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" __ iNiitt Ln, {a ar" ~:;.......’ IT, i W“ “N. A A” T i. t r' t ' W ’ V P ( at? fr tr " n " ‘ "if k?» I; ,. i tt , , A ; l w: _ . 't . I ' ' I 3 , T , . Lltt " Tt 'rcu' ll Ir=". r. q a Pat Arbuckie Chronicle Staff The classrooms seemed bigger, the water fountains lower. Even the big octagon-shaped clocks on the wall with their swinging pendulums have since been replaced by smaller electric models. Visitors, on this day, came bearing class pictures, a little yellowed with age, in the hope that someone would be able to identify a forgotten face. And all had one or two good stories to tell about their days at St. Louis school. More than 700 former students and teachers came back last weekend to meet old friends and classmates, share a few memories and rekindle some of the spirit that has endured at St. Louis throughout its 90-year history. The school may close this week for a final time but visitors from as far away as New York or Saskatchewan were determined to give it a rousing send-off. They celebrated into the early morning hours after Saturday's Homecoming Dance, attended mass Sunday morning at nearby St. Louis CtuiNh and then, in spite of the steamy heat, flooded the school to look over old photos and memorabilia during the afternoon open house. The day ended with a parish picnic and pot luck supper. St. Louis" first students began attending school in 1891 when the basement of the newly completed church was converted into two classrooms. The school's early history was marked by rapid growth as students from all over the village flocked to attend Waterloo's first separate school. Today's school trustees would probably glance with envy at detailed records kept by trustees in the school's early years. Total expenses in the year 1904-5. for instance. came to only $3,137.80. A year"s supply of wood cost $2.24, chalk $.90 and books $2.98. A total of $1 was paid to David Bean, owner of the Waterloo Chronicle for advertising and the annual salary for the four nuns who taught at the school was $125 each. B; 1923. the school had tripled in size and two years later began using portable classrooms. St. Louis expanded to its present size in 1961. Cathy Gloade was one of many youngsters who tried their luck rolling a money-filled barrel at Sunday‘s picnic at St. Louis School. human NN , ?9iiii2t,lh'tilgi',gr Piano Ryan Carey (lett) and his tether John leave a message of take a final tour of the school wnicn gratitude for Cathie DeCoo, a teacher at the school, during closes this week. Sunday‘s open house. The Careys represent two of four generations of their family who attended St. Louis since it opened in 1891. C . I I a - Celebrations and sadness mark closing of St. Louis TIME: 9:00 a.m. - " noon LEVEL: Gr. III - VIII thom age 9 and up) TEACHERS: Loraine Flatt _ Phase call 578-3640 or 886-9645 . for further Incarnation SUMMER WORKSHOP July 25 " 29 teaturtng lechnique sessions. master classes ' ensemble work " Kb; St. s., WM» Acton from Mum-l um Totem. Ktootmh Mammy hm " [Jun-00' Call 886-6510 for additional Informant»! alumnus?“ to GRADE [mm ttALF on Jumon vacuum" HALF OR FULL DAY SENIOR KINDERGARTEN KINDERGARTEN to GRADE - " Programs 50% French. 50% English FULLY ACCRED'TED "Tht' Alternative in Bilingual Education“ Until 1948 and the construction of Our Lady of Lourdes school. St. Louis remained Waterloo's only separate school. As current principal Paul Loosernore comment- ed, "if you are over M, catholic and living in Waterloo, you had to go to St. Louis. There was no other school until Ann Miller. 88, and Walter Dietrich, 81, were two of the oldest former pupils to attend Sunday's open house. Miller entered St. Louis in 1904 when her family immigrated to Cana from Germany. Classes at the time were conducted in he church basement until the new school building "constructed a year later. Miller remembered Sunday that the basement also served as living quarters for the parish priest Father Spetz and one of her first duties as a student at St. Louis was to help the nuns tidy the room. 1948. "l cleaned the room and made the bed with the sisters," she said. . For Dietrich, one of his fondest recollections was his first day of school in September of 1907. Left in the "baby room" by an older sister: Dietrich became upset and started to cry. "The sister tried to calm me down and I kicked her in the shirts," he recalled Sunday. Harold Beaupre. proprietor of Beaupre Stamps on King St. in Waterloo and a student at St. Louis from 1924 to 1930 came Sunday to have "one last look at the school before it closes." 1Tiiirirrriirrond memories of my days at St. Louis." he said. "I was a small boy, smaller than the rest and things came easily. I had a good time. nothing but fun." ' Being the smallest in the class sometimes had us advantages, Beaupre recalled. Often because of his size he was called on to tie the strings when repairs were needed on the church organ or to climb through the tunnel from the boiler room to the church. A highlight of his days at St. Louis. however, were hockey games and skating parties held on the large skating rink behind the school . V '- 'il Gl The _ 7.; .5} Kitchener-Waterloo _ P3Bilingual School " Em St. w. at imam. no. NOW REGISTERING FOR 1983-84 ACADEMIC YEAR 3 Years on Sept 1 /83 the bed with the Tag: But for many, memories of St. Louis school are bittersweet, tinged with pride at their family's close involvement in the school and sadness at the end of a long tradition. fl Far generations of the Carey family of Waterloo have attended the school since it opened in I891 and three generations were present IorfumlaA"s open house. . John Carey, a student in the 1950s recalled that his grandfather had helped lay the sewers for the original school Building in 1905. Later, his own father worked as a janitor in the school and his son Ryan is at present enrolled as a Grade two student. Florence Caskanette and Marcella Beecher sisters who attended St. Louis in the 19205, also recalled their own family"s deep roots in the school. Not only was their grandfather Frank Walz a member of the first school board but, using a team of horses, he also dug the foundation for the school and a trench leading from King Street to bring water to the new school building. "7“My family has always loved the St. Louis area," h: said. "The church and the school are important tons." -iGGeJGrturneit to St. Louis with a mindful of pictures of former classmates and a complete history she has compiled orboth the schoo! aryi .the church. vwgvféélgadlvy rabout the school closing," explained Caskanette. "We wanted to see itfor the _last timt.r' Elsie? 6;}aldihe eouids, a teacher at the school from 1942 to 1950 remembers St. Louis as a special place, particularly for its 1spirit." "WEI; aroma“ . enough school that you knew everybody an1trveryPnt was friendly.,'.' she explained. Sister Geraldine, who looks forward to school reunions as an opportunity to meet both children she has taught and teachers she has worked with, came armed for Sunday's open house with a little black book containing the names of each of the students she has taught in Waterloo region elementary schools. Her feelings about this reunion were echoed many times throughout the " ternoon. _ _ . meeting people." xiii-Seen great,'Ushe said. “I love coming back and Jazz 40L king St. N., Waterloo “(Va WAION (HOUSE IMAM" own (on-5nd I-(onhovOISVD M( DTA (Duh 00w: JO you: mime upon.“- b Chinc- ' " W0 Corr law Co o hound an”)! s'oeurws For (mo-II m bod-mg "up may .V'wm WW land, 5.4: arMiGeNot,ooot PRE-REGISTER NOW! CALI. 884-5724 For ages 3 and over Fall Classes "A u utcrlm " t M” .. he