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ShellbrookShellbrook ChronicleChronicle && SpiritwoodSpiritwood HeraldHerald VOL. 109 NO. 12 PMR #40007604 Thursday, March 25, 2021 www.shellbrookchronicle.com | www.spiritwoodherald.com Town, local group plan new life for Rayside School The former Rayside School may soon see new life as Shellbrook’s tourist information booth and museum, if the stars align. When you set foot in the Rayside side, a group interested in seeing the room. It also had a coat rack room, in- noons. School, it’s like stepping back in time. building restored. door washrooms, a water pump con- She remembers making the trip into At first glance, the school looks like it “When I walked in there, it was like nected to a cistern, and, as Moe recalls, Shellbrook for track and field meets. could still be in use. The desks are ar- I was back in school. Nothing had an upstairs attic area, referred to as the And, perhaps most of all, she remem- ranged in tidy rows, with books scat- changed. You don’t see that anymore.” “physics lab,” as well as a basement that bers the “marvellous” Christmas con- tered atop them. The teacher’s desk Constructed in 1949 on land donated was used for recreation during the win- certs, and the festivities surrounding still sits at the front of the classroom, in by Guy Van Eaton, the Rayside School ter. them. front of a blackboard covered in writing. was actually the second building to bear Though more than a few years have Every Friday night, all winter long, the And, above all this, the portraits of the the name. passed since she sat in one of the school’s Rayside School was host to a card party, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip still Originally located eight miles north desks, Moe still has pleasant memories where parents paid $1 to play Whist. sit on the walls, exactly as they did from of Shellbrook, before it was moved into of Rayside, and the days that would be- The money raised through these par- the time the Rayside School opened its town to sit next to the Shellbrook Mu- gin with the pledge of allegiance to the ties was used to buy Christmas presents doors in 1949 to the time it was closed seum about 10 years ago, the school ed- Queen and O’Canada, and end with God for each of the kids at the Christmas in 1965. ucated children in Grades 1 through 8, Save the Queen. concert, with each child being allowed “It’s probably the last country school and was considered “modern” by coun- She remembers the school had a ball to pick out a gift from the Sears or Ea- around that’s still sort of the way it was try schoolhouse standards. team every year, consisting of students ton’s catalogue. Those gifts would be when we went to it,” said Rae Moe, a Where most one-room schoolhous- from all grades, and would play against purchased by the teacher, then deliv- one-time student at the school who is es had a few shelves for libraries, the students from schools in Foxdale, Cook- ered by Santa himself. now involved with the Friends of Ray- Rayside School had a dedicated library son, and Ridge Valley on Friday after- Continued on page 2 Easteris coming! Stop in for all your chocolate, card & giftware needs! Main Street, Shellbrook Woodland Pharmacy Ph: 306-747-2545 2 Shellbrook Chronicle & Spiritwood Herald www.shellbrookchronicle.com | www.spiritwoodherald.com March 25, 2021 Town, local group plan new life for Rayside School Continued from 1 rural schoolhouse” charm. “The kids would play in the basement, and “Funding can be used for repairs to the the mothers would bring sandwiches and building, so long as it’s for the exterior and cakes, and things like that, and they’d make keeping it looking like the original school. a big pot of coffee and have lunch after the That’s where the Friends of Rayside were in- party. It was such a good community build- terested in getting involved,” Miller said. ing,” Moe said. Under the terms of many heritage grants, “I have such fond memories. My heart 50 per cent of the funds don’t need to be paid would be happy to have it preserved the back, while 25 per cent of the remaining half way it was, with some history written in the can be in-kind on the part of the owner of the school so that people could visit it and know facility, leaving just 25 per cent to account for. who went there and where it was.” “If we wanted to replace the windows, and If the stars align, Moe’s heart will be happy, make it so the new windows look like the indeed. old ones but are energy efficient, they [the Around the time that Shellbrook’s town Friends of Rayside] would cover those kinds council began mulling over what to do with of costs,” Miller said. “If we wanted to put the the Shellbrook CN Station, which is current- same kind of siding on, or build steps up to ly home to the Shellbrook Museum, similar the second entrance and make them original, questions began to be asked about the Ray- they would look after that.” side School building. In addition to covering costs with grants, The answer to those questions, was to give More than half a century later, the classroom of the Rayside School still Miller says some costs could be recouped by the building new life. looks much like it originally did. renting the building out as a meeting place. “The idea came up to move it and use it as Then, there’s also the possibility of selling the new tourist information booth [in Kinsmen Park] and pose, and preserve it as a centrepiece of the Shellbrook off some of the redundant pieces of the Shellbrook Mu- replace the A-frame building that’s there, and put it on a Museum, Miller says everything comes back to the ques- seum’s collection. foundation similar to the one it used to sit on when it sat tion money, and how the town justifies its decisions to “We only need a certain amount of butter churns,” he in Rayside,” said Shellbrook town councillor Brent Miller. ratepayers. said. “We’d go to the people and families that donated the “The idea would be to store some of the antiques in the According to preliminary research, just moving the pieces first, to see if they want them back, then choose museum in the basement. At the same time, we could building to Kinsmen Park would cost anywhere between some of the better examples and keep them for our mu- take a small piece of the classroom upstairs, where the $45,000 and $60,000. Then, of course, there are the seum.” curator of the museum could rotate pieces into it to dis- costs of digging and finishing a basement, getting the As someone who, like Moe, has a personal connection play.” services hooked up, and putting in modern bathrooms. to the school, he sees the value in ensuring Rayside is pre- Per Miller’s vision for the Rayside School, the building This may seem pricey, but Miller is confident the costs served. And, If the question of funds can be answered, could become a place for travellers along Highway 3 to can be whittled down to next to nothing with the help of Miller says he can see this project moving ahead “fairly stop for tea, coffee, and a bathroom break throughout grant funding and some innovative thinking. quickly.” the warmer seasons, and, funding permitting, the area For starters, Miller says the school’s age makes it eligi- “There aren’t too many of these schoolhouses around immediately around it could be developed into a full rest ble for a heritage designation, even if it isn’t in its original anymore,” he said. “It’s important that we don’t lose our stop. location, opening the doors to a plethora of heritage and heritage.” While this would certainly give the building a new pur- other grants to move the building and restore its “quaint Village of Canwood NOTICE OF PREPARATION Notice of Assessment Roll OF ASSESSMENT ROLL Pursuant to subsection 214 of The Municipalities Act, Notice is hereby given that the assessment roll for the Notice is hereby given that the Assessment Roll for the Resort Village of Canwood for the year 2021 has been prepared Village of Pebble Baye for the year 2021 has been prepared and is open to inspection in the office of the Assessor from and is open to inspection by calling (306)468-3104 or 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday to Thursday from March 24, emailing [email protected] for an appointment 2021, to May 26, 2021. between March 26th and May 26th, 2021. Any person who Any person who wishes to appeal against his or her wishes to appeal against his or her assessment is required to assessment is required to file a notice of appeal with: file his or her notice of appeal with: The Assessor, Village of Canwood The Assessor Box 172 Resort Village of Pebble Baye Canwood, SK Box 449, Canwood, SK S0J 0K0 S0J 0K0 By the 26th day of May, 2021 by 3:00 p.m. on the 26th day of May, 2021. Dated at Canwood, Saskatchewan, this 19th day of March, 2021 Dated this 25th day of March, 2021. Terry Lofstrom, Assessor Erin Robertson, Assessor Resort Village of Pebble Baye A “modern” school by the day’s standards, the Rayside School had a dedicated room that served as its library.

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