Editor, The Progress:

Your editorial remarks in the issue of March 7th re school inspector's report are timely and should aid in bringing to all unprejudiced minds the conditions of our "Rural Schools" and the shocking neglect that has been their lot in the past. I fail to see any reason why this has been tolerated so long in a public institution such as a school. The public should at once demand a change and ask that these schools be given standard sanitary conveniences.

Our entire school problem seem to be in a state of great uncertainty, when in my opinion, it should not be, for we have had under our democratic way of life, two plebiscites on this question, each one returning with a definite "no" to centralization. Why is our school board not doing something definite to decentralizing our school system according to the wishes of those they serve. Why should children resident in the western half of our municipality be obliged to travel distances up to 12 miles for their education?

Now let us look at Sumas. We have here enough children to warrant enlarging Sumas School from a four-room to an eight-room school, capable of teaching up to and including grade 9. This would mean that at least one bush could be sold. Yarrow too, could stand the same.

"Exit bus two."

One bus then, by using Vedder Bridge, could haul Yarrow and Sumas students of grades 10 and up to Chilliwack High School. This policy could be followed all round and by the sale of two buses and cancellation of any orders for new ones, we could finance a change in sanitary conditions. Our schools have a right to be where the children are. It is far better for them that this should be so. Opportunities for their education in a country school can be made equal to a city school when they are handled by a board that is equally interested in all schools, whether they are rural or urban.

To the ratepayers, I would say, get interested, this is your problem; you finance the school board. How do you want them to act? By act of law, we have to pay taxes to educate our young people. This is as it should be, but I don't believe we are forced to put our nose to the stone to pay for a fleet of school buses to suit the whims of a few fanatical idealists.

We cannot afford centralization. We have voted it down twice. The school board is elected to serve and carry out your wishes. It is fully time you let those wishes be known in a very definite manner. Taxes are levied on land for education, not transportation. We, as farmers have no guarantee on the price of our produce, why should we be asked to guarantee anything? When the war ends our real internal problems will face us and in the difficult years ahead we many very soon be getting a dollar per can for our produce, who knows? We who live in the rural areas are proud of our district. Let us demand that the schools built by the dollars that are made in the rural areas, shall help to beautify and be an asset to the area that paid for them.

Signed:
James Bray
R.R.1 Sardis

A Tribute to Mr. Carl Wilson

On a special occasion such as this,
It seems like a good time to reminisce.
Tonight let your mind go back to a certain date
Way back to the fall of the year 1928.
Many families had come to settle down
In this lovely area, now a good sized town.

The need for their children's education soon arose,
So a one room school on Central Road they chose.
Miss Ella Currie their first teacher came to be,
And she did a good duty, as was plain to see.
The School-room soon became quite alive
With ages six to fifteen and grades one to five.

But as the community began to grow,
The little school room soon did overflow.
The need for more facilities was then detected,
And in 1929 another one room building was erected.
Mr. Carl Wilson was appointed teacher here,
And grades three to five to him became very dear.

Then, just like the raspberries that thrived and grew,
More children and more class rooms soon was nothing new.
These students from all other he could well distinguish -
They were all bi-lingual, but knew very little English
So when for a paragraph or composition Mr. Wilson did ask,
With such a limited vocabulary it seemed like an impossible task.

How should these children ever get to college?
When in school there wasn't a library or books of knowledge?
You see, on radios or newspapers no money was spent.
Church, Sunday school and school were their only source of current events.

Then when the roll call came it caused quite a dilemma,
It was either Peter, John, Mary Lena or Anna!
These names he had probably heard before,
But little did he know what else was in store -
There was Giesbrecht, Rempel, Nickel and Sawatsky,
Kroeker, Derksen and also Rogalsky.

But being a teacher wasn't his only task,
In case of illness or accident for his help they did ask.
He was always willing to lend a helping hand
To these people who came from a foreign land.

