The last concert at Madills Hall
This story goes back to December 1958. I was a teacher at Madills School that year. One-room schools could be found every few miles throughout the country. They were situated so every pupil would be able to walk to school. The school, a United Church and a hall were located at the corner of Sideroad 6/7 and the Tenth Line. Should you drive to that corner today you would find that both the church and the hall have been torn down. A house stands where the hall once stood. The school still stands as solid as ever. It was one of the first schools in the township and drew students from a wide area in pioneer times. The one-room schools were last open in our part of the world in 1967 when the last of them came into Nottawasaga Creemore Central School.
Although I was involved in numerous Christmas concerts during my teaching career this one stands out in my memory as a special and precious evening. I had 10 students to present an evening of entertainment. They were Paula du Maresq, Herb Campbell, Ruth Chipchase, Esther Taylor, Joan Campbell, Elvie Weatherall, John Chipchase, Lola Taylor, Mary McCann and Allan Taylor.
Plans for the concert began early in November when the pupils began pestering the teacher about when the practices would begin. Teachers all over the country were set in a panic as they tried to find new and interesting material. Phone calls were made to fellow teachers begging for additional play books or copies of recitations.
I was fortunate to have an itinerant music teacher, Ray Swalm of Duntroon. Other school visitors such as inspectors and school nurses abandoned us because they were afraid of driving up the road from Dunedin in winter. Ray never did. He helped us prepare our songs. I didn’t play the piano very well but was pressed into service because there was no one else.
We practised whenever we could at recesses and lunch hour but also in school time because it seemed to me that memorizing recitations and singing were an important part of the curriculum.
Many schools held their concerts in the schools but we decided to hold ours in the hall. It was equipped with a stage and plenty of room for an audience. The downstairs part of the hall was a shed for horses, buggies and sleighs and upstairs was the hall where many memorable strawberry suppers and concerts had been held.
The pupils and I held a work party to ready the hall. This involved putting on a fire in the old stove, sweeping and preparing the stage. I remember trying to clean the fly specked windows but having the water turn to ice as soon as it touched the glass.
The older pupils went out and found a Christmas tree. They assured me they knew of a perfect one and sure enough they did. We had to get it up then and decorate it with ornaments found in a box in the school and also with crafts made by the children. As well we had to find bed sheets for stage curtains, put them up on wires and prepare the backdrop scenery on large sheets of paper.
My jobs, among others, were to get ads in The Creemore Star and to bring props for the plays. The first was easy, the second quite difficult. I enlisted my father to drive me to the school with a load of props. We couldn’t get up the hill at Dunedin so I talked him into driving to Maple Valley and coming down Madills Sideroad from Highway 124. My theory was that it would be downhill and easier. Well, we almost got stuck on that road and were lucky to get back to the highway. I have forgotten how I eventually got the things to the hall. I just remember they were there.
Another job was tracking down a Santa Claus and a suit for him. I went on many wild goose chases but finally Lloyd Fachnie agreed to act and I am grateful to this very day for his generosity. He also volunteered to play his violin between acts.
The wonderful evening finally arrived. We had a huge crowd, and as the evening went on, our jitters disappeared and our feelings turned to jubilation as everyone performed beautifully. My friend, Catherine McArthur, who was teaching near Nottawa came to help me and we were so happy at one point that we grabbed each other and danced a two-step around the stage while Lloyd played a lively tune in front of the curtain.
That was the last event held in the hall. The rest of the concerts were held in the school until it closed.
The day following the concert it was impossible to drive to the school and I ended up trudging through a foot of new snow straight uphill from Dunedin and pulling a toboggan to carry things home for the vacation. I was exhausted by the time I got to the school but as you can see that event 60 years ago still brings me much happiness.
