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BOWNESS SCHOOL in the 1930s by Dorothy (Wallace) Short

The principal, Graham Semmens, taught grades V to VIII, and Evelyn Roberts was in charge of grade I to IV. Mr. Semmens was an excellent teacher, with a good understanding of how to teach several grades. He expertly shared his time for teaching each grade, stopping now and then to give instructions such as "Grade VII, get out your arithmetic books and start Chapter 5". Also, he did his best to get his pupils involved in many activities. With the first snowfall he encouraged us all to go out for recess, and taught us a new way to play "Fox and Geese", laying out a course that went

round and round in concentric circles, like the elements on an electric stove. He was so good at organizing this game that whenever we had fresh snow we entreated him to come outside and join us, when he no doubt had many things he wanted to do instead during the recess break. When spring came he encouraged us to collect wildflowers and bring them to school for identification. He kept a running list in the corner of one of the blackboards. But perhaps what he did best was tell us stories on Friday afternoons. One year he recounted orally the entire book of "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo. This was so popular that during this time you could hear a pin drop in the room as, week by week, we followed the exploits of Jean Valjean.
Looking back, I have many fond memories of those years. Learning in a largely "rural" school, with multi-grade classrooms teaches students how to work on their own, to be self-starters, and to be resourceful in the interests of all the students. Many of us made friendships that have lasted to this day. We all have memories of an era that is gone.

KATHLEEN EMILY DAWSON LUST - Bowness in the 1940s

Kay remembers what it was like in the early days. The east end of Bowness was known as Critchley. There were dirt roads and no sidewalks. Wells were dug to provide the family's water and there were outside toilets. People had coal and wood stoves to heat the house and to cook with. There was no electricity and people used coal oil lamps for lights. The families had huge vegetable gardens and Kay canned to store food for the winter. Art travelled to work on the streetcar to Calgary. The trip took one hour. The last streetcar left Calgary for Bowness at 11:30 p.m. If you missed it you had to walk. Art and Kay missed it a couple of times! There were two theatres, the Rex and the Bow. The Bow gave little prizes away. The girls usually went to the Saturday matinee at the Bow. The Rex was also used for dances. Kay went once and said that was enough! Kay said her children enjoyed growing up in Bowness. Times were different then. You didn't have to worry about your children as you knew all the neighbors and everyone looked out for all the children. Children had a lot more space to play in as there were few houses and fewer fences to keep you out. They were happy days!

THE BOWNESS STREET CAR 1913-1950 by Valentine Urie (nee Wallace)

The Bowness Street Car weaved its way through the fabric of our neighbourhood. No individual was unaffected by it, nor any family not tied to its hourly wheels. In contrast to today when our outlet to the world at large is through the medium of television, the internet, and the automobile, those pre-TV days of few radios and automobiles belonging only to the wealthy, our community was inexorably linked to the outside world by our local street car. After

shuttling through the centre of Calgary, it wound its way through the outskirts before rattling out over the virgin prairie beyond. For the first three miles after it left the city, there was barely a house. The tracks ran for a distance along the banks of the Bow River leaving the passengers in terror that one of the wobbles would surely tip them into the swift current below. The same tracks had been mapped out fifty years earlier to facilitate a leisurely roll to Bowness Park, eight miles west of the city centre. The engineers had never envisioned conductors making up time for the numerous stops to deliver newspapers or groceries to out of the way customers, or deal with baby buggies that had to be wiggled and cajoled onto the car by the joint efforts of the conductor and the mother. The Railway had a shot-gun beginning. An early developer named Hextall had mapped out a sub-division on tracts of land spreading on either side of the Bow River eight miles west of Calgary. After building an estate house for himself and four other houses for the incoming residents, he donated one hundred acres of prime land along the Bow River to the city of Calgary for their use as a park. There was a condition. The Calgary Railway system must build a branch line to the gates of the proposed park. The city was enthralled. They co-operated in every way possible. The rails were laid and the park developed. It was to become a huge source of revenue for the city, especially during the depression years when few people could afford a holiday away from home. During the summers the hourly street cars were increased to two every fifteen minutes to accommodate the ever increasing crowds. "Seeing you home" after a date meant an hour's trip on the street car for one's escort, a few minutes alone while the street car went around the loop and then for the escort an hour's lonely ride back to the city. Many a budding romance died a natural death after several Saturday night sojourns.

The Society would like to thank the University of Calgary for the image of the streetcar.

This web page has been designed by Fast Frame Photography

More Histories

BOWNESS SCHOOL in the 1930s by Dorothy (Wallace) Short

KATHLEEN EMILY DAWSON LUST - Bowness in the 1940s

THE BOWNESS STREET CAR 1913-1950 by Valentine Urie (nee Wallace)