Four students graduated from Grade Eight in 1932.
Others that could have; had to join the working crew.
Hop picking in those times was a must for all,
So school did not commence till late in the fall.
For Mr. Wilson, this fulfilled a wish,
For everyone knew how much he enjoyed to fish!

Do you remember how discipline was practiced here?
Conduct was a subject treated with respect and fear.
10 marks off! If a pencil or eraser you dropped.
A note to a friend or lover and another 50 you flopped.
So if by the end of the term good marks you wanted to see,
A model student you had better be!

Remember our lunch pails, what labels they bore?
You could tell they had been filled with Rogers Syrup before.
The contents were usually very plain,
But they served the purpose just the same.
Our sandwiches consisted mostly of lard, syrup or peanut butter,
But, we were thankful and no complaints did utter.

We hadn't heard of vitamins or the word nutrition,
But in spite of this, we weren't in such bad condition.
Our wearing apparel was not out of Vogue,
Not even anything ordered from the catalogue.
For anything to keep us warm clean and neat
We were thankful; and that made our wardrobe complete.

We were glad to be in this beautiful land,
And to give our parents a helping hand.
Working at home consisted of many a chore
So going to school was never a bore.
We thought it a pleasure to come and relax,
And listen to Mr. Wilson who gave us the facts.

He was always there, sunshine and rain,
We feel his efforts have not been in vain.
Among former students you will find lawyers and teachers,
Bankers, doctors, dentists, farmers and preachers,
Store-keepers, clerks, missionaries and mothers,
To be sure, there must be numerous others.

We have fond memories of Yarrow pioneer days,
And feel that you, Mr. Wilson, deserve much of the praise.

May 3rd, 1975.
Kay Dyck Schellenberg

Miss Derksen, Walter Klassen, Cary Esau, Melvin Martens, Earl Milller, Edwin Lenzmann, Ron Penner, Victor Janzen, Otto Baerg, Herman Klassen
Eleanore Friesen, Rita Paetkau, Elizabeth Voth, Evelym Froese,   —, Angela Martens, Rubena Goertz
Mary Arendt, Margaret Regehr, Patty Andres,   —, Elvira Klassen, Caroyln Peters

Wilfred Derksen, Gordon Wiens, Harry Derksen, Victor Ratzlaff, Robert Reimer, Gordon Paetkau
Girlfriend, Rubena Goertz, Elsie Bergmann, Nettie Klassen, Johnny Penner
Rosella Nickel, Lily Pankratz, Rita Sawatsky, Betty Dyck, Evangeline Sawatsky, Nancy Epp
Randy Dyck, David Nightingale, Elmer Wiens, Robert Giesbrecht, Walter Wolfe

John Neudorf, Gordon Paetkau, Cary Esau, Edwin Lenzmann, Walter Toews, Robert Giesbrecht, David Nightingale, Abe Loewen, Johnny Penner
Otto Baerg, Walter Klassen, Melvin Martens, Earl Miller, Herman Klassen, David Klassen, Robert Hollins, Elmer Wiens, Miss Bealle
Elizabeth Voth, Elisabeth Neudorf, Nettie Enns, ________, Rubena Goertz, Elvira Klassen
Lily Pankratz, Angela Martens, Edith Dahl, Evelyn Froese, Helen Loewen, Elizabeth (Betty) Loewen
Betty Dyck, Margaret Regehr, Rita Sawatsky, Eleanore Friesen, Patty Andres, Mary Arendt, Annie Reimer

Helmut Peters, Henry Konrad, Victor Ratzlaff, Abe Enns, Harry Duerksen, Bobby Reimer, Ernest Neufeld, Frank Klassen
Walter Wofle, Frank Friesen, Abe Dyck, Kenneth Gross, Edwin Epp, Rudy Baerg, Bobby Unruh, Willy Langeman
Viola Loewen, Olga Bergen, Diane Reimer, Caroline Derksen, Katherine Friesen, Nancy Epp, Joanne Schellenberg, Rosella Nikkel, Sarah Thiessen
Gloria Goosen, Eileen Harder, Betty Heindrichs, Evangeline Sawatsky, Aneta Koehn, Caroline Braun, Carol Wiens, Nettie Klassen, Rosemary Thiessen

