Retiring After 31 Years Brings Her Mixed Emotions
By John Slykhuis

After 31 years of teaching about 1,000 pupils at Bradford Public School, Barbara Stewart is retiring at the end of this school year. It's a thought that brings a mixture of emotions for her. One one hand is the anticipation of doing the things she has been dreaming of for years: travelling extensively in winter and relaxing at her cottage in Minden in summer. On the other hand: "I'm going to miss the children," she admits, "And the staff too. I have many good friends here." Her last class, she says, is particularly special. "I'm really enjoying this last class. This is one of the nicest classes I've ever taught." This Grade 3 class, like the one she started with in 1941, is small and close, almost like a family. She had 13 children to teach in a small one room schoolhouse in Markham Township that first year, and they represented all eight grades. Five years later, she started at the old Bradford Public School, and she has been here ever since. There are so many memories here for Miss Stewart that it is difficult for her to pick out any one, but one does stand out in her mind. Several years ago, the Lions Club of Bradford brought over a crippled girl from India, Vanita Khubchandi, to have an operation at Sick Children's Hospital in Toronto. While here, she attended Miss Stewart's Grade 7 class. "She came every morning in an ambulance on a stretcher. She had to lie flat on her back all the time...The children really took to her." Then the day arrived for her operation. "The biggest thrill was the day she walked back into the classroom. Oh, the children were so excited. They had a party for her." Miss Stewart still hears from her occasionally and reports that she is walking well and has just finished high school. There are other memories too: walking through snow bank in the early years only to find out when she arrives that the school was closed; teaching her favorite subject, music; and taking the girls' choir to Newmarket where it won first prize. She taught a huge 45-pupil Grade 4-5 class a few years ago ("that was the most challenging and the most rewarding"), and watched the growth of children just arrived from other countries ("It was most rewarding to see them learn the language and go on to do well"). And what about the modern school system? "Well, I approve of the new standard of reporting the progress of a child. But I would far sooner talk to the parents. It's better than any report card. You find out so much more about the child." She adds however, "I believe in marking. I don't see how you can teach without it." Home for Miss Stewart is Markham, where she spends every weekend with her family, and until recently she was the organist at the Markham Presbyterian Church. "I retired as the organist last June. I guess you could say I'm tearing up all my roots...no, routines. I'm tearing up all my old routines." Although she is leaving Bradford for good at the end of this school year, Miss Stewart has reassured her friends that she will be coming back often to visit.

"Eighty years old and almost blind, Alfred Tout of Newmarket is launching a business that he hopes will bring him enough money to buy a house. Alfred has turned his life-long hobby, weaving bamboo furniture, into a full-time job so he can get out of the senior citizens' apartment he and his wife moved into a few years ago. "You can't do anything there (at the seniors' home). You can't hammer, own a dog or cat or anything. Some people might like to sit around and do nothing, but not me." Alfred used to have a workshop in his Bradford home before he moved to Newmarket. He misses the freedom of having his own house..."

Councillors John Gabriel and John Gorzo showing off their Holiday ties.

Bradford High School, Form 1. Back Row, from left to right: Helen Clark, Marjorie Seim, May Parks, Zelda Fox, Mabel Andrews, Miss Bertha Collins (Teacher), Anne Watt, Mamie Catania, Donna Archer, Constance Ward, Ruth Cerswell. Third Row: Miss Anna O'Neil (Teacher), Gwen Ward, Grace Brown, Kathleen Wilsone, Audrey Courtney, Mr. E.J. Keenan (Principal), Evelyn Thorpe, Mary Loblaw, Wilma Slack, Bertha Berry, Miss Marion George (Teacher). Second Row: Aubrey Belfry, Elgin Connell, Don Wilson, Victor Cummings, Bruno Cavallo, James Darling, Allan Gould, Keith Kilkenny. Front Row: Harold Knibbe, Earl Gray, Bryon Loblaw, Gordon Ogilvie, Errol Godwin, Charles Nesbitt.

Bradford High School Front Row: Herb. Taylor, Mac Wilson, Keith Faris, Beverly Hartman, Ron Sutherland. Second Row: Jessie Melbourne, Marg. Gowland, Jim Worfolk, Clarence Cook, Homer Henbest, George Hartman, John Clubine. Third Row: Miss O'Neil, Audrey Bales, Blossom Dales, Amelia Hambly, Dorothy Faris, Principal E.J. Keenan, Ruby Belfry, Janet Pringle, Alma West, Dorothy Stone, Connie Bateman, Miss George. Fourth Row: Ruth Roberts, Dorothy Reeves, Irene Archibald, Gladwyn Burton, Kathryn Hambly, Miss Bertha Collins, Marjory Wilson, Amy Archer, Mae Madill, Valerie White, Zella Gardener.

Photograph students in Form I standing on the steps outside of Bradford High School on November 5, 1919.

Teachers (L-R): Mr. Charles W. Harrison, Miss E. Henry, Miss Jessie Curry

First Row (L-R): Cedric Hipwell, Norman Plant, Lyland Sturgeon, Emmerson Spence, Russel Bowles, Max Morris

Second Row (L-R): Vivian Bowles, Alberta Stoddart, Elizabeth Evans, Laura Kneeshaw, Pearl Metcalfe, Kathleen MacLean

Third Row (L-R): Kathleen Collings, Ruby Metcalfe, Dorothy Bell, Joyce Miller, Constance Nolan

Fourth Row (L-R): Kenneth Cummings, Charlie Brown, Howard Bowser (also written as Bowsher), Jim Webb

Photograph of John Stam and Gertie (de Haan) Stam. John was born on July 20, 1907 in the Netherlands and died February 21, 1986. Gertie was born on April 17, 1915 in the Netherlands and died April 13, 2003. They married May 4, 1935 in the Netherlands, immigrating to Canada in 1953 and then moving to the Holland Marsh area in 1954. John's occupations included river barge operator and contractor and Gertie's was as a RNA in a Bradford nursing home. The couple had 11 children.

Advertisement for George Palmer's store of Watches, Jewelry, Clocks, Fancy Goods, Guns, and Toys.

Advertisement of Dr. William H. Porter, Surgeon Dentist of Bradford.

Declaration of Office made by Bradford Reeve James Edwin Coombs, signed January 14, 1918.