few that I’ve forced our people to snicker at. There was a man in Vancouver, Canada. who told the judge he wasn't guilty of tailing to have his new license plates on his car by the deadline. "The plates were on my car.” he said, "right on the front seat." "Best ex- cuse I’ve heard in a long time," said the judge after the prosecutor had talked himself out explaining the differ- ence between "in" and "on". Gave him a suspended sen- tence. I Things wen! easier for a woman in Tyler, Texas, who was asked by the judge to explain why she had ovorpark- ed in front of a dress shop. "Trying on a girdle and was unavoidably detained,” she explained. I don't know how sh. was. but he: senaence was suspended. and Mr. Atkinson has been prin- c1pa1 of Glebe Collegiate. Otta- wa, for many years. Misses Mary Robinson, Madeleine Coo- per and Irene Thompson read a poem in three parts by Mis. P. L. Grant which gave an account of “Our Schools of the Past.” The speeches were interspersed by musical selections by Miss Ethel Switzer, Miss Carol Innes W. A. Wright, Miss Mary Trench. Mrs. C. Goodwin and readings by Miss F. M. Brown. Refreshments were served by the Women's Institute the pro- ceeds from which went towards the purchase of a piano for the school. Money raised amounted to $127.65. ' The official opening was an all-day afl‘air and in the evening William Harrison, whose daugh- ter, Miss M. Harrison, now lives on Richmond Street, spoke to the gathering of his schooling at the old log school’house. Mr. Harrison was the only ‘old boy' left in the village at that time who had attended the log school built in 1810. ‘ ‘I am now 81 years old,” he said. ‘and when my people came to Richmond Hill in 1844. I was sent to the little log school which was referred to then as the Set- tlement Duty House. In those early days the land in the neigh- bourhood all belonged to the British Government and was sold by them in 200 acre lots to plan- eers at one shilling an acre. One part of the agreement which they made when taking up this landtwas to erect a house." he said “and it was in one 01these settlement duty houses that school was first started in Richmond Hill in 1810.” YEREX ELECTRIC on all nationally advertised appliances CITY PRICES at The committee in charge of the local campaign for funds for the Canadian Nat- ional Institute for The Blind reports a total of $1,090. received in contribu- tions to date. Last year‘s drive brought in $868. Donations will still be ac- cepted, however. although personal canvassing has been completed. Mr. G. Brown. district su- pervisor, would like to ex- press his appreciation on behalf of C.N.I.B. to Mrs. J. Koning and all canvass- ers who assisted. Butler -& Baird was brok- en into over the week-end for the second time during the past year. Thieves attempted to blow up the safe with nitro- glycerine but left the job uncompleted. An expert from the C.I.B. was called in Monday morning to re- move the glycerine. THE Bill. TELEPHONE COMPANY OF CANADA ‘BRIDGES AT TOKO~ RI’ ROXY THEATR mama Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs. MAY 16, 17, 18. 19 ‘WE WANT A CHILD’ Starring , Academy Award Winner GRACE KELLY in In Glorious Technicolor Children under 16 not admit-ted plus “MYSTERY LAKE’ , with GEORGE FENEMAN Fail To Blow Up Safe CNIB Raises Over $1,000 EVENINGS DOORS OPEN 6.80 SAT. MAT. 1.30 Thurs., Fri., Sat. MAY 12, 13, 14 ADD Technicolor with Wm. Holden FOUR DAYS MISSION 65c THE LIBERAL, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Thursday, May 12, 1955 TElEPHONE ExcHAnsE? RICHMOND HILL TELEPHONE EXCHANGE We’d like to take you backstage and show you how your telephone system works. We’d like you to see what happens when you call a number. And we’d more than like to meet you and have you meet the telephone people who serve you! between 7 and 9 pm. An interesting tour is planned for your enjoyment May we look forward to seeing you? C. E. BLOSDALE, Manager OPEN HOUSE S0 We’re Having CHARLES HOWITT SCHOOL TOWNSHIP SCHOOL AREA NO. 1 MARKHAM & VAUGHAN PRE-SCHOOL REGISTRATION 1955 (For Children Enrolling in Grade I . in September) 19 RICHMOND STREET For Pupils not already Registered at Thornhill & Henderson Ave. Schools: THORNHILL SCHOOL Friday, May 27, 9.30-10 a.m. HENDERSON AVE. SCHOOL Wednesday, May 25, 930-10 am. As all pupils enrolling for Grade I -â€" 1955-56 must reach the age of SIX ON OR BEFORE DECEMBER 31, 1.955, and acceptable proof of age must be presented at the Registration. SATURDAY, MAY 28 From 2 to 4 p.m.. 8 to 10 pm. Admission: Adults 350, Children 150 Sponsored by Chas. Howitt Home & School Assoc. LANGSTAFF SCHOOL Tuesday, May 24, 930-11 a.m. POWELL ROAD SCHOOL Wednesday, May 25, 9.30-11 a.m. RICHVALE SCHOOL CHARLES HOWITT SCHOOL TONIGHT at the Thursday, May 26, 930-11 Monday, May 30, 930-10 a.m. Friday, May 27, 930-11 FILM FESTIVAL _.at_. BOARD OF TRUSTEES Pearson Ave., Richvale THORNLEA SCHOOL