________, Peter Giesbrecht, Stan Harder, Dave Nightengale, Ben Neufeld, Rufus Loewen, Jake Konrad, Betty Loewen, Judy Thiessen
Lenora Janzen, Shirley Jantzen, ________, Ted Schmidt, Stan Wiens, Gene Roy, Edward Doerfling, Carol Neufeldt, Irene Loewen
John Arendt, Neil Friesen, Jim Dyck, John Klassen, Anita Penner, Marlene Rempel, Ronnie Klassen, Dave Enns, Bernie Thiessen
Laurie Koehn, Ron Dyck, Arthur Friesen, Judy Pauls, Jenny Scheremeto, Evelyn Paetkau, Viola Martens, Abe Klassen, Albert Friesen, Almina Maier

Interurban Car 1304: 1955 —- One last run

"Interurban car 1304 had not been out on the Chilliwack line for almost five years, but when Yarrow teacher Miss J.E. Fowlie wondered in a letter to president Grauer if her grade three students might not have a train ride to round off a study unit on transportation, it was as good as done. One of the diesels hauling a freight train brought 1304 to Chilliwack, where the thirty-eight students, with their teacher, boarded it for a forty-five minute ride to Yarrow. After the students had inspected the train's caboose, the freight train continued on its way to New Westminster, leaving behind a class of bubbly, still wide-eyed children."

Source: Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society.

http://www.fvhrs.org/photos-1304.htm

Robert Hollins, Earl Miller, Ruby Goertz, Lily Pankratz, Helen Fehr, Edwin Lenzmann, Johnny Penner
Evelyn Froese, Elvira Klassen, Elizabeth Voth, Marilyn Unruh, Elisabeth Neudorf, ________, Edith Dahl, Annie Reimer
Walter Klassen, Gordon Paetkau, David Klassen, Robert Giesbrecht, Otto Baerg, Elmer Wiens, Cary Esau, Melvin Martens
Angela Martens, Eleanor Friesen, Mary Arendt, Betty Dyck, Rita Paetkau, Patricia Andres, Margaret Regehr, Rita Sawatsky

Rufus Loewen, Ted Schmidt, Gene Roy, Jake Konrad, _____ Loewen, Ben Neufeld, Dave Nightengale, Stan Harder, Peter Giesbrecht
Bernie Thiessen, Stan Wiens, Michelle _______, Irene Loewen, Betty Loewen, Judy Thiessen, Lenora Janzen, Carol Neufeldt, Marlene Rempel
Albert Friesen, Jim Dyck, John Klassen, Edward Doerfling, Dave Enns, _________, Abe Klassen, John Arendt, Ron Klassen, Arthur Friesen
________, Jenny Scheremeto, Shirley Jantzen, ________, Katie Dettling, Evelyn Paetkau, Judy Pauls, Anita Penner, Laurie Koehn, Almina Maier

Johnny Penner, Lily Pankratz,   —, Marilyn Unruh, Elsie Loewen,   —,   Gordon Paetkau, Cary Esau
Edwin Lenzmann, Evelyn Froese, Edith Dahl, Ruby Goertz, Elisabeth Neudorf, Elvira Klassen, Elizabeth Voth, Melvin Martens, Victor Janzen
Earl Miller, Robert Giesbrecht, Rita Sawatsky, ________, Annie Reimer, Mary Arendt, Elmer Wiens, Walter Klassen, Miss Sharon Ritchie
David Klassen, Patty Andres, Eleanore Friesen, Margaret Regehr, Rita Paetkau, Betty Dyck, Otto Baerg