Mossy Vale HIstory Cairn

In my last post I ended with a photo of my mother, Katie Smith, standing beside the just-erected Mossy Vale history cairn on the day of the reunion. Over the months that I worked on the cairn plans with the other members of the Mossy Vale Sign Committee, I gathered she figured our efforts were a bit of a waste of time. But that day in July, when she navigated the rough ground with her walker from the car to the cairn, and then read the inscription plaque, it was clear she was delighted. In this post I wanted to champion the efforts of Bill Weighill and René Chabot, whose "sweat-equity" and experience in particular, is why we have such a magnificent history cairn.

René Chabot preparing to drill holes in the boulder in advance of mounting the inscription plaque.

Bringing the boulder to the cairn site, back to front: Bill Weighill, Walter Hamilton, René Chabot.

About to mount the plaque and preserve Mossy Vale's history. "Click" on the photo to enlarge and read the inscription.

Photos courtesy: C. Weighill

50 Years Later

Mossy Vale, of course, no longer exists and is part of Saskatchewan's history. In the days leading up to the reunion I was likely not the only one who tried not to get very excited about it, for fear the turnout would be small. After all, it was to do with something that happened a long time ago.

Sunday, July 17th--only a few days over the anniversary of the "Pioneer Picnic" of 1961 that heralded the end of Mossy Vale--arrived to hot and glorious sunshine. The little hall by the beach at Tobin was a perfect setting. To say the reunion exceeded expectations is an understatement. One hundred twenty people signed the guest register, coming from as far as Ontario and Vancouver Island. The many historical photographs that were gratefully received from far and wide, including from ever-dedicated teachers Coral Pickering, Illa May, and Ann Morris, provided a slideshow trip down memory lane that was very popular with everyone. No one remembered Mossy Vale School being quite that small!

Five very special women in attendance were honoured that afternoon--all daughters of homesteaders who settled the area: Mary (Wall) Boschman, Katie (Morris) Smith, Joyce (Oram) Adamson, Eunice (Nelson) Adamson, and Alice (McLeod) Northrup. Then there was the amazing experience of standing shoulder-to-shoulder with our old neighbours once more. First Reno Hill School alumni, then we who once inhabited Mossy Vale, posing for photos that now remind us of how special the moment was.

The Mossy Vale history cairn and the Reno Hill "Cherish the Memories" School sign were magnificently in place--witnessed, photographed, touched, and appreciated by those who made the pilgrimage out to them at the end of the afternoon.

Group photos courtesy: H. Larsen, B. and C. Weighill

Mossy Vale/Reno Hill Get-Together: 50 years later!

Sunday, July 17th, Tobin Lake Resort Village community hall. Short program and cake at 3:00 pm. Come a little earlier if you'd like to get a little visiting in beforehand. It's the place to be for former residents of the two districts--a chance to visit with your former neighbours and later pay a visit to our special commemorative projects: the Mossy Vale history cairn and the Reno Hill School District sign.

Prepared site for the Mossy Vale cairn. Finding a location proved pretty difficult but with thanks to R.M. Councilor, Al Boschman, we are in luck!

Logging

A handful of old negatives were saved for me thanks to my cousin, Sandra Wiles, after my uncle, Peter Morris, passed away in 2002. No one at the time knew what they were of or whether he had even made them, but luckily I tucked them away. What the impressively large celluloids contained, when I finally processed them just this spring, is an amazing step back in time--a drop-in visit with Mossy Vale folk going about their lives in the 1940s. This post and one or two to come will feature an important occupation at Mossy Vale: logging. In this post Peter and his brother Bill are hauling logs off Birch Island, destined for local mills and as far away as Carrot River and likely Nipawin. Though their voices are unfortunately no longer here to provide commentary, my mother and Uncle Frank (Morris) tell of The Pas Lumber Company camps in the vicinity; impressively large and self-sufficient, capable of accommodating a hundred or more workers. Apparently pigs were even raised there. Frank recalls the dangers of carrying logs over the ice and how the horses could be quickly detached and freed if an over-weighted sleigh broke through.

Miss Young

Edith (Young) Vereschagin taught at Mossy Vale School the second year it was open (1944-45), and she returned the next year. Edith was an enthusiastic, accomplished writer and artist; assets which her students must have found both inspiring and motivating. She was my Uncle Jack Morris's teacher. Years after Mossy Vale, Edith told with a smile, of a "situation" that arose during her tenure. My uncle, who had misbehaved somewhat inappropriately, was dismissed early one day by Edith, with a note for my grandmother, explaining the misdemeanor. Jack didn't come back to school the following day but when he returned the next, he relayed that his mom intended to pay a visit to the school that noon to see Miss Young. Apparently, she and all of the students were not to do anything, or go anywhere, until she arrived. My Romanian-born grandmother, a rotund woman with completely broken english, and generally spoken with extra volume to compensate, could appear fairly intimidating, more so to those who crossed her. Edith, feared the worst. Anticipating the wrath of an overly protective parent, her hour of dread finally arrived. But what my grandmother brought to school that lunch hour, was a healthy dose of support and appreciation in the form of enough home-cooked food to feed an army.

Photo courtesy: A. Byers

Mossy Vale Church

The Pas Trail Mission Field was established in 1932. The first minister to serve the area was Stuart East. In the late 1930s the Anglican Church held services. Two weddings were held at St. John's Anglican Church at Mossy Vale (built in 1940): Geordie and Katie Smith, and Eldon and Joyce Adamson. Church was held every summer at the church from 1952 until 1962; a year after most Mossy Valers had gone, and as our little district was being disassembled and flooding was already in progress.

This one minute movie, edited from home movies made by my aunt and uncle, Madeline and Harry Schroeder, about 1960, brings to life the ride down the sandy road to the church. My grandfather, Florea (Frank Sr.) Morris, makes a brief appearance along the side of the road near the site of his old homestead which he was visiting that day. The house that the Morris's built and which was located across the road from the church, is briefly and partially visible through the trees as the camera pans by. In the churchyard some of the congregation (my aunt decked in a stylish hat) visit after the service, as was always the practice.

Movie clips courtesy: M. and H. Schroeder