Shilo Vignettes (continued):
6. Mr. Magee.
Mr Magee (Harvey, I think) was ahead of his time. His grade 9 class was memorable for science. If you remember that grade 9 science course, it was the most boring curriculum possible. We used to learn the positions of the teeth of a horse and cow. Very useful information!!! To counteract the curriculum, Mr. Magee did demonstrations such as showing us osmosis using a collodian tube. Things that just hinted at the content of the curriculum. He also brought in a speciman of a human embryo preserved in formaldehyde. It was fascinating. Far more interesting than bovine teeth placement. When I mentioned it to him some years later, he told me he had just about lost his job over that. I couldn't believe it! This was one of the most interesting things I saw during my entire school career and the adults felt it necessary to protect the children from their own curiosity. Fortunately, cooler heads prevailed and Mr. Magee went on to have a distinguished career in Shilo.
7. The Meatheads.
We always spoke of them with derision and yet, whenever I got caught doing something (not often, I admit), they were always very kind to me. Stern, but kind. My father tells a story about driving with a high ranking officer (who shall remain nameless) when they were stopped by the meatheads. The young meathead politely said, "Sir, I think you went through that stop sign." The officer replied, "I thought I stopped, didn't you (turning to my father)?" My father replied he wasn't sure, but he thought so. The officer turned to the meathead and said, "Well, we're right. You're wrong" and away they went. My father was quite astounded. He said it was not a very good example, but kind of humorous. Thinking back, I think the meatheads did a pretty good job overall, with the odd exception.
8. Waggle Springs.
Was there ever a more pristine place? Waggles was our favourite get-a-way. One time Brian Howie and I were there when Brian decided we should shoot a movie about soldiers running up the hill away from the river. He spent a long time putting small sticks into the ground with the top sticking out at an angle toward the river . He showed me how when you ran up the hill and stepped on the sticks, the end of the stick stuck in the ground would be forced out of the ground so that a small tuft of earth would fly into the air. In this way, he said, it would look like bullets hitting just in front of the soldier's feet and dislodging the earth. It was a great idea. Just another example of his creativity. We never made that movie but the rehearsal sure was fun.
9. DeDelly's Farm House.
I always thought that old farm house, deep in the forest reserve, would make a great make-out place. One day I bicycled out to see inside the house. I got in through a broken window. It had to be the spookiest place on earth. It was full of sounds and broken stuff. Ghosts of a past life. Right out of the movies. It might have been a great make-out place, but not for me. I never went back into that house.
10. The "Gunner" (later The "Stag").
My dad decided I should have a job so he got me one delivering the "Gunner". I was paid the whopping sum of 1 cent per paper. Each week I made the amazing sum of 63 cents. It seemed like a fortune at the time, but not enough to displace my work phobia. I quit after about a month - much to my dad's disgust.
~ Stories as recounted by Doug Jordan ~
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