MARY'S GENEALOGY TREASURES
My father, Marion Gibb Merkley was principal of the
The teachers from Grade I through Grade 7 were Miss
Marion G. Merkley found great satisfaction in his
No doubt the principal set the policy concerning
The School Board and parents alike were very
Yes, Coalhurst was a vibrant, progressive community
At the close of the school year my father determined
My brother and I returned to Canada to serve in the
Coalhurst School from 1929 to 1936. These were
challenging times - the years of the Great Depression
- and yet my recollections of those days were ones
of progress, unity and cooperation among the citizenry.
Of course, production at the mine was the life-blood
of the Community and the school the source of learning
in which parents and students alike took much pride.
Crowe, Miss Tennant, Miss Frances Morrissey, Miss
Rosewarne, Miss Catherine Morrissey and Mr. Sidney
Oliver. Mr. Bill White and Marion G. Merkley somehow
handled the high school grades between them. All
were dedicated, outstanding teachers which was
confirmed by visiting school inspectors as well as
through comparative superior test scores by Coalhurst
pupils. Howard Start, the custodian was another proud
member of this team keeping the floors well oiled and
swept, the classrooms warm even when temperatures
fell to - 35 degrees F.
assignment at Coalhurst. The great challenge was to
provide quality education to children who came from
the most varied backgrounds imaginable. Most of
the citizens were first generation Canadians having
immigrated from Hungary, Italy, Poland, Holland.
Czechoslovakia, Scotland, England, Wales and
Ireland. How well most parents spoke English in
those days I am not sure.
discipline and students learned quickly that any form
of rowdyism was not tolerated at the Coalhurst
School. Every teacher kept a strap for use as
needed and they were used every once in awhile.
A trip to the principal's office was to be avoided at
all cost. M.G.M. had a reputation for being a
strict disciplinarian. This view was held by the
student body which included his two sons.
M.G.M.'s attitude was that there was no time for
tomfoolery when there was so much to learn.
Parents supported him wholeheartedly in that
philosophy. Academic excellence was the purpose
and goal of the school.
supportive of the school. Despite adverse economic
conditions, improvements were introduced. I
playground equipment was installed - swings,
overhead ladder bars, sandboxes, and an exciting
new merrygo-round trapeze. Then the school
grounds were fenced with wire mesh and steel
posts, very handsome in those days, and a windbreak
of trees was planted. Athletics were important with
plenty of equipment. Every May 24, Queen Victoria's
Birthday was track day competition. Medals and
ribbons were awarded. It was a big day. Softball,
baseball and football (soccer) were avidly supported.
A community skating rink was always provided in
winter with movies once in a while at the I.O.O.E Hall.
In the summer we went swimming in the irrigation
ditches and hiked to the Old Man River. The
Community Club always had treats for kids at
Christmastime. A cooperative community effort
provided sidewalks of sideboards filled and
smoothed with the red coal ashes from the slag
dump. Previously there had only been a boardwalk
for the main street where the stores were located.
The streets could get muddy, especially in the spring.
I remember another community activity when we
had a diphtheria scare and all citizens were inoculated
as a preventative. Incidentally, my father's arm
swelled up as a result of these shots and he was
miserable for some days. Anyone contracting
chicken pox, scarlet fever, or measles in those
days, as I did, was isolated to one's own home
where a sign was posted to advise callers to stay
away.
in the early thirties. The noises of the mine's own
locomotive shunting coal cars and the mine whistle
at morning and quitting time attested to the coal
production which was responsible for the town's
growth. Then an untimely disaster occurred. In
1935 (as my memory serves me) an explosion deep
in the mine killed sixteen men and injured others.
It was a very sad day for all of Coalhurst. This
calamity began a new era. The mine's activities
were curtailed. People had to relocate to find
employment. Many of the houses were sold and
moved to other locations. Businesses shut down.
to further his career by returning to school as a
student, this time at the University of Utah in Salt
Lake City, in 1936. My mother helped support the
family during this period by working as a secretary for
she had learned shorthand and typing by attending night
school twice weekly in Lethbridge over a long period
of time. We had a 1929 Plymouth which my mother
drove to attend night school. A red triangle on the rear
fender attested to "four wheel brakes". Incidently, the
radiator had to be drained in the winter after each use
as there were no antifreeze products. Dad would fill the
radiator with hot water each Saturday when we went to
Lethbridge for music lessons and sometimes a "picture
show". By springtime the garage would be three inches
deep with ice from the repeated radiator drainings.
R.C.A.F. during World War 11, I as a pilot and flying
instructor and my brother as a flight engineer.
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