Teresa Morris and Margie Holmes were part of the class of 1957 and they remember it all. Both are also on the reunion organizing committee and are expecting former classmates from as far as California, Alberta and Ontario to join those closer to home for some catching up in conjunction with Stellarton Homecoming this weekend.
When the class held its 30th reunion, they opened the party to students a year behind and a year ahead of them.
“In those days, a lot of young people finished school in Grade 11, even if they were going on to other education,” noted Morris.
Holmes added they would be happy to be joined by anyone who attended SHS at the time.
“We were not that big a school and everyone knew everyone else so they are all welcome.”
The members of the Class of ’57 were born in wartime, so the ending and aftermath of the war are among their earliest memories. Holmes was in Pictou with her parents when news came that the war was over.
“People were hugging and clapping each other on the back and even a child could tell it was a very important day,” she said.
Morris remembers going to the theatre on Foord Street in Stellarton soon after the war ended.
“We all carried a little bag of used clothing for the post-war effort.”
Both also remember saving dimes in slotted cards to finance the construction of Stellarton’s memorial rink.
Morris was Teresa McKinnon in those days and she got her early education at Catholic schools in Lourdes. Holmes was Margie I. MacKenzie – there were two Margie MacKenzies in the class – who lived on Westville Road but was sent to school in Stellarton from Grade 7 on because her parents thought Stellarton had better schools.
“I was dying to see what all the Protestant kids were like,” laughed Morris.
“I’d enjoyed getting to know the town kids and I knew there would be kids coming from many other communities for high school, so I was looking forward to meeting them,” said Holmes.
Both came from families that did not have much to spare, Morris the oldest of eight and Holmes, an only child.
“In those days, school was where everything happened. There wasn’t much else or we couldn’t afford much else. Everybody got involved in anything going on at school and we were all into rock and roll,” said Morris.
Both remember 1957 as the year the SHS hockey team defeated the much larger St. Patrick’s High School of Halifax to win the provincial high school title.
“The excitement was unbelievable,” recalled Holmes, adding some of the players from that team will be at the reunion.
Holmes graduated with her class and immediately went to work at Sobeys head office, though she points out head office in those days was a corner of the warehouse and had about 15 employees.
“Sobeys wanted somebody who was good in math but wasn’t going on to university and that was me. I was one of three people doing payroll. We divided cash into little bank envelopes to be delivered to all the stores around the county.”
At the end of Grade 11, Morris was asked to teach in a rural school, but she declined. She returned for Grade 12, but a few months in, pharmacist Chuck Poulain asked her if she would become a certified drug clerk at his store.
“I studied by correspondence and then went to Dalhousie University to write my exams. It was considered a good job, but after two years, I left to go to North Sydney to study nursing.”
The jobs at Sobeys and the pharmacy paid $16 and $17 a week and both women paid board to help their families.
Holmes met her husband, Gerald, while she was in high school and married young. She raised her children while working in the family tire business and still does a lot of the bookwork.
Morris met her husband, Stewart, while she was in nursing school. A few years after they married, they were part of an early wave of Maritimers to go west for work. They headed out in winter with their 10-day-old son, their little Renault loaded down. Relatives in Fredericton gave them a bed for the first night and saw them off with a box packed with food for their journey.
“The Trans Canada highway was still under construction and we got stuck in a snowstorm in Quebec for 12 hours. We passed out food to others who were stranded and had nothing and then we were on our way again.”
Graduation for the class of ’57 coincided with the closing of mines in Pictou County and in the next few years many young people left the county to find work.
“I thought going west was a great adventure. I loved the place and the people, but we came back for our son because he really wanted aunts and uncles and grandparents around him. I don’t regret the decision because it has been a good place to raise a family,” said Morris.
Nursing afforded her a long career, first in hospitals, then teaching at the community college and until recently with Highland Community Residential Services.
“I think we realized at our 30-year reunion that the class of ’57 had done pretty well. We had a great time meeting people from away, but also getting back in touch with those who lived in the same area but never seemed to see each other,” said Holmes, adding they have had several reunions since.
Organizing this one has proven a bit more challenging, though.
“There are some no longer with us, but there are others who’ve moved in the last number of years and it is hard to track them down,” said Holmes.
Morris is hoping people will make an effort to spread the word among family and friends.
“We don’t want to leave anybody out because it is going to be a great get-together. If you were in high school in Stellarton in 1957, get in touch with us right away.”
A reception and dinner will be held at Pictou County Wellness Centre Friday evening. For more information, contact Morris at 902-752-2620 or Holmes at 902-752-4244.
Rosalie MacEachern is a Stellarton resident and freelance writer who seeks out people who work behind the scenes on hobbies or jobs that they love the most. If you have someone you think she should profile in an upcoming article, she can be reached at [email protected]
