The Handsaeme Family by Anne Handsaeme (Dixon)

Our father, August Handsaeme, immigrated to Canada from
Marquette, France, two years before W.W.1 broke out. He
enlisted in the Canadian army and while on leave from the
European war, met and later married a widow, Isabella Meek
(our Mother). She lived in Belfast, Ireland with her 5 year old
son James. Later on the three set sail for Canada to take up
mixed farming on a small irrigated farm. It was here near
Raymond, Alberta, where their family of four children were
born at home with the aid of a midwife by the name of Mrs.
Deardun.

At the young age of 40, our Mother came down with typhoid
fever and passed away leaving our Father to care for her 17 yr.
old son as well as their four children aged 11 to 5 years (me).
James left home later on to attend college in the States. My
Dad had hired several housekeepers over the following years
finally marrying one of them, our stepmother, Nellie Clark.
She had a grown family of her own who were more like uncles
and an aunt than a step-family.

In 1939 when Dad sold his land in Raymond he purchased a
dryland farm that neighbored Charlie Parry's dairy farm in
the White School district.

Matt, Sam and I, the only three in our family who would attend
White School, got our first glimpse of it that spring as we rode
past perched high upon a hayrack full of household furniture.
We were about to experience a drastic change in the way we
would learn the three R!s. Now instead of attending a huge
public school that was accessible by walking, we would be
riding horseback to and from a small country school with
several different grades taught in one room.

Matt's days at White were numbered but for the short time he
was enrolled there he recalls all the typewriting classes
being held downstairs in the furnace room. The basement
was also used for P.T. classes wherein the whole school
participated including boxing for the boys. Les Robinson
and Matt sparred around with the gloves on more than
once to vent their frustrations with each other.

When Bill Andrews hired Matt to help on his farm, this was a
good excuse to quit school, so he did just that! He
worked on other farms and on construction before
meeting and marrying Elaine Hamilton. They purchased
the Hamilton dairy farm, milked fifty head of cows and
raised 9 children that included two sets of twins. I
guess Matt didn't spend all his time milking cows!

Sam was destined to have a short school term at White
because he had to take over the farm work at home
when Matt left. And wouldn't you know it, he left just
before the grade nine exams. He must have been
terribly disappointed!

Sam never did tell us what he learned in class but he did
explain in great detail all about the tag games the boys
played up on the rafters in the horse barn. Louie Skiba,
Wayne Burr and Alex Herman were just some of the guilty
ones. Sam said the players had to be very fast, yet agile
enough to skip back and forth on the narrow 2 x 4ys while
being very careful not to slip and fall or get tagged. Each
player took his turn at the hayloft window to alert the rest if
Mr. MacKenzie was spotted heading their way. Was this the
extent of Sam's education at White School.

Barney Gwatkin hired Sam to work for him then later on he
worked for John Gwatkin before he met and married Doreen
Gaught a teacher at McNally School. They moved around
some, had three daughters then Sam took on management
positions of several different Provincial Community Pastures.
After twenty seven years of service he retired and they live
in Medicine Hat.

Ann:I had to ride double decker with Sam to school on one of
our work horses when Tony, my saddle horse, contracted
sleeping sickness along with many other horses that year.
I was horrified and thought he was dead when I saw him
being raised to his feet in a huge homemade canvas sling.
I fed and watered him in that standing position for what
seemed like an etemity to me. Poor Tony, I thought he
would never get well and when he did he just didn't have
that old spark, but he was still my best pal.

Helen Holm Nielson, who lived east of us on Johnson's place,
became a very special friend of mine. On weekends I'd
skip across an irrigation flume that bridged a canal on the
way over to her house; I just knew she would have that
weekly "Popular Songs" book. We really got more than
twenty-five cents worth out of it because we repeatedly
sang and at the same time learned every new song in the
book.

Every day I rode to school accompanied by Dorine Hearne
and Dena Parry our close neighbors. On those beautiful
sunny, summer days it was hard for us to think of being stuck
in a stuffy classroom all day, so, with a mischievous glint in
our eyes we would turn our horses westward and head for the
cool, green, quiet river bottom. Here we could spend the entire
day relaxing in the shade. One thing we never could quite
figure out was how the teachers knew we were playing hooky
until one day, as we cut off through a field on a high gallop,
we looked around and there was Mrs. Andrews standing on
their back step with her long black telescope trained on us!

Were our risky quests really meant to seek out the cool
shady spots, or was the great attraction young, male
personnel in uniform who were based at the airport?
We'll never tell!

One summer Dorine, Dena and I decided to ride in the annual
first of July Raymond Stampede Parade. I reluctantly agreed
to ride a very choppy, stubborn little shetland pony that Dorine
so kindly loaned me because Tony was laid up with a bad
barbwire cut. I think the parade judges felt sorry for our trio
having ridden so far to participate so they gave us a dollar
each for first, second and third prizes. Needless to say that
third prize did nothing for my jarred body and sore backside.

I have fond memories of attending Miss Kittleson's classes in
the Mud Hut. One day a vehicle, almost obscured in a
black cloud of dust, sped past the school with a police
car in hot pursuit. Goldie, who was being courted by Ernie
Snowden at the time, leaped out of her chair and flew
outside to get a quick glimpse of that car. Immediately,
curiosity flooded the classroom and all the students ran
out behind her.

"Don't worry Miss Kittleson," said Aster Chow very calmly,
"It's not Ernie this time." Among whispers and giggles a
blushing young teacher returned to the Mud Hut.

A fatal heart attack took my Dad that year so Nellie sold
the farm and took up residence near her own family in Calgary.

Return to Individual Histories